Q: What do you think is the reason why Perry burnt down the Ark? A: Well, that was a power which.. that even he couldn´t comprehend. Something overcame, whatever it is he wasn´t in that mind, it was in a different frame of mind. It was a different.. vibration. Which I don´t think nobody could comprehend, couldn´t absorb it. It was too much energy. It was too much going on in his head. Which I´m not gonna say if it's bad or if it's good. And if I did comprehend it, probably I wouldn´t say it. I would keep it... But guess what? I have my own way, but I´ll wait a couple more years before I say it - musically. I´m not ready to say it, yet. I think I know what went down, because I felt it, too. I felt it. Q: Did you see that something went wrong or "out of hand" there, during or some time before those last days of the Ark? A: I wouldn´t say wrong - I would say different. Something was different. Because if you listen to that track weh I have on my new album ´To Hell and Back´ (´Chances´), that was one of the last tracks recorded there, yunno? One of the last tracks recorded in the studio.

Q: Had anyone else used that riddim? A: No, that riddim.. just me alone. If anybody else use it, it got to be from some mistake but it was my personal track. Scratch produce it but that was the last track I wrote (there). The morning when everyt´ing up an´ down he give me that tape. He give me a couple an´ seh: "Watty - hold this, hold that", yunno? But a lot of tape I didn´t get back but certain of my work, which was close by, he gave it to me. You know, he was a gentleman still, to me, like y´know "Watty, check this tape, check that tape" - my own work them. So, that's what really happened. If anybody else have a cut it was by mistake, but that was my personal track. I didn´t know what to do with it, yet, until now. It's a reason why it appears on this album - it's the reason. Q: I´m glad that it finally came out! A: Yes. Thank you very much. Q: Concerning the reception locally in JA for Perry's productions, how did you experience in general how people responded to the Ark, among the press, local airplay, in the charts, sound systems, etc? A: What happened was.. they started to respond when it bounced back from Europe. They know the guy was great, but it wasn´t absorbed there so much until the Europeans, and Chris Blackwell started to come back to Jamaica and then ´Police & Thieves´ and them tracks start to get them like "oh wait, we have somebody here"! Them know he was good, but they couldn´t accept him ´cos he was like a joke! You know, like he wasn´t serious. Until the mostly whiter European start to make it to the guy we have, that's when Jamaicans start to "oh wait...this guy is great". But they didn´t know how great the guy was ´til other people had to tell them. That's the problem with us. We don´t know what we have until other people tell us or when we´ve lost it. That's why I said if Scratch is crazy, I know I am too! Beca´ I feel it in him from day one, yunno? That's what I´m saying. He get my blood pumping, man! Musically, if I go to any other studio to work, there's no vibe like that there! There's vibes there, but nutten like dat! But Jamaicans didn´t know what they had.. but now I know that he´s a God there now, really. Any musician, any producer, any singer - them have to refer to him. It's a must, you cyaan get away from it! Q: It's like you don´t know what you have until it is lost, or whatever? Nothing new under the sun though! A: Yeah, but it's like this: When Jah was around everybody didn´t know who he is until he just.. flee a little bit, I mean go in a different way. I mean, a king never get the honour in his own country. Most time, it haffe come from abroad. Look at Bob (Marley).. was a great guy - still a great guy but as far as I´m concerned, he live(s). But look, the European again have to actually say "Wow, we´ve got an ideal..", but they didn´t know what they have. For instance, if you look in Jamaica now whe certain places, people nah go play Bob Marley. And now if you go a different country, they are playing him. And you know in our own country, I don´t know what happened? Well.. I do know, but you know something? Me want you to figure it out! Beca´ I´m not gonna do what they want me to do. I refuse to do that! But I know what I have to give. Give thanks.

