The mothership has landed! While attempting to make a definitive compilation of all of Scratch's productions would take well more than 3 CDs, this set does a fine job of touching on important highlights and unearthing a few hidden gems, from the fertile Black Ark period. 55 tracks in all, with a fat 52 page book with extensive notes and loads of great photos, we'll let the exhaustive track list speak for itself: Max Romeo "One Step Forward", "War In A Babylon", "Chase The Devil" and "Norman", Devon Irons "Vampire", the Heptones "Sufferer's Time", "Mr. President" with Jah Lion, "Why Must I (version)" with Lee Perry and "Make Up Your Mind", Junior Dread "Sufferer's Heights", The Congos "Don't Blame On I", "Feast Of The Passover" and "CongoMan", The Meditations "Much Smarter", "Life Is Not Easy", and "No Peace", Junior Murvin "Tedious", 'police & Thieves", "Bad Weed" and "Roots Train" with Dillinger, Mikey Dread "Dread At The Mantrols", Errol Walker "In These Times", "John Public" and "John Public (version)" with Enos Barnes, Glen DaCosta "Magic Touch", Jah Lion "Soldier & Police War", Raphael Green & Doctor Alimantado "Rasta Train", Augustus Pablo "Vibrate On", The Upsetter Review with Junior Murvin "Closer Together", Keith Rowe "Groovy Situation", George Faith "To Be A Lover (Have Some Mercy)", Lee Perry "Dub Revolution Pt. 1", "Dreadlocks In Moonlight", "Soul Fire", "Curly Locks" and 'Roast Fish & Cornbread" and The Upsetters "One Step Dub", "Vamp A Dub", "Sufferer's Dub", "Much Smarter Dub", "Life Is Not Easy Dub", "Revelation Dub", "In These Times Dub", "Grumblin' Dub", "No Peace Dub", "Party Time pt. 2", "Vibrator", "Bird In Hand", "Dyon Anasawa" featuring Full Experience, "Rastaman Shuffle", "Groovy Dub" and "Corn Fish Dub". CD

Rare and unreleased Lee Perry dubplate mixes – brilliant productions from the creatively fruitful, boundary busting 70s years – with the mighty Upsetters and numbers featuring Junior Murvin, Candy Mackenzie, Leo Graham, Jimmy Riley, George Faith, Jack Lord and The Silvertones! This is the second Sound System Scratch compilation from the deep treasure diggers at Pressure Sounds – who have again assembled staggeringly adventurous and hard to find Scratch productions from an amazing period at Black Ark. A number of the tracks are previously unreleased, others are exclusive dubplate mixes, all incredible – be it smoked out, hazy dubs and surprisingly accessible and soulful reggae. Includes "Righteous Rocking" by The Upsetters, "Get Ready (Bongo Mix) by Junior Murvin & The Upsetters, "Kis Me Mix" by The Upsetters, "I've Got The Dub" by George Faith & The Upsetters, "Enter The Upsetter" by Lee Perry & The Upsetters, "Darkness In The City" by Jimmy Riley & The Upsetters, "Rejoice Jah Jah Children" by The Silvertones and more. LP, Vinyl record album

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Sweet – another great collection of Scratch's murky, quirky dubs from the Black Ark! One of the better collections of Upsetter dub tracks, with some hard to find nuggets and nice spacey dubs of heavy cuts that were voiced by Junior Murvin, Max Romeo & the Congos on their classic Perry-produced sides. 18 massive tracks: "Noah Sugar Pan", "Ketch a Dub", "Version Train", "Rootically Dub", "Son of the Black Ark", "Lorna Skank", "If the Cap Fits", "Dub a Come", "Tedious Dub", "Rejoice in Skank", "Babylon Thief Dub", "Foundation Solid", "Bagman", "Better Reach", "Dub in Time", "Fun and Games", "Sipple Dub" and "Bionic Rat Dub". CD

Classic early material from Lee and The Upsetters – issued under their own name, and with Linval Thompson, Dave Barker, Junior Myles, and Bob Marley too! CD

