People Funny Boy: The Genius of Lee 'Scratch' Perry

(Hardback)

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Description

'David Katz's in-depth portrayal of his genius is to be commended and is an essential addition to any serious music fan's collection' David Rodigan MBE OD

'For the complete picture of this musical genius you can't get better than David Katz's People Funny Boy - if you're into Scratch, it's essential' Don Letts

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 and expanded edition has been thoroughly updated and completely overhauled to render a more nuanced, accurate and accessible read, with new information on Perry's later years, including his Grammy Award, cessation of herb smoking and final passing, as well as previously unpublished information about his early life, his unique relationship with Marley, and his fabled Black Ark studio.

Reviews

Lee Perry was one of Reggae's most enigmatic creators; an incomparable phenomenon who's sonic sound waves transformed out lives. David Katz's in-depth portrayal of his genius is to be commended and is an essential addition to any serious music fan's collection -- David Rodigan MBE OD

Lee 'Scratch' Perry blew my 13 year old mind back in '69 with a track called 'Tackro'. From that time till this the surreal sonic adventures of Jamaica's Salvador Dali of sound have been an essential part of my life. For the complete picture of this musical genius you can't get better than David Katz's People Funny Boy - if you're into Scratch, it's essential

-- Don Letts

Lee Perry's importance in the reggae sphere is that he nurtured much Jamaican roots talent, including Bob Marley and his backing musicians. His legacy contains some of the finest reggae recordings known to appreciators of the genre. People should read this book to discover more

-- Dennis Bovell
A biography that, in many ways, is the story of an entire musical genre . . . If his story is not the greatest ever told, then it is certainly one of the most entertaining, and Katz duly relates many of the more lunatic anecdotes . . . Seldom less than definitive * Q *
Going beyond the standard portrait . . . Katz offers up a vast tome that works as a psychological portrait of a complex artist, and a fascinating history of post-war Jamaican music and culture . . . Marvellous stuff * Mojo *

An exhaustive, brilliantly researched and well-written biography . . . Every recording and motivation is detailed, along with his legion of eccentricities . . . A very good tale

* NME *

[Katz's] perseverance has paid off, creating a detailed portrait wide enough in focus to take in all the people around Perry - nearly the whole of the Jamaican scene . . . This book is especially strong on the music, guiding us through the minefield of his enormous output from the Sixties and Seventies

* The Times *

Everything in Katz's biography is well documented . . . Fascinating . . . A must-read for the legion of Jamaican music fans world-wide

* Independent on Sunday *
Thoroughly engrossing -- Martin Chilton * INDEPENDENT *
This weighty, in depth and definitive tome is not to be passed up. * ELECTRONIC SOUND *

Author Bio

DAVID KATZ has written about the sounds and culture of Jamaica since 1984. His work has appeared in the Guardian, Newsweek, Mojo, Q, Wax Poetics, and The Wire, and in various music books. He has produced documentaries for radio, contributed to documentaries and feature films, and remains active as a vinyl DJ. Originally from San Francisco, he currently lives in London.