Q: What happened to some of the other artists around Scratch, like Carlton Jackson, Devon Irons, George Faith, Leo Graham, etc? A: Alright, after a time.. George Faith he is still in Jamaica (and sadly passed away some time after this interview - P). Leo Graham - still in Jamaica. Earl Sixteen, I think he´s in England. A lot of these guys they get a bad energy state, because an artist like George Faith is a great artist but he just couldn´t reach it, he just couldn´t make it. Did a great vocal, but.. something was wrong. And I don´t know who´s fault it is, but something was wrong, I don´t know. And Devon Irons, a lot of the time he was in London too, yunno? Then he went back to Negril. But he´s still around, but not musically. But I think Leo, he´s still singing. That's what I heard. Q: I suppose that's life, some people maintain the work, and some get lost along the way, but there's also a lot of disillusion with the music business - too much pressure and so on? A: OK. Its pressure.. Beca´ to pay the bills and everything in those times, and in the music - it just couldn´t work. You have to find a way to make it work. I´m not doing anything more than this, but it got to work! At an early age I find a way to stick with the music, without doing anything else to make it work. Mark you, I´m in a trade as electrician also, but I still didn´t have to go back to it. Sometimes when I do certain things like get a nice electrical work at a house or so, on my own - I would take it. But I never leave the music at all to do something else beca´ I just didn´t want to. Because that's what happened some guys that leave, they´re mechanic or whatever they do and they never come back to music because the money was so sure in their work, you know wha I´m saying? Beca´ they were a mechanic and every weekend they have their paycheck. But I find a way to get the music give me a paycheck every weekend. I would play percussion in certain studios, I play bass for somebody.. So I have something coming in. At an early age. So I think I was lucky to be able to do that. But a lot of my friends, them just fade away. This was something that I wanted and I check me head off to see what I wanna do - if I´m gonna leave it? So I think it was just a strength in me to do that from that time, y´know? And it's still in me. I don´t reach my peak - yet. But, I´ll be there.

Q: How did you link up with Congos, that must have been around ´76? A: In ´77. What happened now, they were in the studio doing some tracks.. ´Heart of the Congos´. When they are doing the vocals, Scratch say they need a bottom, that they need a baritone. Scratch say: "OK Watty, go on put on vocals on these tracks". And I do ´Fisherman´ first. They said "go ahead", and Cedric and Roy start laughing, and Scratch say Cedric have the final vocal, and I have the deepest one. Scratch say "I want you to do all". Everything was one cut. And when the project was finished, Cedric and Roy said "we want you", and I said to myself that I didn´t wanna go - I just wanted to be a solo. Scratch said "you know something? You can be solo, but I want you to stick with this group here". That "nothing can fathom this group, the sound weh you guys have, I want that". Right? So it was Scratch really that said that you won´t find the sound nowhere, again. And he want me to be a part of the group as Cedric and Roy was excited and then I get accepted, and that's where we started. If you see on the album, I wasn´t on the first album (cover).. I mean on the photograph, yunno? Because I didn´t.. (wasn´t) sure what I was doing. I went to Grand Cayman that weekend when them do it. So I didn´t commit myself a hundred per cent ´cos I still know I had my solo career. You know, it's like a new thing so I just stick around and be a part of it and then I became an official member also. And I want a lot of people.. it turns background, I hate when people say it like that, the background vocals is "hoo haa". You know, when a guy is singing and doing "hoo haaa hoo aaa", when you say anyt´ing like words, it's not background vocals anymore - it assist.

Q: How long did you stay with Congos then? A: OK, from around ´76 -77 up to about two years ago. Beca´ we had our likkle differences and we did some tours around Puerto Rico and Reggae On the River, the festival in California. And something wasn´t too right and everybody.. Roy decided to go on his own, but I jump out firs´ to go on my own, Cedric went back to "solo" (Cedric now fronting a Congos which features some Myton daughters and original Tartans member "Preps" Lewis - P). So everybody are still.. Roy´s name is ´Congo Ashanti Roy´, but I didn´t want to use the name "Congos" because when (my name) is coming up, people know I´m from the group already. To take names, everybody say "they own the name, own the name, own the name" - I didn´t want to get into that problem. So I just use my name Watty Burnett. We have our differences, but I don´t hate anybody. I know we won´t work together anymore, or if we work together it's on a free show, a benefit show. I will do it. But if it's money involved, I won´t.

