Lee Perry The Upsetters – Double Seven

Description

.This classic album from 1973 saw its creator, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry exploring synths and starting to develop his Black Ark sound – the enigmatic producer was at the time in the process of building his famous studio and honing his ideas about dub as a musical form. The LP opens with the eerie ‘Kentucky Skank’, Perry’s ode to KFC, complete with frying chicken sounds, spliced between winding tapes, a ghostly trumpet, and futuristic moog synthesizer, overdubbed at London’s Chalk Farm studios. U Roy’s ‘Double Six’ and I Roy’s ‘High Fashion’ and ‘Hail Stones’ illustrate just how strong The Upsetter’s deejay material had become, while versions of the Chi-Lites’ ‘We Are Neighbours’, Sam & Dave’s ‘Soul Man’ and a re-working of Al Green’s ‘Love and Happiness’ (re-titled ‘Jungle Lion’) all betray the funky soul influence that was increasingly shaping his work. The backing tracks illustrate the producer at his best; the audio spectrum is fully differentiated while spatial placement an important component – something it would take years for him to achieve at the Black Ark.