''Super Ape'' is a
dub studio album written, produced and engineered by
Lee "Scratch" Perry
Lee "Scratch" Perry (born Rainford Hugh Perry; 20 March 1936 – 29 August 2021) was a Jamaican record producer, songwriter and singer noted for his innovative studio techniques and production style. Perry was a pioneer in the 1970s development ...
, credited to his studio band
the Upsetters
The Upsetters was the name given to the house band for Jamaican reggae producer Lee "Scratch" Perry. The name of the band comes from Perry's nickname of Upsetter, after his song "I Am the Upsetter", a musical dismissal of his former boss Coxs ...
.
In
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
, the album was released under the name ''Scratch the Super Ape'' in July 1976 on Perry's own Upsetter label. The Jamaican version had a different track order than the international version that was released in August the same year on
Island Records
Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...
.
The album was listed in the 1999 book ''The Rough Guide: Reggae: 100 Essential CDs''.
''Super Ape'' was reissued on November 29, 2013 as
Record Store Day
Record Store Day is a semi-annual event established in 2008 to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". Held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November, the day brings together f ...
Black Friday double vinyl release with three extra tracks: "Rastaman Shuffle", "Magic Touch" and "Corn Fish Dub". Side 4 featured an etching of the ''Super Ape'' album cover art.
Track listing
All tracks composed by Lee "Scratch" Perry
Side one
#"Zion's Blood"
#"Croaking Lizard"
#"Black Vest"
#"Underground"
#"Curly Dub"
Side two
#"Dread Lion"
#"Three in One"
#"Patience"
#"Dub Along"
#"Super Ape"
Personnel
*Lee Perry –
producer,
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...
,
conga
The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest ...
*Michael "Mikey Boo" Richards –
drums
The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
*Anthony "Benbow" Creary – drums
*
Noel "Skully" Simms – conga
*
Boris Gardiner
Boris Gardiner (born 13 January 1943) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter and bass guitarist. He was a member of several groups during the 1960s before recording as a solo artist and having hit singles with " Elizabethan Reggae" (in 1970), " I Wan ...
–
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Wood
* Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
*
Earl "Chinna" Smith
Earl "Chinna" Smith (born 6 August 1955), a.k.a. Earl Flute and Melchezidek the High Priest,Johnson, Richard (2013)The Melchizedek way, ''Jamaica Observer'', 6 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013 is a Jamaican guitarist active since the late ...
–
guitar
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
*
Keith Sterling
Keith Sterling (born Keith Sterling-McLeod, January 1952, Kingston, Jamaica)Larkin, Colin (2006) ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', 4th edn., OUP USA, , p. 743 is a piano and keyboard player.
Biography
Keith Sterling is a well-respected Jam ...
– piano
*
Bobby Ellis
Bobby Ellis OD (2 July 1932 – 18 October 2016) was a Jamaican trumpet player. He worked with many reggae artists including Peter Tosh, Burning Spear and The Revolutionaries.
Biography
Born in Kingston on 2 October 1932, Bobby Ellis attended ...
– horns
*
"Dirty" Harry Hall – horns
*
Herman Marquis
Herman Marquis is a Jamaican saxophone musician who has played with many reggae artists including Burning Spear. He recorded for Arthur "Duke" Reid in the 1960s and was a member of The Revolutionaries and The Upsetters in the 1970s.Barrow, Steve ...
– horns
*
Vin Gordon
Vin Gordon (a.k.a. Trommie, Don D. Junior or Don Drummond Jr) (born 4 August 1949) is a Jamaican trombone player.
Biography
Gordon grew up in Jones Town, Kingston, Jamaica as one of eight children. He went to Kingston's Catholic Alpha Boys Sc ...
–
trombone
The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...
*Egbert Evans – flute
*
Prince Jazzbo
Linval Roy Carter (3 September 1951 – 11 September 2013), better known as Prince Jazzbo, was a Jamaican reggae and dancehall Deejay (Jamaican), deejay and record producer, producer.
Career
Born in Clarendon Parish, Jamaica, and raised in King ...
–
toasting on "Croaking Lizard"
*
Barry Llewellyn –
backing vocals
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...
*
Earl Morgan – backing vocals
*
Tony Wright – cover art
References
{{Authority control
The Upsetters albums
1976 albums
Albums produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry
Dub albums
Island Records albums