How Lee 'Scratch' Perry gave Bob Marley his credentials

"It was my idea to put them together; he didn't want to do it. Bob wanted to sing with me alone without them, but I said, 'No, you need them for a specific job, like Sun Is Shining, you. They need an understanding.o."

And so it was that the greatest musical integration the world has ever known came to fruition: the incredible mix of Lee "Scratch" Perry and the Wailers. Working together steadily for the remainder of the 1970s and part of 1971, Perry and The Wailers formed a timeless work group. The Wailers were the three most difficult and original singers on the island and the Upsetter musicians were composing the toughest rhythms under Perry's endless artistic vision. Having created something new with People Funny Boy, Perry was now in the process of changing the reggae rhythm, with the Wailers discovering new trends.

"When people hear what I'm doing, they hear a different rhythm," Perry said in a quote often quoted from 1977, "slow rhythms, rhythms of wax - as you get into the glue. Although Perry inspired fine performances from each of the Wailers, his special relationship with Bob Marley produced the most powerful material. His own father had abandoned him at birth and Marley sought a series of paternal figures throughout his life. this for a while, but in their relationship Perry was generally regarded as an older brother or, sometimes, an insane uncle. a fan of Bob Marley all the time. "He loved Bob, he feels like Bob is the best singer in the world. But Bob Marley never sang like he does now, then he was singing in a different way, but Perry was singing so how Bob Marley sounds now.

Perry changed the voice of the Wailers by softening it and directing it more to Jamaican ears rather than just making them love the styles of their American vocal heroes. Perry spent a week practicing with the group behind the Upsetter record store, restoring confidence in their creative potential and persuading them to reach greater heights through a more honest expression of their authenticity. With the recording of My Cup, their imitation of I Guess I'll Have To Cry Cry by James Brown, captured in the summer of 1970, Perry and The Wailers created a series of unique songs that remain the best works of their profession. . .

Recording at Randy Studios, the group cut material worth more than two albums by Perry at the end of the year; material that aided the reggae trend by giving it a more complex edge with words rendered in a more natural and distinct Jamaican style. This edited quote is taken from People Funny Boy: The Genius of Lee ‘Sctrach’ Perry (Omnibus Press), biography of David Katz. Perry, one of the best reggae producers, died on August 29, 2021, in Lucea, Jamaica.