Perry started in the mid-1960s with Clement “Coxson” Dodd, who owned Studio One. He then began working with another publisher, Joe Gibbs, to form his own band, Upsetters.
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Perry changed Marley’s sound in the early 1970s when he led to different phrasing and emphasis on the bass line, and led to greater spirituality. The result was pioneering recordings of Soul Rebel, Duppy Coqueror, Kaya and Small Ax, which helped Marley gain international recognition and establish himself in the world.
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Perry’s Upsetters accompanied Max Romeo on his 1976 album War Ina Babylon, which was at the birth of political reggae. It was already recorded in Perry’s own Black Ark studio, which he opened in 1973. He experimented with drum machines and studio equipment such as echoes and reverbs, which led to the formation of the oak. He also recorded the sounds of shots, broken glass and animals, so he became one of the pioneers of sampling and looping.
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Perry also produced the cosmic-sounding album Congos Heart of Congos, recordings of The Heptones, a song by Junior Murvin’s Police And Thieves, which was later adopted by The Clash. He also produced the song The Clash Complete Control.
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He also tried to enhance the impressiveness of the recordings by blowing marijuana smoke onto the tapes.
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He burned down his studio in 1983 because, according to him, it was full of evil spirits. However, he continued to create, developing oak and abstract funk. He has collaborated with Moby, George Clinton, the Beastie Boys and Orb, as well as with British oak makers Mad Professor and Adrian Sherwood.
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Vanity Fair stated that Lee Perry had the same meaning for reggae as George Clinton for funk and Sun Ra for jazz, because he brought the genre out of style clichés.
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