Osbourne Ruddock, aka King Tubby, and Lee Scratch Perry together were instrumental in giving the world two new genres of music, Dub and Reggae. Though the two had very different styles and attitudes, their combined work was revolutionary for Jamaican music and created a worldwide phenomenon. King Tubby’s technical know-how and obsessive perfectionism as a sonic engineer helped him gain notoriety on the small island, so much so that albums were getting sold just because his name was on them[1]. Perry on the other hand was a fiery young songwriter/producer who, through a thick cloud of ganja smoke, let his madness take control of the music he was creating, and in doing so, invented many production techniques that are still heavily used in today’s music, such as sampling and very experimental recording techniques.
Both men came up in Jamaica’s music industry through working with the country’s biggest producers, Perry with Clement “Coxsone” Dodd, and Tubby with Duke Reid, and each gained a great deal of experience and skills with these experiences. In fact, it was while working for Treasure Isle studio under Reid, that King Tubby accidentally stumbled upon the beginnings of Dub. He accidentally left out some of the vocals on a track while cutting the record. He listened to the track, expecting failure, but what he heard was something far different, he realized that the spaciousness that the missing vocals provided actually increased the sonic quality of the track, thus the roots of Dub were born1. During his time at Treasure Island, King Tubby continued to expand his technical abilities due to the fact that sound systems would regularly be damaged or sabotaged by rival companies and need to be repaired. He ultimately was able to design his signature Home Town Hi-Fi system, which included some heavy-duty echo and reverberation effects, which would later be used to craft Dub music.
In 1972 Perry and King Tubby began working together on an album that would effectively put Dub on the map. The album Blackboard Jungle Dub was only released in Jamaica and they only made 300 copies but the techniques used on the album are still evident in much of today’s music[2]. Full of jittery rhythms, sampled audio, growls and screams by Perry, and of course King Tubby’s sonic mastery of the craft of dub, that he was virtually inventing, Blackboard Jungle Dub was the first full Dub album and began a style that would be heavily embraced in Jamaica and techniques that would be used world-wide.
Lee “Scratch” Perry and King Tubby completely changed the face of music in Jamaica and influenced music throughout the world. Tubby provided the sonic and technical know how to effectively use heavy effects to full in the minimalist approach to Dub music and is also known as an innovator of the remix[3]. Perry’s madman approach to creating music helped shaped the more upbeat and jittery sound of Reggae in contrast to earlier forms of Jamaican music. He is also a great innovator in the use of recorded audio samples and some very unique recording techniques that he developed in his home Black Ark Studio.
It is very apparent how the music from both of these men has helped create the styles of Reggae and Dub music. What I appreciate most when listening to their music is their vision. I really like the sample of the baby crying on Perry’s “People Funny Boy”; in fact I myself have used the sounds of my daughter babbling and crying in several of my tracks. I also really like the minimalist vibe of Blackboard Jungle Dub and how it allows the effects to breathe and gives them a sort of life.
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