Two killer Trojan albums from Lee Perry & The Upsetters – back to back on a single CD! First up is Return Of Django – an early moment of genius from the legendary Lee Perry – and a set that uses Django imagery from Italian westerns to serve up a "bad boy" version of Jamaican music for the late 60s! Even at this early point, the sounds are mindblowing – rocksteady brought through a really weird sort of filter – so that lots of familiar instruments are turned inside out, and used to create these incredibly far-out sounds – especially the keyboards, which get really weird tunings and timings – and the reed passages, which sometimes have surprisingly exotic touches. Production is a big part of this approach, yet is surprisingly understated too – especially in comparison to later Perry productions – and titles include "Cold Sweat", "Live Injection", "Ten To Twelve", "One Punch", "Touch Of Fire", "Night Doctor", and the classic "Man From MI5". If there's anyone who could make the idea of Italian westerns and Jamaican grooves come together, it's the young Lee Scratch Perry – the mad musician who always had a great talent for mixing it up! Eastwood Rides Again follows the theme of The Upsetters previous classic, Return Of Django – and like that one, the groove isn't just the rocksteady rhythms you'd expect – but also maybe this more spacious version of the style, with a bit more space between the notes than some of their Kingston contemporaries – almost a mode that could be inspired by the spacious soundtrack scoring of the Italian scene, then delivered with a much grittier vibe. Most tunes are instrumentals, and titles include "Eastwood Rides Again", "Salt & Pepper", "Red Hot", "Tight Spot", "Catch This", "Popcorn", and "You Are Adorable". CD

Pivotal Black Ark material from Lee Perry – with brilliantly tripped out echoey dub production – and scorching instrumentation laid down by the mighty Upsetters! Split roughly in half between Perry's nicely gritty instrumental moodcraft and hazy vocals, this collection features some uber prime Upsetters material. It's all hear – heavily rumbling bass grooves, tripped out, though spiritually resonant vocals and just enough of smoky haze without getting too thick to breathe. Amazing stuff! Includes "Scratch The Dub Organizer", "Bush Weed Corn Trash", "When Jah Come", "Curley Dub", "Serious Joke", "Who You Gonna Run To" and "Tighten Up". CD

We never get tired of these Lee Perry reissues! The first of several compilations put together by the fine folks at Pressure Sounds documenting Perry's tremendous output from his Black Ark studio, at the peak of his powers in the mid 70s. Mostly drawn from 45s of cuts that attained legendary status because of their small press runs, this superb collection brings together the vocal and dub versions of tracks originally released on the Black Art & Upsetter labels. 13 tracks in all including "Psalms 20" by James Boom, "African Style" by the Black Notes, "Wolf Out Deh" by Lloyd & Devon, "Voodooism" by Leo Graham & "Better Future" by Errol Walker, along with their dubs by the Upsetters. LP, Vinyl record album

Another Lee Perry collection? You bet! There's mountains and mountains of material out there, and this collection selects some choice bits from the fertile Black Ark period, when Perry and crew were in fine style! As you might expect, there's some overlap here with a couple of the other fine collections that are available, but this comp does have some nice previously unreleased bits, and it's put together in a way that really shines, playing great from top to bottom! 17 tracks: Junior Byles & The Versatiles "Cutting Razor", Time Unlimited "Staring" and "Judgement", Junior Murvin "Let's Fall In Love" and "Mister Craven", Lee Perry "What A Sin", The Heptones "Sufferer's Time", Max Romeo "One Step Forward", The Upsetters "Righteous Judgement" and "Walk The Streets", Leo Graham "Black Candle" and "Big Tongue Buster", The Bluebells "Come Along", U Roy & The Children "Yama Khy", Sons Of Light "Land Of Love", Sharon Isaacs "Feelings" and Evon Jones "4 And 20 Dreadlocks". CD

