Part 2: To drive away the Devil!

This is the second part of Ramiro Zwetsch's text, "To scare away the devil", where you learn more details about the history of reggae involving the greatest exponents of Jamaican rhythm. If you haven't read the first part of this column, click the link below:  Part 1: To scare away the Devil!.

THE LOST ARK

It's not an exaggeration. “Soul Rebels” is almost a primer for the evolution of reggae from then on. The partnership with Perry, however, fell apart. The Wailers joined the Barrett brothers in their formation, signed a contract with the Island record label in 1972 and led to a new revolution in reggae with the albums “Burnin’” and “Catch a Fire” – both released in 1973 and produced by white Anglo-Jamaican Chris Blackwell, owner of Island. Perry was resentful. "It was Bob who organized everything, with Blackwell's money. They took my musicians. But I don't hold any grudges with Aston and Carlton because money speaks louder", he said, in a 1984 interview. Despite the unhealed wounds, Marley and Perry remained friends throughout the 70s. While the Wailers definitively conquered the world, the producer continued his studio experiments and would be recognized as one of the most responsible for the dub craze in the same period. Before succumbing to the ashes, the fertile Black Ark gave birth to a handful of notorious reggae and dub albums: “Police And Thieves” by Junior Murvin (1977), “Party Time” by the Heptones (1977), and “Super Ape” by The Upsetters (1976) are a few examples. The aforementioned “War In a Babylon” is another. Max Romeo was a member of the Upsetters in a formation prior to the partnership with the Wailers. Until then, he had only one solo album, “Reveletion Time” (from 1975). Considered “essential for any reggae collection” by All Music Guide, “War In a Babylon” reverberates not only for the chemistry between Perry and Max Romeo. The hot sound drips with the sweat of a speech inspired by the heat of the Jamaican political scene.

BABYLON BOILS

On the eve of the presidential elections, the atmosphere was tense in the streets and police violence was widespread. The scenario was projected in the lyrics of “War In A Babylon”: War In a Babylon (War In Babylon) Tribal War In A Babylon (Tribal War in Babylon) It Sipple Out Deh (?????) The Policeman No Like The Dreadlocks Man (Cops Don't Like Dreadlocks) The Dreadlocks Man No Like The Policeman, No" (Dreadlocks Don't Like Cops). These verses were accompanied by a bass line that made Bob Marley famous and punctuated by torn backing vocals led by Marcia Griffiths (performer of the hit “Feel Like Jumping” and one of the three voices of the group I-Threes, who accompanied the Wailers). "The idea came from what was happening, from the new wave of violence that was taking place. We decided to write a song about that situation and Perry gave the idea. He said 'it rough out a street, things sipple out there'. I just added 'War In a Babylon, a sipple out there', and we started writing the lyrics. Those were good days, Lee Perry got the best of me", said Max Romeo in a 1994 interview. The song is the last on side A of the vinyl - the same face it offers to the listener the other two best tracks on the album: “One Step Forward” and “Chase The Devil”. The first opens the album with a direct message to Michael Manley, Jamaican Prime Minister. The lines “One Step Forward, Two Step backward (One step forward, two backwards)” introduced the lyrics – a suggestion that the politician was not fulfilling his socialist commitments and was stuck with the United States and the United Kingdom. The arrangement accommodates the melancholic melody in the foreground and, in the first track of the album, Romeo gives a sample of where his voice will reach throughout the album. His falsetto takes the song into trance naturally, without excess.

THE EXORCIST

The same combination gains weight and balance in “Chase The Devil” – perhaps the creative peak of the partnership between Perry and Romeo. The groove of the track, with vocals and everything, served as inspiration for Prodigy to bring reggae to breakbeat in “Out Of Space” and the chorus became relatively well-known among electronic music devotees. The original version, infinitely better, takes reggae to ecstasy. The bass line floats slickly as if dodging the dry stabs of the rhythm guitar on the backbeat. Everything very simple and well put together. The base heats up Romeo's timbre and the alchemy boils. While the lyrics speak in sinister verses about a quarrel with the devil, the instrumental cauldron bubbles. "Lee Perry wrote the lyrics. He had some controversy with the devil, I don't know if he had any obsession with doing something about the devil. He came up with the song about hanging the devil, which talked about cutting his throat and throwing him into the fire. So I said, 'You don't need to do that. Let’s just hunt him down and send him to another dimension so he can find a new race.’” says the interpreter in the liner notes of “Arkology”. Lucifer son of the mourning, I’m gonna chase you out of earth! (Lucifer, son of lamentation, I will hunt you) I’m gonna put on a iron shirt, and chase satan out of earth (I'm going to wear an iron shirt and hunt Satan around the world) I’m gonna put on a iron shirt, and chase the devil out of earth (I'm going to wear an iron shirt to hunt Satan around the world) I’m gonna send him to outa space, to find another race (I'll send you to another dimension, to find a new race) I’m gonna send him to outa space, to find another race (I will send you to another dimension, to find a new race)” This triad of classics alone elevates “War In a Babylon” to the status of a reggae classic – and this finding only gains argument with the other tracks on the album. Max Romeo attributes part of the success to the magic that Black Ark exuded under Lee Perry's spell. “No one knows what technique Perry used because he superimposed layers to fill the four canals. It was wonderful. The vibe of Black Ark was unique", described the performer to "The Rough Guide To Reggae". Unfortunately for reggae, the partnership between Perry and Romeo stopped there. The disagreements between them became unbearable and each followed their own path in music.