Scratch’d (Black Friday 2023)

Keith’s guitar parts for “Heavy Voodoo” and its dubplate companion “Who Dares Dub’ were recorded in New York City sessions for the 2008 Lee “Scratch” Perry album, Scratch Came, Scratch Saw, Scratch Conquered. Shortly after Keith’s contributions were laid down, Scratch set to work at his home in Einsiedeln, Switzerland, jamming live on mic alongside Keith’s new guitar parts. Lee’s Swiss-mountain lair was not strictly for recording, but the combination art studio, shrine and junk yard with its view of a valley and up into the snow-capped Alpine peaks, added its own influence to the recordings.

Captured on portable recording gear with Lee using his special sacred jewel-encrusted Shure microphone, the Voodoo was indeed Heavy that day. A year later, Keith was back in the same New York studio to record parts for “Books Of Moses,” for what would become Scratch’s Grammy-nominated 2010 album, Revelation. This time Keith stripped out the original track and replaced everything except the drums and organ with multiple instrumental takes of his own: bass guitar, Wurlitzer organ, acoustic piano, big drum boom and his inimitable RnB guitar riffs. Once again, vocals wizardry was added in Switzerland, in another Transcontinental collaboration.

Scratch and Keith finally got together in person in 2013 when Keith invited Scratch to New York to mix Keith’s cover of the Gregory Isaacs gem ”Love Overdue.” It would be the final pairing of these two musical minds, but their small body of work was infused with magic, history, mystery, and prophecy all at once.

SCRATCH’D, the Record Story Day Exclusive vinyl EP, includes the original vocal versions, “Books Of Moses” and “Heavy Voodoo,” plus new instrumental cuts, “Moses Books” (Dub Mix) and ‘Who Dares” (Dub Mix), which feature Keith’s guitar on the frontline.