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January 17, 2010
Vivian Jackson – better known as Yabby You – was one of the most uncompromising voices in reggae. His music, informed by his deep faith, often sounded like it was something out of the Old Testament. And like some prophet in of the Bible, Jackson often wandered the desert, was attacked by his enemies and endured great tribulations in order to get his message across. Jackson was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1946, one of seven children. At the age of twelve, he was abandoned by his parents and found work making Dutch pots in a furnace located in a rough district of Waterhouse. The fumes from the furnace ravaged his lungs and he was repeatedly hospitalized. When he was 17 he became seriously ill, suffering from the effects of malnutrition. While in hopsital, doctors told him that his young body was also wracked with arthritis. Physically unable to do the kind of work he had done before, Jackson hustled a living on the street, living hand to mouth for many years. By his early twenties, Jackson had become a Rastafarian, although he did not believe in the divinity of Emperor Haile Selassie. His Christian beliefs were at odds with the other Rastas he knew and he was given the nickname "Jesus Dread" as a result of his ideas. While the disagreements he had with other Rastas were usually civil, in later years Jackson would be physically threatened for his stance. Jackson's initial experience with music was not very encouraging: despite not being a very strong singer, he joined a vocal trio and just as they were about to record their first song, a member of the band went behind his back and recorded one of Jackson's tunes with another singer. Once he discovered the treachery, Jackson broke with the group and the experience made him eternally cagey about working with others. After a prolonged argument with some Rastas about spiritual matters, Jackson had a vision that compelled him to get into a recording studio to get his ideas on tape. To get the money he needed to hire a studio, Jackson returned to his previous work at the furnace, in spite of warnings from the doctors at the hospital. It took him almost two years to scrape together enough money to to buy a reel of tape and hire Dynamic studio for half an hour. Luckily, a crew of top musicians such as Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace, Earl "Chinna" Smith and Aston "Familyman" Barrett were willing to play for free, captivated by the young dread's vision and determination. The song was "Conquering Lion" (1972), one of Jackson's signature tunes and which gave him his famous nickname after the haunting chorus of "be-you, yabby yabby you..." Over the next year, Jackson released a handful of other excellent records, including "Love Thy Neighbour" and "Warn The Nation." In 1975, he released the Conquering Lion album, a true cornerstone of Jamaican roots music. From there, Jackson continued to sing and produce some of the most amazing music ever recorded in Jamaica. Although continually suspicious of the music industry, his charisma and talent attracted some of the best singers, deejays and musicians, not to mention the legendary King Tubby, whose dub mixes of Jackson's heavy and spooky songs took dub to heigher heights. For nearly forty years, Jackson crafted some of the most dynamic and intensely spiritual music of our time, despite having to deal with perpetually ill health, music industry pirates, and open hostility from many Rastas who continued to criticize his Christian beliefs. He never wavered from following his own path in his life and in his music. In 1997, Blood & Fire released the stunning 2-CD set Jesus Dread, a comprehensive set of Jackson's work from 1972-1977. Any true reggae fan will own a copy of this magnificent collection. It put the spotlight back on Jackson, whose music richly deserved a wider audience. It included four tracks recorded at the Black Ark: the stirring "Run Come Rally" and its dub, the haunting "Death Trap" by Tommy McCook and the dread "Jah Vengeance". Throughout the 2000s, Jackson re-released many of his old singles and albums, quietly trying to reclaim them from bootleg editions that had been on the market for many years. He also recorded new music including Jah Will Be Done (1997) released on the Canadian label Peacemaker Records. Vivian Jackson died of a stroke on January 12, 2010. His works live on.
December 20, 2009 Over the past couple of weeks, I've made a few changes and improvements to Eternal Thunder, mainly behind the scenes in the HTML code. The Radio Scratch archive has been redesigned to make it easier to browse, listen and download the 32 episodes of this upsetting podcast. Sadly, no new articles in 2009 for Upsetter Station, but I encourage people to check out all of the cool articles from the archives, including an excellent interview with Watty Burnett and the fascinating lowdown on the eccentric Scottish producer Lee "Scotch" Perry. The discography section has been cleaned up a bit, and I'm embarrassed to admit that I still don't have a listing of U.S. singles in there, something I've been promising since 2006. Soon come... Ron's excellent Upsetters Riddim Shower site has been given a serious overhaul. Be sure to check out the new photos page and for all you soul men, the Soul Train page makes a listing of all of the soul originals that Scratch recorded cover versions of. The Congos got together with Ras Kush and recorded a new version of their Black Ark classic "Solid Foundation". The vocal trio is in fine form, still sounding every bit as vital as they did back in 1977. The 10" single features the new version and remixes by Dougie Conscious and Jonah Dan. Check out some sound samples at the Black Redemption Sound MySpace page or order one from the Black Redemption website.
October 25, 2009 "Congo a bongo, congo ashanti..." The Congos and Lee Perry are working on a new album together. As this video at Reggae France shows, Cedric Myton, Congo Ashanty Roy, Watty Burnett and Scratch are collaborating on a new set of songs, co-produced by Scratch and a French producer in Jamaica. Hardly "back in the Black Ark" as the opening credits suggest, but with man like Boris Gardiner on bass, Dwight Pinkney on guitar and Robbie Lyn on keyboards, it's definitely a throwback to the golden days of reggae. Looks like everyone was having fun at the session — can't wait to hear the album.