A really great little collection – one titled from a legendary studio jam that originally appeared on film, not record – a cut that begins this great array of cuts from the famous Black Ark studio of Lee Scratch Perry! Perry's on the cover, and has a strong hand on most of these tracks – but there's also a very nice mix of material going on here – some righteous roots vocals, other dubby cuts that are leaner overall – with a mix of groups and solo singers, all showing the keenly creative 70s Perry style at its best. Titles include "Play On Mr Music" by Upsetter Revue, "One More River To Cross" by Mystic I, "One More Dub To Cross" by the Upsetters, "People Get Ready" by Junior Mervin, "Give Me A Love" by Jimmy Riley, "Feel All Right" by The Silvertones, "Milte Hi Ahkhen" by Sam Carty, "History (dub plate mix)" by Carlton Jackson, "Rejoice Jah Children (dub plate mix)" by The Silvertones, and "Sugar & Spice" by Keith Rowe. CD

A really great little collection – one titled from a legendary studio jam that originally appeared on film, not record – a cut that begins this great array of cuts from the famous Black Ark studio of Lee Scratch Perry! Perry's on the cover, and has a strong hand on most of these tracks – but there's also a very nice mix of material going on here – some righteous roots vocals, other dubby cuts that are leaner overall – with a mix of groups and solo singers, all showing the keenly creative 70s Perry style at its best. Titles include "Play On Mr Music" by Upsetter Revue, "One More River To Cross" by Mystic I, "One More Dub To Cross" by the Upsetters, "People Get Ready" by Junior Mervin, "Give Me A Love" by Jimmy Riley, "Feel All Right" by The Silvertones, "Milte Hi Ahkhen" by Sam Carty, "History (dub plate mix)" by Carlton Jackson, "Rejoice Jah Children (dub plate mix)" by The Silvertones, and "Sugar & Spice" by Keith Rowe. LP, Vinyl record album

A stunning look at the early years of Lee Scratch Perry – a treasure trove of rare singles and a few unissued tracks – all from a time when he was coming on the scene in Kingston as one of the freshest young producers around! The music here isn't the weird and way-out sounds of Perry's later years – and instead, it shows his amazing ear tuned towards the most soulful aspects of his scene – both in the singers he chose to work with, and his great talent for getting the most out of the bands who backed them up! And yes, there's definitely a hint of some of the Black Ark magic to come – nicely tucked around the edges – but the main appeal here is Perry's contribution to these key years of rocksteady early reggae. As with the other excellent Doctor Bird collections – including the previous People Funny Boy singles collection of work from Perry – the sound and presentation here is fantastic, and really sets a new standard for presenting material like this. 54 tracks in all – with work from Val Bennett, Dave Barker, The West Indians, Glen Adams, David Isaacs, Silvertones, Busty Brown, The Ravers, and Carl Dawkins – plus plenty of tracks recorded by Lee with The Upsetters – who represent about half the material here. CD

A wealth of unreleased tracks and unreleased mixes from the studios of the mighty Lee Scratch Perry – material that was mostly recorded during a very fruitful time in the mid 70s, when Lee was turning out a fair bit of tracks that were only issued on one-off dub plates, to be spun by only the hippest sound systems in Kingston and London! Material of this nature is often nicely offbeat – no easy hooks or more commercial elements, and instead the kind of creative approach to overall sound that makes every aspect of a tune worth opening up into play – from the vocals to the rhythms, to the production. Titles include "Ethiopia Land" by Peter & Paul, "Lay Beside You" by Joy White, "Jah I" by Lee Perry & The Upsetters, "Word (acapella)" by The Gatherers, "War & Peace" by The Upsetters, "Keep On Moving" by Augustus Pablo & The Upsetters, "Keep On Trying" by Susan & Bunny", and "Living My Life" by Keith Rowe & The Upsetters. LP, Vinyl record album

From the very first note on the set, you know that you're in for something special – as the early title track by Lee Perry has a baby crying sound effect on the intro – just the sort of weird and wild production touch that Perry would help pioneer in Jamaican music! And while Lee's maybe best known for his trippy Black Ark productions of the mid 70s, he's already sounding pretty fantastic here on a host of soulful rocksteady tracks and early reggae numbers – both vocals and instrumentals, and tunes that resonate wonderfully with that mad ear for musical magic that makes Scratch so unique! The set brings together just about every key Lee Perry production from these seminal years – solo singers, groups, and instrumentals – in a stunning lineup that features 53 tracks in all, with work by Burt Walters, The Mellotones, Val Bennet, The Inspirations, Upsetters, Denzil Laing, The Gaylads, David Issacs, Nora Dean, Soul Twins, The Bleechers, and Lee Scratch Perry himself. CD

