Perry, Lee "Sratch" - Cutting Razor (Heartbeat)
Reviewed by Sadie O., 8/9/05
70's rarities by the crazed genius roots reggae producer. Like many "rarities from the vaults" collections, there are good reasons a few of these were not released. A few gems make it worth keeping around, otherwise you'd be better off with his hundreds of proper studio releases. Little of his famous maniacal dub work is evident - these are just various singers and toasters on early roots rock reggae cuts. All mid-tempo Artists are listed on the back CD cover. No discernable FCCs.
Track 11 is worth the price of admission. 9 (with or without 8 attached) and 14 also fine.
1. 2:56 earlier version of Peter Tosh's hit "Stepping Razor", but not as menacing.
2. 2:35 pleasant example of mixed "toasting" and singing.
3. 3:37 sweet Junior Murvin love song showcasing his soulful falsetto.
4. 6:58 **Lee himself singing, mostly pretty sane, but little here is QUITE on key. Lots of odd little noises. Fun, but a bit long.
5. 3:17 *not a brilliant song (check some other Heptones stuff for that), but lovely 3-part harmonies and some fine bass work.
6. 3:37 **exactly the same as the classic hit, but maybe better mastered.
7. 3;10 horn-based instrumental, occasionally way off-key.
8. 3:19 **song blasting Obeah-worker (Jamaican voodoo) - interesting!
9. 3:44 ***toast version of track 8 (no gap between) - you can really smell the pot smoke here!
10. 3:02 catchy vocal trio number, very sparse production.
11. 3:31 ***crazy shit! One of JA's best toasters meets Perry's little kids for some no-holds-barred weirdness over a Mighty Diamonds dub track. Play it loud and often!
12. 4:05 **beautiful harmonies from this unknown group, with some of Perry's trademark weirdness right at the end.
13. 4:44 some chick singing a really bad song REALLY badly. Not even so bad it's funny, just AWFUL. There really is such a thing as smoking too much potŠ
14. 3:09 ***fine (non-falsetto) vocals from Murvin, fun percussion and production with more than a touch of spaciness.
15. 3:32 pleasant three-part harmony by unknown singers.
16. 6:56 Rastafarian Sunday-schoolŠ gets dub-wise towards the end.
17. 3:19 bubbly and harmless.