AMG Review of Lee "Scratch" Perry Masters

Steve Leggett
All Music Guide

Jamaican producer Lee "Scratch" Perry was instrumental in the mature sound of Bob Marley & the Wailers, helping the group refine and tighten their songwriting until the Wailers were no longer simply a talented extension of their influences but an actual band with a clear vision and direction, and Perry's session musicians at the time, which included Aston "Family Man" Barrett on bass, Carlton Barrett on drums, Alva "Reggie" Lewis on guitar, and Glen Adams on keyboards, became the core of Marley's touring and recording band the rest of his career. The Wailers officially worked with Perry from August 1970 until April 1971 at Randy's, and the music from these sessions is arguably the best that Marley & the Wailers ever tracked. This set features lightly remixed versions of some of these important songs, and while the remixes are minor, they may irritate some of the Marley purists out there who have grown pretty used to these sides the way Perry mixed them, but songs like "African Herbsman," "Kaya," "Sun Is Shining," and "Duppy Conqueror" don't sound all that drastically different here, and the core vision of what Perry and the Wailers were after remains intact.