The Congos.. Watty, Preps Lewis, and Cedric (1981)

Q: Some twenty years back, most of us learned about the differences between Cedric and Roy; attacking each other publicly through media. There was some "voodoo" or obeah dealings involved in the conflict, or whatever it was? Why are Cedric and Roy such enemies? Why can´t they cope working together (which has changed since this was written, the original Congos has now reformed - P)? A: Well, what happened.. I´m from a different generation, a different angle of it. And when things start to come around, I just take it as a joke or take it for stupidity or whatever it is, but I have been a part of it. But Roy and Cedric has more of.. share the same kinda belief, and I don´t believe in those kind of things. I just know that your own problem is.. you cause your own problem sometimes. I don´t think that somebody can´t hurt me too easily. That is my feeling. I don´t think a guy can do anything and hurt me that easy, that's how I still feel. But they feel that way. And them had a likkle problem with who writes the songs and who wanna take the name - who it belongs to. And when I came in - we were friends before, y´know? So I didn´t want to go in that way with them. I mean, they argue it out. When Roy left, Roy and I were still good friends. Up to this day! We don´t have any problem, but the problem came in with Cedric and his wife an´ t´ing - they have different views. I just couldn´t work along with it. And I didn´t want to be a "warrior" or trying to be.. I just wanted to live. Take the money and go, give me a break. I mean, if money was to be a problem with my brethren - take it and go, bro´! I don´t want to run with that train - no, no, no! If that's what they wanna do, them can go ahead! I´m not gonna run along (laughs)! Beca´ life is worth more than gold, much more than gold. And I want to live. When I go on the street, I don´t have to look at nobody an´ seh "who is looking for me?". If something happen it is an accident, there's no-one looking for me. I make sure that! And number one again I feget fi the record: I make sure I can look in anybody's face - that's the first thing that I want to do. I shouldn´t be the one who´s puttin´ my face to the dirt or hidin´ from a brethren when I see he´s coming. I´m the one who is supposed to look them straight in the eye an´ seh: "whats up, man!?". As long as I can do that, I´m the winner. Q: While being new in the Congos, you still recorded solo with songs such as ´Open the Gate´ and ´Rainy Night In Portland´, both done at the time of ´Heart of the Congos´. A: Yes, I continued and Cedric and Roy were the one who did harmony on that track ´Rainy Night In Portland´. The reason why I continue as Watty Burnett is because I believe in myself that I don´t need another "boost" to let me feel who I am. No matter what comes along, I can be part of a group but I´m still Watty Burnett! I still have my own thing which I believe in and my own style, which I do. So I didn´t have to run from my name or take a name from.. no, I just stick to ´Watty Burnett´. Because I feel strong enough.

Q: That ´Open the Gate´ track must rank as one of the - at least in my chart - Top 5 recordings from the Ark, ever! How do you feel about that song now? A: I see some man when recording (still talking about that song) and the feedback I get from a lot of Europeans, it's one of their favorite track and people still love it, that's what make it good. Q: Was there ever talk about doing an album based around these tracks, ´Open the Gate´, and so forth? A: Yes. Because I was ready to do an album. Because what happened now, I decide not to push ahead. So far, I did seven tracks there and they all release on single. But it was an album I was going for. Then the turmoil start and I decide seh let me just deal with the group, put my solo career on agenda, that's what I did. If I´m doing something, then I believe in it a hundred per cent. I´m not doing half. I put all my energy into the group and that's what make me so mad sometime to see what went down. I´m certain a time is gonna come when I tell the world what happened, but at this point I won´t. I mean, half of the world knows what was down already, instead of me talking they (Roy and Cedric) are supposed to do it - not me. I want them come out and say what happened. Because I´m not hiding - but I´m not ready to say it yet. They´re supposed to say it firs´ . Beca´.. I´m not ashamed.

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Article: Peter I (Please do not reproduce without permission)

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