INTERVIEW: Lee Scratch Perry & Orb LP
by Thomas Hasson
Tom Hasson talks to reggae genius. Complains afterwards that it was like “herding marmalade”…
“I expect from what I give to get. What I give I’m going to get. Compulsory.”
Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry is telling me what he looks for in a collaborator. As one of Jamaica’s most prolific sons, Perry has worked with some of the most well known artists to emerge from the Caribbean island and beyond. As an engineer he teamed up with Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd and Joe Gibbs; as a producer he was hired by Bob Marley and The Wailers, Junior Murvin, The Congos and the The Clash (to name a few); and simply as Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry he’s worked with Dub Syndicate, Mad Professor, the Beastie Boys and even starred in a series of Guinness ads.
He sets out his rules for those he’s willing to work with thus: “Those that don’t eat meat. Those that don’t eat chicken. Those that don’t eat anything that is dead. Those who don’t smoke cigarettes. Those that don’t take coke, or make home made joke. Or take coke. Don’t take cocaine.”
As this conversation continues it becomes increasingly difficult to decide which of these rules are made up on the spot and which he genuinely lives by. Though I’m pretty sure he doesn’t mind people making up their own jokes in his presence, he is clear on one thing; if he wants to collaborate with someone, it will happen.