The Singles Collection: Anthology 1968-1979

Performer: Lee "Scratch" Perry
Producer: Lee "Scratch" Perry
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Recorded between 1968 & 1969. Includes liner notes by Laurence Cane-Honeysett. All tracks have been digitally remastered. Liner Note Author: Laurence Cane-Honeysett. While he just seems to make his own music these days, this exceptional collection acts as a reminder that Lee "Scratch" Perry's reputation was partly established as a producer of reggae songs, one who helped push the music through its early years. He was largely responsible for making the Wailers into a band that could go on and conquer the world (just listen to "Duppy Conqueror" or "Small Axe" to understand how he helped them develop), but his work with so many other artists was impeccable -- and often very individual, such as the classic "Curly Locks" with Junior Byles. It's also worth remembering that Perry had a golden touch -- most of these singles were Jamaican hits, even the acerbic and hilarious "People Funny Boy," which featured himself (as well as the sound of a crying baby). Indeed, 1968-1979 was his truly fertile period, when he established his Black Ark studio (which he burned down in 1980), helped birth the sonic genre of dub, and shape the sound of roots reggae, while keeping it very much within the overall realm of pop music -- witness the Melodians' "Round and Round." Even his own, strange material, like "Bush Weed," had an appeal. While it's a shame that some of his best work, like Junior Murvin's "Police and Thieves" or his glowing productions for the Congos (which many deem his finest work behind the board) isn't included, there's enough here to make it a perfect primer, not just on Perry, but on Jamaican music in the 1970s. ~ Chris Nickson

The Phil Spector of reggae, genius/madman producer Lee Perry helped invent dub and revolutionize the use of a studio as a musical instrument while at the same making some of the most sumptuous and grooving reggae records of the '70s, classics including Max Romeo's "War Ina Babylon," Junior Murvin's "Police And Thieves," George Faith's "To Be A Lover," and Perry's own "Curly Locks," among many others. A genuine aural collagist, his visionary, bizarre sonic palette combined radical studio effects with literally anything he could imagine, be it sound effects, stream-of-consciousness spoken commentary, or dialogue from American TV shows. Perry is a towering figure, and one whose influence has spread well beyond reggae.

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