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Lee "Scratch" Perry
Chicken Scratch: Deluxe Edition
(Heartbeat)
First Appeared in The Music Box, March 2008, Volume 15, #3
Written by Douglas Heselgrave
Sun, March 9, 2008, 11:00 AM CDT
The re-release of Chicken Scratch, which features the first solo
recordings by Lee "Scratch" Perry, could not have come at a better time. Now in
his seventies, Perry currently is experiencing an unprecedented level of media
attention. Not only was he recently nominated for a Grammy Award, but also three
studio albums as well as two films about his life and art are now in production.
Though he is known primarily as a producer, engineer, and enabler of artists
from Bob Marley to The Clash, Perry’s original dream was to be a popular singer
and songwriter. The 18 tracks gathered together on the deluxe edition of Chicken Scratch mostly were recorded during 1965 and 1966, which typically
are known as the ska years at Studio One. While listening to these diamonds in
the rough, it is clear that all of the elements of Perry’s mature style are
present, albeit in embryonic form. Husky vocals peppered with sexual
double-entendres bend ska’s already wonky rhythms, thus illuminating the strange
and disturbing world of Perry’s imagination. Work songs, children’s nursery
rhymes, and folk dirges are all thrown into his creative blender, and one can
understand how audiences responded to his early live performances by throwing
rocks and bottles. Even as a young man, Perry was an artist who would not
compromise his vision, and he often seemed to be helpless in the face of the
demands of his muse.
Perry was born in the countryside, and if the pull of destiny had not been so
insistent, he very well might have remained a laborer and tractor driver in a
rural parish. One day, however, while working on his rig, he claims that the
stones started talking to him and that they told him to move to Kingston and try
his hand at singing. By this point, he quietly had been writing songs for years,
and so, he needed little further encouragement. When he arrived in the capital,
he found shelter on the floor of a local tailor shop before he landed a job with
Arthur Reid, a former policeman who ran Jamaica’s largest sound system. He
presented Reid with one of his own compositions (Rough and Tough), but
Reid promptly stole it away by recording with another singer. This was an
important early lesson in the nature of the Jamaican recording industry that
Perry would never forget.
After being stung by Reid, Perry went across town to work with Clement Dodd,
the legendary producer whose Studio One recording outlet was responsible for
releasing thousands of classic Jamaican singles. Dodd gave artists from Bob
Marley to Burning Spear early opportunities to record their songs. Perry started
out as an apprentice who did everything from sweeping the floor to physically
pressing singles at Studio One’s record plant. Gradually, he became an
indispensable employee by taking responsibility for auditioning singers, mixing
sessions, and eventually writing songs for the artists to perform.
It is uncertain whether Dodd merely was humoring Perry or rewarding him for
his dedicated service when he let him record and sing his own songs. Dodd was
reluctant to promote him as a singer on his own label. Nevertheless, before
Perry struck out on his own in 1966, he had managed to record nearly three dozen
tunes for the Studio One imprint.
It’s hard to pick favorites amongst the 18 tracks collected on the new
edition of Chicken Scratch. The songs — like all Studio One singles —
were primitively recorded and mastered. Yet, they more than make-up for the lack
of technical polish with the joy and enthusiasm that bubbles forth from them.
More than 40 years after their creation, songs like Feel Like Jumping, Roast Duck, and Run Rudie Run are still guaranteed to get any
partying hopping.
Unquestionably, there are better albums within Perry’s catalogue that deserve
to be heard before Chicken Scratch. Compared to his work at the Black Ark
during the 1970s, these songs are rudimentary and undeveloped. Nevertheless,
there is no reason to have only one of his records. In fact, everybody should
own at least a dozen of them as a safeguard against depression as well as a balm
against taking life too seriously. Chicken Scratch is a delightful album
that not only stands on its own musical merit but also illuminates the
development of one of the world’s greatest living artists. 
Chicken Scratch is available from
Amazon.com. To order, Click Here!
For Canadian orders, please
Click Here!
For UK orders, please
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2008 The Music Box
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