Q: Do you still got the mastertapes to those recordings?

A: I can put my hands on them, yeah. Actually I did have some others too that.. my storage method was incorrect (laughs)! I didn´t have them in a real good storage location and the damn tapes got co-roaded. Lost those, yeah. It's a pity. The technology.. If I had DAT (Digital Audio Tape) at that time..! Oh, my God, y´know! I could put it in my computer now and have it for life, CDs, you know. I also had a master that was stolen out of a car. And never could put my hands on them again. Just lost music. Somebody broke into the car, stole all the records that we had, some vinyls pressed.. just had done a pressing, y´know. Stole the vinyls and probably took the tapes away. Talk about.. Oh man, I hurt for years! You see, you can read them songs, Peter, but you can´t get back vibes. I have done some music, man.. that I have tried to redo, to no avail! Can´t get the vibe back. There was a certain sound and a certain feeling in the song. No matter how many times I´d redo, can´t get it, can´t get it... So if you lose it, you´d lost everything. You would never get "it" back. And I still have some recordings that was done from that time period. I have them and can get my hands on the masters, that's gonna be on the next project that I´m releasing. Double-CD. You´ll see what I mean. It's either the original or nothing (laughs)! I can´t redo them. I can´t.. There's something that you can add to help enhance it, or sweeten it. But you just can´t tamper with it.

Q: Yeah, there's so much unnecessary overdubs on old stuff . I mean, would you "update" a painting for example?

A: Yeah, you change the whole pace, that's correct. If you touch it, man - it's gone! It's finished.

Q: You decided, obviously, to go back to Jamaica, in the mid 70s. For what reason? When was your service in the military by the way?

A: Well, I joined the military ´72. I tell you what happened: The truth of the matter is I was doing music full-time, OK? And we were away like upstate New York and I played with a guy named Bumps. His name is Keith Jackson, he was the bass player for Byron Lee & The Dragonaries in Jamaica. I played with guys like Trevor Thompson, they call him ´Sparrow´ - drummer. He played with Now Generation when I was there. You know, back in Jamaica too before I came to the States I was in a band called Now Gen, and it was one of the top bands. It had Mikey Chung in it, Geoffrey Chung, Val Douglas on bass. We were hot stuff back then, y´know. And this was prior to my coming to the States. Where were I again..? Ah, joining the military, yes. But we were away in upstate New York for an extended period of time. See, what always bothered me about music was my ability, or inability, to make a living at or off it, you know what I mean? I said to myself, if I´m gonna do this thing full-time then I´ve got to be able to make a living out of it. And it wasn´t happening that way, Peter, and I was getting older and more serious about life. In retrospect, and sometimes I look back, and I say to myself, "If I had stayed in music, from that time until now, where would I be"? I tried to answer that question. And, it's tough! Because some of the guys who stuck it out didn´t do too good, y´know what I mean? So I had to make a decision at that time - I´m getting older... nah (laughs)! Not that old, but you know..? You get older, and you start to look at different things now: "where am I gonna be in ten years"? "What am I gonna do with my life"? That kinda thing. And I had just come back from upstate New York. It was a good gig, making good money. But I didn´t see anything on the horizon. Extended! I saw gigs - one this Saturday, maybe one in the next two weeks, you know what I mean? The next month, down the road, you´ve got a gig coming up. Two months.. No, I could not plan my life on "one gig here, one gig there". So from that I made the decision to join the army.

Q: How did you feel about that - such a move, to join the military?

A: I said that "I´m gonna get away, clear my head, and see what I really wanna do, and in two years I´ll be back" (laughs). And, it never happened that way.. I never came back in two years (laughs)! I did twenty years in the military, so..

Q: Oh..

A: Yes, so.. But, I never left music alone.

Q: But how did you find the military life then?

