Spaghetti western's influence on Lee Perry
Related: Lee Perry - spaghetti westerns
Eastwood rides again
Clint Eastwood, Bruce Lee, and the movie world in general have also had a big impact on Lee Perry and on his music. Spaghetti westerns (Old West movies from the 1960s made in Italy, some of which starred Clint Eastwood) heavily influenced Lee Perry's work with the Upsetters during the late 1960s and early '70s. Albums such as 'Clint Eastwood', 'Eastwood Rides Again', 'The Good, The Bad & The Upsetters' and song titles such as 'For A Few Dollars More' and 'Return of Django', all suggest western movie themes.
Although Lee Perry & The Upsetters' music was 100% pure reggae, most of the songs were instrumentals, and the band was therefore free to name the songs anything they wanted to, not being restricted by song lyrics. They could have named the songs and albums in an unlimited amount of ways, but they chose to saw fit to base their material on strong, cowboy heroes.
The work by the Upsetters also features hints of sounds straight from the Old West: A cowbell mimicking horse hooves, organs imitating the music that can commonly be heard in these movies, gun shots, yelping, and many more such examples. The covers of these albums also support this spaghetti western influence, portraying people with cowboy garb, usually brandishing guns, and the setting is usually a dry desert-like area. And once again, good always defeated evil in these movies, which most definitely was to Perry's liking.--Good Always Conquers Evil: The Musical Genius of Lee Perry by Daniel & Seth Nelson, http://www.furious.com/perfect/leeperry/leeperry2.html [Jun 2004]
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