A Lee Perry – I Am The Upsetter
B King Stitt – Fire Corner
Two iconic tracks from the latter part of the 1960s are featured on a black vinyl 7″, released by the new Skank and Groove reissue label.
In early 1967, Lee Perry began overseeing recording sessions for Joe Gibbs, releasing music through the producer’s burgeoning label, Amalgamated Records. Perry struck gold immediately with the very first release on the label, Errol Dunkley’s Please Stop Your Lying . Another significant hit for Gibbs was a song Perry had recorded. This time a self-penned and performed track by Perry himself: I Am The Upsetter. This fiery tune includes a pointed message directly to Coxsone Dodd, whom Perry had departed due to personal and financial disagreements. Perry’s pivotal I Am The Upsetter laid the foundation for his signature “upsetter” persona and a string of subsequent similar themed records.
While U Roy is widely recognized as the foundation deejay from Jamaica, King Stitt, also known as ‘The Ugly One’, deserves attention as well. Active since the 1950s, it wasn’t until 1969 that he began recording with Clancy Eccles. His debut track, Fire Corner, was penned by Eccles and set to the Shu Be Doo riddim. This lively early reggae tune, featuring Stitt’s memorable line, “No matter what the people say, this sound leads the way,..”, along with playful jive-talk interjections, became a number one hit in Jamaica.