A: I found it.. The discipline, I think I needed that. Not that I wasn´t disciplined myself. I think I excelled in that situation because I had some discipline from my family birth. I found military life easily adapted to. It was no problem. I liked the idea that you belonged to something. I liked the idea that everybody was doing the same or heading in the same direction. The feeling of belonging that you get when you are surrounded with people with like-minds, y´know? It's awesome when the unit is functioning and at a high level. It's really awesome. So, I found a home to tell you the truth. But, I always included in my home.. my music. My music went everywhere. I was in Vietnam playing music. In the USO club, or something.

Q: This was before the war was over?

A: Before the war was over, yeah. I was in Hawaii after Vietnam, playing music.. You know, doing stage shows. I mean, I went to Germany and worked the club circuit for two years. Never left music alone. I did all forms of music. There was a time in my military life when I didn´t know reggae. Strictly r&b. We auditioned for a recording company, you know what I mean? Rhythm & Blues. I´m writing r&b songs. You had no idea that I was this Jamaican guy who used to sing in Keith & Tex, y´know! That I was singin´ rock steady music. In other words; music was always a part of my life. Whether it was gospel when I was a kid, in my father's church, or with Keith & Tex for Derrick Harriott. Or singing r&b in the military, during that time period. Or now, when I produce hip-hop, rappers, y´know. And still recording for myself. The bottom line is; no matter what happened around me, music was always there. In some form or another.

Q: So, what about this move to JA in the mid 70s, when you met up with Perry again?

A: Yeah, I was stationed in New Jersey and so I was frequently in New York. I mean, I was in New York like four days out of a week. And I was communing. There was this Festival Song competition, the first one in New York, in ´75, and I entered. I sang that song ´Out of Many, We Are One´.

Q: Can you remember any other acts who participated in that festival? I know about one such festival in New York, at this time, where singers like Carlton Coffie and K.C. White performed?

A: Yeah, K.C. White. I don´t know about Carlton Coffie. Carlton and I are good friends by the way.. and K.C too. K.C went to my high-school also. Audrey Hall, Pam Hall's sister, she was in that festival. Lord Stupid (laughs)! He was in that festival. I´m thinking Pat Satchmo was in that festival too.

Q: "Pretty bwoy Pat Satchmo", as Keith Poppin would say..

A: Yeah man, I knew him (Pat) from Jamaica. You know, we were friends from Jamaica, some of those guys.. So, I won the competition with that song. One of the prizes was.. I got some money plus I had a first class round-trip ticket from Air Jamaica - to Jamaica. So, I went home! And so while I was down there "seh you know what? Scratch is only across the street, mek me go check him out! See if he has any session going on", y´know. So when I seh "wha´pn Scratch? Wha´ gwaan?" .. and we start talking. And the music came up, and I say "yeah man, I have some original music". Him seh "well, yu waan do a t´ing"? I said "yes man"! I had some originals that I brought with me. So, I think he sent a little boy to find some people (laughs). Next thing we had five guys, and we had a session going (laughs).

Q: At the Ark.. What was the scene like there for you?

A: Well, I tell you what! For the first time it was nothing close to what I had had with Derrick Harriott. You know what I´m saying? This was roots at its very best! I mean, I talked earlier about vibes. And some songs that you just can´t mess with. Well, the vibes I got from that session, and I think you can hear it in the song - the way I was singin´ it, the songs that I did, the vibes was just different, man. It was totally new to me. Refreshingly new and pleasant, and it was just so different from Derrick Harriott and that kinda session, y´know. A totally different level of artistic desire. I wanted to sing my ass off!

Q: I can hear that!

A: Yeah!! I really wanted to sing! I wanted to tell what it was in that look! I´m singin´ - listen up! And that's the kinda vibe I got, man! That man did so much with them four tracks. Bwoy, I tell you.. four tracks! Four damn tracks, and he mixed the hell out of them songs!

Q: He didn´t give your songs that wild, atmospheric mix he gave so many other songs during that time, more like a strict approach to the sound of them?

A: For him, yeah. For him it was, I think he..

Q: I think he gave it a more raw feel, more suitable to your r&b type of singing?

A: I think he didn´t wanna mess with it too much, y´know? He did a couple of things in the mix but for the most part he left all of them alone. I think I did three or four songs on that session.

