The Sound Doctor

In the '70s, Jamaican producer Lee "Scratch" Perry gained notoriety among American and British audiences largely on the basis of his pioneering production work for singers like Junior Murvin, Max Romeo, and Bob Marley. But there's still a huge and arguably equally important cache of Perry-produced recordings that never saw release outside of Jamaica. The English reggae imprint Pressure Sounds has devoted a number of releases to this rare material. One of the best is The Sound Doctor, which collects 24 singles and dub plates produced by Perry at the legendary Black Ark recording studio between 1972 and 1978. Though this set features some high-profile performers—like committed Rasta vocalist Junior Byles and swift-tongued microphone chanters Dillinger and U-Roy—most performers here will be unfamiliar to all but the most devoted reggae fans. Singer Tinga Stewart delivers a spine-tingling cover of The Undisputed Truth’s soul hit “Smiling Faces," while Chenley Duffus' meditative, Wailers-influenced roots cut “Standing on the Hill” stands as one of The Sound Doctor’s most impressive performances.