Putting Perry on video
VIDEOGRAPHER Jay Will has the distinct honour in shooting the only music video that pioneer producer/artiste Lee “Scratch” Perry ever did — that was 13 years ago. According to him, the project has had a lasting impact.
“It was very great because he was such an iconic figure and definitely a pioneer for reggae music and its culture. He was a shape-shifter and altered sounds and styles in music. There’s no name that you could call bigger than his. Getting an opportunity to work with a such a legend was a memorable experience,” he told the Jamaica Observer.
The video was for the Perry’s raunchy song titled P*m P*m. It was shot in one day in New Kingston.
Jay Will (given name Jason Williams) added that Perry’s idiosyncratic nature formed a huge part of how the production turned out.
“He was very different and very vocal. He was like a mad scientist. He was like an ‘out there’ character. I mean, he dyed his hair, beard and eyebrows…there’s nobody that could ever compare to him. His history is very deep and very unique,” he said.
The enigmatic producer/artiste died on August 29 at the Noel Holmes Hospital in Lucea, Hanover. He was 85.
Jay Will, who has been in the industry for 22 years, said he was recruited by Nar Nack Records, the label to which Perry was signed to complete the video.
He also said this was his first interaction with Perry. However, he was familiar with his work which he researched.
“I did a lot of reading on who he was so I knew he was just iconic. This was somebody who had Bob Marley sitting on his floor teaching him how to hold a note and wrote music for The Wailers. He burned down his studio and moved to Switzerland and somehow, after 40 years he came back. So, there was no way I could’ve met him because this controversial reggae icon was not in Jamaica for decades. The music video was actually shot shortly after he returned,” he said.
After the video shoot, Jay Will would’ve seen Perry on multiple other occasions.
“I saw him when he was travelling on tour with Ky-Mani Marley and always spoke to him and his wife. She’s very lovely. I would always see him at different shows. A couple years ago I saw him at one of the large shows out here, I think it was Rebel Salute,” he added.
Perry, who recorded as an artiste in the late 1960s and 1970s, was in demand throughout Europe and parts of the United States. In 2003, he won a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album for titled Jamaican E T.
Perry was conferred with the Order of Distinction from the Jamaican Government for his contribution to Jamaican music in 2012.