Reggae master a spiritual being: LEE SCRATCH PERRY

18.09.05
By Scott Kara

Lee "Scratch" Perry is guilty of arson. He did it. In 1979, after two days of aimless wandering and hammer wielding on the streets of Kingston, Jamaica, he burned down his own Black Ark Studios, a place where he had recorded many a reggae and dub masterpiece.

Perry, who plays the Studio on K Rd tomorrow with the Mad Professor, was arrested but released without being charged because of lack of evidence. Today though, the man behind some of Bob Marley's best music, is adamant: "I didn't do anything wrong. I had to burn [it] down."

For Perry, burning the Ark was a matter of life and death. After he recorded the Congos' classic album, Heart of the Congos - one of reggae's best albums - he realised the Ark had to be destroyed because it housed too many "demons".

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