The Upsetters

Origins

The Upsetters took their name from Lee "Scratch" Perry's 1967 song "I Am the Upsetter," aimed at his former employer Clement "Coxsone" Dodd of Studio One. After leaving Dodd and working with Joe Gibbs, Perry launched his own Upsetter label in 1968. The first studio band under the name was built around pianist Gladstone Anderson's Gladdy's All-Stars.

"Return of Django"

Perry's organ and saxophone instrumentals drew on the spaghetti westerns that were popular in Kingston cinemas. "Return of Django," with a tenor saxophone lead from Val Bennett, was paired with "Dollar in the Teeth" as a double A-side by Trojan's Upsetter imprint. It reached No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart in November 1969, and the album Return of Django came out the same year.

The Hippy Boys line-up and the Wailers

When the studio band could not travel, the Hippy Boys were recruited for a 1969 UK tour as The Upsetters: guitarist Alva Lewis, organist Glen Adams, bassist Aston "Family Man" Barrett and drummer Carlton Barrett. This line-up backed Bob Marley and the Wailers on Perry's Soul Rebels (1970) and Soul Revolution Part II, and the Barrett brothers went on to form the rhythm section of Marley's Wailers band. Other albums of the period include The Upsetter (1969) and Eastwood Rides Again (1970).

Black Ark era

After the Barretts left, Perry used the Upsetters name for a changing group of session players at his Black Ark studio, including Boris Gardiner, Sly Dunbar, Hux Brown and Earl "Chinna" Smith. Dub albums such as Upsetters 14 Dub Blackboard Jungle (1973) and Super Ape (1976) came out of this period, and the band backed Max Romeo on War Ina Babylon (1976).