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Untitled 1
from
Eternal Thunder -
The Upsetters Biography - by Mick Sleeper
Along with ska giants The
Skatalites, The Upsetters were one of the most important bands in Jamaican music.
Which is unusual, since for the most part The Upsetters were never really a band. The name
refers to a variety of musicians who played as Lee Perry's studio band from 1968 - 1979,
so the floating line-up causes some confusion as to figuring out who played what on which
record and when.
The band got its start in
1968, when Perry decided to start his own record label, Upsetter Records, and needed a
house band to back up the variousvocalists he was producing. Unable to afford any of the
big name session players, Perry began to use a floating line up of musicians, including Gladdy
Anderson and Winston Wright (keyboards), Jackie Jackson (bass), Hugh
Malcolm and Lloyd "Tin Legs" Adams (drums), and Hux Brown
(guitar). Perry convinced them that he was going to mash up the place; soon after Gladdy's
All Stars became known as The Upsetters. Both the band and Perry's new label were named
after his current nickname, due to his 1967 hit "I Am The Upsetter".
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The Upsetters in Randy's studio, 1969.
L-R: Aston 'Family Man' Barrett, Carlton 'Carly' Barrett,
Alva 'Reggie' Lewis, Glen 'Capo' Adams
(courtesy of J. Collingwood, YALP)
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| With Perry at the controls, The Upsetters recorded some of the deadliest reggae
instrumentals ever, often inspired by spaghetti westerns and spy movies: "Return Of
Django", "Man From MI5", "Live Injection", and many more. In
1969, "Return Of Django" became a top ten hit in England, and Perry's crew
attracted enough attention for a six week tour of Europe, a first for a reggae band.
However, due to circumstances beyond Perry's control, Gladdy's All Stars weren't able to
go on the tour. Perry approached a young band he knew called The Hippy Boys, who at
the time were doing work for another young producer, Edward "Bunny" Lee. The
Hippy Boys consisted of Glen Adams on keyboards, Alva "Reggie" Lewis
on guitar, Aston "Family Man" Barrett on bass and his brother Carlton
on drums. This line up is usually credited as being the original Upsetters band, but it
was in fact Gladdy's All Stars who were the first Upsetters. (Jackson, Anderson, Wright,
and Brown later mashed up the place as part of Toots & The Maytals' unstoppable band). |
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Lee Perry (centre), 1976, with musicians,
including Max Romeo (in white) and Clancy Eccles (in denim jacket)
(photographer Kim Gottlieb-Walker:
http://www.Lenswoman.com)
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When the new Upsetters returned from their European jaunt, The Wailers began a
groundbreaking collaboration with Lee Perry. The sessions were a major turning point for
everyone involved, and for the history of Jamaican music. Between Bob Marley and Lee Perry
it will probably never be known who really influenced who on the sessions, but the music
was pure magic. Perry and Marley slowed down and loosened the tight beat and thus began
the second, more influential wave of reggae. In the shadows of these two giants, it has
slowly been revealed over the years that keyboardist Glen Adams also had a definite
contribution to the music, acting as Perry's chief arranger. In 1971, The Wailers /
Upsetters collaboration ended in a clash over the money and songwriting credits involved,
and Bob Marley took the Barrett brothers with him to join The Wailers, thus dissolving the
most famous Upsetters line-up.
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The Upsetters, c.1978 including Hermann Marquis,
Richard 'Dirty Harry' Hall, Lee Perry, Errol 'Tarxan' Nelson,
Boris Gardiner, Felix 'Deadly Headly' Bennet, Winston Wright,
Robert 'Billy' Johnson, George Faith, Junior Murvin and Cedric Myton
(courtesy of Palm Pictures, photographer Adrian Boot)
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By 1972, The Upsetters were a true "floating" band. Perry decided to forego a
permanent line-up and simply used the best musicians he could find at the time; if they
played for Scratch, they became Upsetters. During the Black Ark era (1974 - 1979), the
core of the band was Boris Gardiner on bass, drummers Mikey Richards, Sly
Dunbar, and Benbow Creary, Earl "Chinna" Smith on guitar, and Winston
Wright and Keith Stirling on keyboards. Some of the other notable Upsetters
have been Skatalites founder Tommy McCook, veteran jazz king Val Bennett
(who provided the blazing sax on "Return of Django"), guitar giant Ernest
Ranglin, and trombone ace Vin Gordon. The last time a band named The Upsetters
worked with Perry was on his 1986 album Battle Of Armagideon.
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The
Upsetters 1968 - 1986
Bass
Aston "Family Man" Barrett, Jackie Jackson, Boris Gardiner, Radcliffe Bryan,
Robbie Shakespeare, Spike
Drums
Carlton Barrett, Lloyd "Tin Leg" Adams, Lloyd Knibb, Mikey Richards, Sly Dunbar,
Benbow Creary, Winston Grennan, Hugh Malcolm, Peng
Keyboards
Glen Adams, Winston Wright, Ansel Collins, Gladstone Anderson, Keith Stirling, Theophilus
Beckford, Robbie Lyn, Augustus Pablo, Mark Downie, Russ Cummings
Guitar
Alva Lewis, Hux Brown, Earl "Chinna" Smith, Ron Williams, Ernest Ranglin, Willie
Lindo, Michael Chung, Robert Johnson, Geoffrey Chung, Mark Downie, Tarlok Mann
Saxophone
Val Bennett, Tommy McCook, Richard "Dirty Harry" Hall, Glen DaCosta, Lloyd
Clarke
Horns
Vin Gordon, Ron Wilson, Bobby Ellis, David Madden, Egbert Evans, Trevor Jones
Vocals
Lee Perry, Dave Barker, Leo Graham, Max Romeo, Jah Lion
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