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Remembering Jamaican Producer Lee 'Scratch' Perry

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In a realm where eccentrics are taken for granted, Jamaican musician Lee "Scratch" Perry was singular. Perry was a hugely influential producer, and not just in his home genre, reggae, but in dance music, hip-hop and beyond. Perry died in Jamaica on Sunday at age 85. NPR's Anastasia Tsioulcas has this appreciation.

ANASTASIA TSIOULCAS, BYLINE: Lee Perry got his nickname from a song he recorded early in his career, "Chicken Scratch."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CHICKEN SCRATCH")

LEE PERRY: (Singing) Love is good. Come on, lads (ph), chicken scratch.

TSIOULCAS: He also called himself the upsetter. It was an apt description on many levels. He had a habit of having acrimonious splits with former mentors and artists he previously championed.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I AM THE UPSETTER")

PERRY: (Singing) You will never get away from me. I am the upsetter.

TSIOULCAS: At Perry's own studio, Black Ark, he worked with many of Jamaica's biggest talents, including Junior Murvin, the Heptones, the Congos, and Bob Marley's band, the Wailers.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MR. BROWN")

BOB MARLEY: (Singing) Is Mr. Brown - Mr. Brown is a clown who rides through town in a coffin.

TSIOULCAS: Black Ark was like a chemistry lab for Perry's sonic experiments. He was a pioneer of dub, underlining the bass and adding reverb to create lots of aural space. He also sampled before most people knew the term or the technique, used found sounds and even buried microphones underground to get the effect he wanted.

Perry's partnership with the Wailers ended badly. He secretly sold tapes they'd made with him to another label and kept the money. Years after building his famed studio, Perry reportedly burned it down. He was an impish, erratic presence, often in his later years sporting neon-colored hair and beard and fantastical clothes. He was enigmatic in interviews, like this 1997 appearance on All Things Considered.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

PERRY: I'm a fish. I'm a Pisces. And I will allow you to have me with roasted or fried sometime if you're hungry. And it could be roast fish, fry fish, flying fish, callaloo and cornbread. That means three in one - God the Father, God the son, and God, the Holy Spirit.

TSIOULCAS: During his long career, he collaborated with artists including Paul McCartney, The Clash, Brian Eno and the Beastie Boys...

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DR. LEE, PHD")

BEASTIE BOYS AND LEE PERRY: (Singing) Coffin going around. Have you seen Mr. Clown? He used to call himself Mr. Brown.

TSIOULCAS: ...Testaments to Lee "Scratch" Perry's profound influence on generations of musicians. Anastasia Tsioulcas, NPR News, New York.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DR. LEE, PHD")

BEASTIE BOYS AND LEE PERRY: (Singing) INRI Production that takes over France with voodoo dance and science arts. Science machine and science dream. This is a living dream from the Beastly brothers and the Beastly boys. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Anastasia Tsioulcas is a reporter on NPR's Arts desk. She is intensely interested in the arts at the intersection of culture, politics, economics and identity, and primarily reports on music. Recently, she has extensively covered gender issues and #MeToo in the music industry, including backstage tumult and alleged secret deals in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against megastar singer Plácido Domingo; gender inequity issues at the Grammy Awards and the myriad accusations of sexual misconduct against singer R. Kelly.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.