Scratch's son Omar Perry has a new album out on Makasound called Can't Stop Us. Omar was first heard on record as one of the taunting children's voices in Junior Byles "The Thanks We Get." Along with his brother Sean and sister Marsha, Omar created a band called The Upsetter Juniors in the 1980s and released a lone single, "Positive Vibration". Eventually the group split and Omar spent some time with Junior Reid at his One Blood studio learning production. He then spent some time in Gambia as a radio and nightclub DJ before relocating to Belgium. He continued working as a DJ, playing all across Europe, but also got back behind the microphone as a singer. His first single, "Rasta Meditation", was produced by none other than Adrian Sherwood. Since then, Omar has also collaborated with Sly & Robbie, Mafia & Fluxy, Mad Professor and Dreadzone. His debut album, Man Free, was released in 2007 and now Omar is back with the excellent Can't Stop Us, a solid set of roots reggae which includes a cover version of one of his father's most famous productions, "Beat Down Babylon".
October 7, 2009
Check out Peter Dean Rickards' upsetting photos of the modern day Black Ark at Afflicted Yard. And then check out all of Rickards' other stunning photos.
September 2, 2009 The man Fred Locks from Holland (no, not the Fred Locks) reports that Upsetter Exchange is now back in action. Upsetter Exchange is a website where registered users can look for rare Lee Perry material. The emphasis is on rare, so if you want a copy of "Dreadlocks In Moonlight", don't bother, but if you're after a copy of "Manchoneal Jail House Wall" by High Priest, check it out! Lee Perry is on tour in the United States again and as usual journalists are anxious to get an audience with the Upsetter. Now that Scratch is giving us some more lucid comments instead of his cryptic "outerviews", they can be quite interesting to read. This interview is quite good – better than the usual misinformed attempts to write about Scratch – but I don't know where this woman got the idea that Scratch invented scratching vinyl. Everyone knows that he got his most famous nickname from his first recording, "Chicken Scratch", in 1960. On September 19 I'll be joining DJ Kode9, Ashley Beedle, Pete Holdsworth and other esteemed selecters as part of On The Wire's 25th anniversary program. On The Wire supremo Steve Barker was nice enough to invite me to the party – listen for my 45-minute reggae and dub mix on BBC Radio Lancashire between 10 am - 2 pm. Check out this upsetting artwork from Lance Mountain, inspired by the art that Jah Wise and Scratch painted on the walls of the Black Ark.
August 7, 2009 "Return Of Django" and return of the good times, return of the past, as I turn back the hands of time to the good times...
June 4, 2009 After a few years without any notable Scratch re-releases, Island/Trojan (now both under the thumb of the giant Universal) are going to upset with a deluxe 2CD version of Junior Murvin's Police And Thieves. The deluxe set looks pretty tasty, with some rare dubs and some of the seldom heard tracks that Junior cut at the Black Ark after Police And Thieves. Most of the material has already been released on collections such as Arkology and Baffling Smoke Signal, but to have all of this material in one set will be very nice. No definite release date; the Trojan website lists it as "this summer". Big up to the man Arkmaster who has relaunched www.blackark.com with a dynamite new podcast, Black Ark Sound System. It's been developed with the help of Rhygin Records, who have just released a terrific 12" from Tino Ranks and Sandollar Sound that is straight up 1960s Upsetter style instrumental groovy. The rest of their mighty 7" catalog is a must as well.
May 25, 2009 Thanks to everyone who has e-mailed me about the end of Radio Scratch. I think the best comments came from James:
I also got this great messagel from the man Nico in Amsterdam. He was listening to a Radio Scratch episode and was reminded about his chance encounter with the Upsetter:
The idea that Radio Scratch is being heard around the world is very cool. Despite these good vibes coming my way, I still don't have any plans to start doing the podcast again on a regular basis. It wasn't an easy decision for me to end Radio Scratch, but I don't think I can do anything new or interesting with it and felt that the time was right to pull the plug. Other than these nice e-mails, all is quiet with the Upsetter. I don't know of any new projects, tours or re-releases. It's been awhile since Pressure Sounds or Heartbeat gave us something new from the vaults. Soon come?
March 14, 2009 After three upsetting years of Radio Scratch, I have decided to upset and stop producing any new episodes. I feel that I have taken the podcast as far as it can go. I have championed Scratch's new music, explored the depths of his 1970s productions, covered every era in his 40-year career and selected some of the rarest material I can find. It's getting to the point where I feel I simply can't do anything new or interesting with Radio Scratch. I'm also getting to a point in my life where noodling around on a computer is quickly losing its appeal. I need some hobbies that don't involve a keyboard or a mouse. The final episode of Radio Scratch features some of my favourite tunes from the more than 30 podcasts I have produced since 2006. Looking over three years of playlists, I'm quite proud of the podcast and grateful for all of the praise that it has gathered over the years. I'll certainly continue to update Eternal Thunder every once in awhile, but other projects are commanding more of my attention these days. There seems to be an ebb and flow with this website since I launched it way back in 1996. The past couple of years have certainly been a flow – now it's time for an ebb, a rest, some time away from regular updates and a breath of fresh air.
February 8, 2009  All will be well in the garden... Adrian Sherwood puts on his iron shirt and dubs Lee Perry out of Earth. Dubsetter, the dubwise version of The Mighty Upsetter, was just released in Japan on Beat Records and will get a UK release in May on On U Sound. I've heard a few sneak previews from the album, and it makes a very nice companion album to The Mighty Upsetter. Check out Reggae Record for a tracklisting and song samples.
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