People Funny Boy: The Genius of Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Revised Edition - Softcover

Katz, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1846094437 ISBN 13: 9781846094439

Publisher: Omnibus, 2006

Synopsis

Arguably the most influential force in Jamaican music, Lee Perry brought Bob Marley to international stardom and has since collaborated with artists such as Sir Paul McCartney, The Clash and The Beastie Boys. The book delves behind the myth of Perry to give a fuller examination of his life and work through extensive interviews with family members, fellow artists, friends, lovers, enemies, as well as the man himself to present a complex portrait of a unique soul driven by unseen spiritual forces. This revised edition contains new information on Perry's recent years, including his Grammy Award and cessation of herb smoking. The text has been thoroughly revised, making the new edition a more factually accurate and greatly improved read.

About this title

About the Author

David Katz has written about the sounds and culture of Jamaica since 1984. His work has appeared in The Guardian, MOJO, Uncut and The Wire. He has annotated CDs for several record labels and contributed to The Rough Guide to Reggae. He is also a musician, broadcaster and photographer. Originally from San Francisco, he currently lives in London.

From Booklist

In reggae music, only Bob Marley rivals Lee "Scratch" Perry in importance. Scratch collaborated on some of the Wailers' best early stuff, and indeed, Marley's "career was largely shaped by creative interaction with Perry." Katz spent years sifting Perry's true story from the legends about him. Confusion about his birth date is to be expected, for public record keeping has not been a high priority in Jamaica, but Perry further muddled matters by claiming to hail from Jupiter, the sky, and Africa, as well. And then, "it is worth noting that the regular use of ganja . . . result[s] in short- and long-term memory loss." Ganja is, of course, a leitmotif of Perry's biography, and fans of Timothy White's Bob Marley book, Catch a Fire (rev. ed., 1995), will appreciate Katz's further exploration of the ganja-permeated world of reggae. Collections serving world music and pop music fans should consider this piece of reggae history absolutely essential. Mike Tribby
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Edition details

• Publisher: Omnibus
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1846094437
• ISBN 13: 9781846094439
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 542