Q: So who came up with the idea to do ´That Girl´, the Gene Chandler song?

A: Yeah, but it's not the same song! It's an original, my friend. My ´Groovy Situation´ is an original. ´That Girl´, that's a totally different song. His go: (sings) ´oh, its a groovy situation na na na-na naa..´. Only thing they have in common is those words - ´Groovy Situation´. Totally different.

Q: And you did on that Black Ark session ´Living My Life´ as well. An original too?

A: Yes, also original. All the songs I did for Scratch was originals.

Q: What about the release of that tune?

A: Yeah, this is what Scratch did; we had made a deal, right? This is one of the (laughs).. the business is so.. you know!? Like, "this is the deal", and we both shook on it. Nothing in writing though. I got a copy of the master and my area of distribution, so "I´m gonna take care of distributing this music in the States, you got England and Jamaica". Right? The next thing I know.. what's this guys name..? Clancy?

Q: Clancy Eccles?

A: No, not Eccles. In the Bronx, having my song, distributing it. In other words; Scratch gave him a copy of the master for him to go ahead and do a press on it.

Q: There's this store and label owner (the late) Brad Osbourne who did US distribution for Perry's product for a while?

A: Brad! Brad, yeah!! Brad it is! Brad in the Bronx.

Q: He was behind this Clocktower imprint if you recall that? Got shot some twenty years back.

A: Yep, yep, yep! Exactly, him! Yeah, he´s dead now. You got it, man. You got it! So, he did that, and right away he took away the control I had in the States. By being greedy! Scratch didn´t have to do that! I could´ve given it to Brad myself! The next thing I know, this is now 1976, I am in Germany and I occasionally know that my wife, she used to buy the music magazines released out of England.

Q: Like Black Music, Black Echoes and so forth?

A: Yeah, but she used to bring those home ´cos she worked in Frankfurt. And so she brought one magazine home one week and then I opened inside, reading it. Guess what showed up - number one on the chart?! ´Groovy Situation´... Oh, my God! So, this is Island now (laughs)!

Q: Yeah, that tune came upon their Black Swan imprint at the time.

A: Black Swan, yep! That caused me to take a trip to England (laughs). I had a band in Germany at the time, used to play the club circuit. So, we used the opportunity to take our music there to England too, y´know. But while we were there, I went over to Island and actually sat down with them and talked about it. Didn´t get much accomplished - at that time. But in later years it turned out to be the right thing, y´know. So, yeah.. ´Groovy Situation´.

Q: But there was never any other tunes from that session Scratch released, with your knowledge at least?

A: No, they weren´t. I think what happened Scratch gave them to Island, and they..

Q: Shelved it?

A: They shelved it, because I got involved. But that's cool! Shelf it, because if you´re not gonna do the right thing then don´t even release it! Don´t play it, don´t do anything! Now, remember that I told you previously that I had some tapes stolen? Out of a car, my master got stolen.

Q: With the Black Ark sessions?

A: Yep, yep! My master tape got stolen. So, that's a part of my recording stage that was really, really.. I like that part of it, man. That session with Scratch was awesome.

Q: Can you now remember some of the session crew for those recordings at the Ark, rhythm section, keyboards, etc?

A: Mikey Boo was there. I played keyboards on it. You know, at the time, those guys weren´t familiar to me. So rather than me trying to guess who they are, I´d say I´m not sure. They weren´t familiar to me. ´Cos remember I was away now for like five years already. I lot of guys come after you and make a name for themselves and you probably think ´era´ and people automatically think you ought to know them (laughs)! It isn´t so. Once you´ve departed and.. when I came back to Jamaica most of my friends themselves gone.

Q: Migrated, or moved to a different location.

A: Yeah, moved to another location. So I was just.. oh, man! Had to go search to find people that doesn´t live there, for hours. I mean, Tex was gone. Even my girlfriend that I had was gone (laughs), you know what I mean?! I mean, Peter.. I go back and said "damn, who am I"?, y´know (laughs)! Where's my roots? Everybody is gone. Or you had to go find them, search them..