Bonanza is right! 43 blazing early Studio One tracks that will more than satisfy your ska jones from classic bedrock rhythms to lesser known but no less great numbers, all essential Coxsone Dodd, though! Includes "Nimble Foot Ska" by Roland Alphonso & The Skatalites, "Arte Bella" by Stranger Cole and Ken Boothe, "Streets Of Gold" and "Black Sunday" by the Skatalites, "Old Fowl Ska" and "Bongo Tango"by Roland Alphonso, "Always On Sunday" by Frank Anderson and Tommy McCook with the Skatalites, "Sugar Bag" by Lee King Perry, "Settle Down" by Lester Sterling, Johnnie Moore and Tommy McCook, "Turn Me On" by Ossie & The Upsetters, "Over The River" by the Jiving Juniors, "Du Du Wap" by Chuck & Dobby, "Man In The Street" by Don Drummond, "Simmer Down" by Bob Marley & The Wailers, "Shining Light" by toots & The Maytals, "Sit Down Servant" by Jackie Opel, River Jordan" by Clancy Eccles, "Jeanie Girl" by the Charmers and loads more! CD

A really mighty combination – the tremendous trombone of Vin Gordon, the production genius of Lee Scratch Perry, and the heady rhythms of the Upsetters – all combined here in an album that may well be one of Gordon's best! Vin gets all sorts of space to solo in the lead – and his trombone has lots of jazz-based improvisation, in ways you'd hear on records from artists like Roland Alphonso or Tommy McCook – just given the right sort of push at the bottom by players who include Boris Gardiner on bass, Earl Chinna Smith on guitar, and Winston Wright on organ – players who are much more back here in the mix than Gordon, who really shines in the spotlight. Titles include "Raw Chaw", "Labrish", "The Message", "Coco Macca", "Fly Away", "Four Of A Kind", "Vodoo Man", and "Quinge Up". LP, Vinyl record album

A stone 70s classic in the Island Records catalog – proof that although the label was scoring big with some of their superstar acts, they still had a great ear out for groundbreaking reggae material! The mighty Max Romeo works here with Lee Scratch Perry in the studio – who gives him fantastic support, at a level that opens up really righteous currents in his music – a fantastic blend of the roots reggae spirit of Romeo and the studio genius of Perry! Romeo's soulful inflections matched perfectly to the dark, swampy Black Ark grooves – on titles that include "War Ina Babylon", "Chase The Devil", "Stealin'", "One Step Forward", "Smile Out Of Style", "Uptown Babies", "Tan And See", "Smokey Room", and "Norman". LP, Vinyl record album

With tracks by Leo Graham, Upsetters, Lloyd & Devon, Errol Walker, Lee Perry, Brother Roy, and Keith Texon. LP, Vinyl record album

Dubby takes on older classics produced by Lee Scratch Perry – a really great meeting of reggae generations, as some of the vocal gems from years back are given plenty of heady experimentation in the studio! It's no secret that Lee started out as more of a straight producer, then really started going wild during the dub generation – and this record's a great example of the way his straighter modes and trippier touches could exist side by side. Titles include "Have Some Fun" and "Nature Man" by The Gaylads, "I Don't Mind" by Sam Carty, "Enter The Dragon" and "Time" by The Upsetters, "I Man Free" by King Burnett, "Jump It" by Leon graham, "Dub A Pum Pum" by The Silvertones, and "Fu King Man" by Linval Spencer. LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the greatest work ever recorded by the mighty Lee Perry – a searing selection of 44 seven inch singles – all of which were well-tuned to boom out of Kingston sound systems back in the day! There's a sense of focus here that's wonderful – still all the odd, dubby twists and turns that make Perry's music so great – but honed down into the space of tight cuts that really helped redefine the role of the 45rpm single in Jamaican music! Lee takes the lead on a few cuts, and sits behind the controls of Black Ark on all the others – and titles include "Vibrate Onn (Jamaican mix)" by Augustus Pablo & The Upsetters, "It Hurts So Good" by Susan Cadogan, "Dreader Locks" by Junior Byles & Lee Perry, "Police & Thief" by Junior Murvin, "Ital Corner" by Prince Jazzbo, "Sipple Out Deh (Jamaican mix)" by Max Romeo, "Down Here In Babylon" by Brent Dowe, "Three Blind Mice" by Max Romeo, "Land Of Love" by The Sons Of Light, "Travelling" by Debra Keese & The Black Five, and "Think So" by The Meditations. CD

