See Hear Episode 126 - The Upsetter: The Life and Music of Lee Scratch Perry

It's not too often that a story will make a connection between Linda McCartney, The Beastie Boys and The Clash, but this month's film does just that.

Welcome to episode 126 of See Hear Podcast.

When the average person is asked to name a single important figure in reggae music, they'll most likely say Bob Marley. Without taking away from his importance, reggae's production giant, who helped Marley in his early years, was Lee “Scratch” Perry. For this episode, we look at a 2008 documentary called The Upsetter: The Life and Music of Lee Scratch Perry. He was born in a rural area of Jamaica, but after working on a job to build a road in the western region of the island, he claimed to have found a connection between the sound of the rocks he helped move and the sound of music – sure beats the usual musician story of stealing their sibling's record collection.

The film certainly tells a story, but is also more of a character study about Perry. He was a musical innovator being an early innovator in dub reggae. He'd recorded and produced music that was ska and rocksteady reggae, but it's his experiments in dub he's most remembered for. He's also remembered for burning down his beloved music studio because a rubber ball placed on his console had been moved – okay, the story's a little more complex than that. Was he eccentric? Was he a charlatan? Was he really named Pipecock Jackson, and looking to become American president? The film only looks to Perry for discussion, so without other talking heads, we ask if he's a reliable narrator.

Kerry, Tim and I discuss Rastafarianism, the link to Sun Ra, sound systems, our connections to reggae music, and the scary connection to Dennis Wilson. Please join us for a fun conversation.

You can find the film on Kanopy, but our conversation can be listened to independent of the film.

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