20 March 1936 – 29 August 2021
The British dub artist recalls the craft and eccentricity of the pioneering reggae producer – a singular talent he loved working with
As a boy, one of the first records I bought was a single called Upsetting Station by Dave Barker, a Jamaican singer. It used the rhythm of the Wailers song Duppy Conqueror and began with an announcement: “This is the Upsetting Station recording – the news as it happens.” Back then, I didn’t know what a producer did or even what a producer was, but I recognised there was something special going on with this record. It sounded really different and it fascinated me.
Soon after, I heard the Wailers’ Small Axe and I noticed that it was also produced by Lee Perry. I was still at school at the time and I felt that something innovative was happening with those records. Just instinctively I sensed that. Then, around 1974, there was an album called King Tubby Meets the Upsetter at the Grass Roots of Dub, which was really popular. It had some serious musicians playing on it – Vin Gordon, Tommy McCook, Bobby Ellis. That’s when I started to take more notice and realised that the role of the producer was to shape the sound.