A stone 70s classic in the Island Records catalog – proof that although the label was scoring big with some of their superstar acts, they still had a great ear out for groundbreaking reggae material! The mighty Max Romeo works here with Lee Scratch Perry in the studio – who gives him fantastic support, at a level that opens up really righteous currents in his music – a fantastic blend of the roots reggae spirit of Romeo and the studio genius of Perry! Romeo's soulful inflections matched perfectly to the dark, swampy Black Ark grooves – on titles that include "War Ina Babylon", "Chase The Devil", "Stealin'", "One Step Forward", "Smile Out Of Style", "Uptown Babies", "Tan And See", "Smokey Room", and "Norman". LP, Vinyl record album

Trombonist Vin Gordon makes a really strong appearance here – blowing these wicked solos with backings recorded at Black Ark – all in a heady style that shows why he was maybe the greatest player on his instrument in the Jamaican scene! Vin uses the trombone to do all these cool things – jazzy solos certainly, but with phrasing that goes way past the familiar – supported with work from Winston Wright on guitar, Earl Smith and Geoffery Chung on guitars, and Boris Gardinier on bass – all with production by Lee Scratch Perry. There's Gordon solos on every number – and titles include "Coco Macca", "Licky Licky", "Labrish", "Raw Chaw", "Four Of A Kind", and "Voodoo Man". LP, Vinyl record album

A host of rare gems from the early years of Lee Perry's legendary Black Ark studios – material recorded by Scratch himself, on some cuts featuring The Upsetters, others some close contemporaries – but all nicely unified here by contributions from Lee at just about every level! As with other Pressure Sounds collections, the approach here is wonderful – way past the entry-level reggae collections you might get elswhere, but also not overwhelmed with trainspotter attention to rareness over quality – as the cuts here are all pretty darn great, and feature many gems from the early reggae years that really show Perry's diversity past his own recordings. The set includes a number of Upsetters version recordings of vocal tunes – and titles include "Set Yourself Up" by The Upsetters, "Brotherly Love" by Henrick Nicholson, "Roots Train (previously unreleased dub plate mix)" by Junior Murvin, "Woman Gotta Have Love (previously unreleased dub plate mix)", "Say A Little Prayer (12" mix)" by Eric Donaldson, "Mr Cravin" by Junior Murvin, "Such Is Life (version)" by The Upsetters, "Nu Fi Run It Down" by Danny Clarke, "Ska Baby" by Bobby Ellis, and "Such Is Life" by Lord Creator. LP, Vinyl record album

Nice! There's been a couple of different versions of the seminal Blackboard Jungle dub LP floating around, now the fine folks at Auralux have unearthed and reissued the original version, with the wild stereo mix and original track order! This is one mighty set of Perryisms, wrought in the pre-Black Ark era, and though he's uncredited on the sleeve, we've read that King Tubby was responsible for the wonderful reverb and mixing console action taking these tracks to the next level. Essential! 18 tracks: "Black Panta", "V/S Black Panta", "Khasha Macka", "Elephant Rock", "African Skank", "Dreamland Skank", "Jungle Jim", "Drum Rock", "Dub Organizer", "Lover's Skank", "Moving Skank", "Apeman Skank", "Jungle Skank", "Kaya Skank", "Upsetting Rhythm 1", "Upsetting Rhythm 2", "Upsetting Rhythm 3" and "Happy Roots" CD