Saturday 30 March 2013

Saturday Scratch #23

In 1977, as Lee Perry and The Congos worked on the legendary 'Heart of the Congos' LP, Jeremy Marre, an English film maker, was in Jamaica gathering footage for a BBC documentary entitled 'Roots Rock Reggae'. When Marre knocked on the door of The Black Ark and asked if he could film some musicians at work in the studio, Scratch, Junior Murvin, The Congos, The Upsetters and The Heptones obligingly improvised a tune for the camera crew entitled, 'Play On Mr Music'. It was subsequently assumed that the song remained unfinished, with the only evidence of it's existence captured in these brief, priceless moments from the documentary.


In 2012, however, the DVD release of 'Beats of the Heart; Roots Rock Reggae' unexpectedly included a complete version of this most sought after of lost Black Ark nuggets amongst it's bonus features. Now, 35 years later, the tune is finally available for all to enjoy. One can only imagine what other gems might be stashed away in the Black Ark vaults.


 Previously on Saturday Scratch.

2 comments:

Old Pa's Corner said...

Play on Saturday Scatch I say...that was fabulous, I must get that DVD

The Swede said...

I haven't got it myself, but it's on the list!

Greatest Hits