People Funny Boy
The Genius of Lee 'Scratch' Perry
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Issued as part of White Rabbit's prestigious Deep Cuts series
'A brilliantly researched and well-written biography' NME
'A fascinating history of post-war Jamaican music and culture' MOJO
Arguably the most influential force in Jamaican music, Lee 'Scratch' Perry helped bring Bob Marley to international stardom and collaborated with artists from Sir Paul McCartney to The Clash and The Beastie Boys.
People Funny Boy delves behind the myth to offer a fuller examination of Perry's life and work. Drawing on extensive interviews with Perry and his collaborators, as well as family members and close associates, the book captures a complex portrait of a unique soul driven by creativity, chaos and unseen spiritual forces.
With a foreword from the reggae poet and activist Linto Kwesi Johnson this revised and expanded edition has been extensively rewritten to incorporate previously unpublished testimony from Perry, offering new insight into his later creations, his everchanging personal life and previously untold stories from his formative years and his early career, including his unique relationship with Marley and the legendary Black Ark studio.
'For the complete picture of this musical genius you can't get better' Don Letts
'A brilliantly researched and well-written biography' NME
'A fascinating history of post-war Jamaican music and culture' MOJO
Arguably the most influential force in Jamaican music, Lee 'Scratch' Perry helped bring Bob Marley to international stardom and collaborated with artists from Sir Paul McCartney to The Clash and The Beastie Boys.
People Funny Boy delves behind the myth to offer a fuller examination of Perry's life and work. Drawing on extensive interviews with Perry and his collaborators, as well as family members and close associates, the book captures a complex portrait of a unique soul driven by creativity, chaos and unseen spiritual forces.
With a foreword from the reggae poet and activist Linto Kwesi Johnson this revised and expanded edition has been extensively rewritten to incorporate previously unpublished testimony from Perry, offering new insight into his later creations, his everchanging personal life and previously untold stories from his formative years and his early career, including his unique relationship with Marley and the legendary Black Ark studio.
'For the complete picture of this musical genius you can't get better' Don Letts
- Published: Sep 24 2026
- ISBN: 9781474622547
Press Reviews
David Rodigan MBE OD
Lee Perry was one of Reggae's most enigmatic creators; an incomparable phenomenon who's sonic sound waves transformed out lives. David Katz's in-depth portrayal of his genius is to be commended and is an essential addition to any serious music fan's collection
Don Letts
Lee 'Scratch' Perry blew my 13 year old mind back in '69 with a track called 'Tackro'. From that time till this the surreal sonic adventures of Jamaica's Salvador Dali of sound have been an essential part of my life. For the complete picture of this musical genius you can't get better than David Katz's People Funny Boy - if you're into Scratch, it's essential
- Q
A biography that, in many ways, is the story of an entire musical genre . . . If his story is not the greatest ever told, then it is certainly one of the most entertaining, and Katz duly relates many of the more lunatic anecdotes . . . Seldom less than definitive
- Mojo
Going beyond the standard portrait . . . Katz offers up a vast tome that works as a psychological portrait of a complex artist, and a fascinating history of post-war Jamaican music and culture . . . Marvellous stuff
- NME
An exhaustive, brilliantly researched and well-written biography . . . Every recording and motivation is detailed, along with his legion of eccentricities . . . A very good tale
- The Times
[Katz's] perseverance has paid off, creating a detailed portrait wide enough in focus to take in all the people around Perry - nearly the whole of the Jamaican scene . . . This book is especially strong on the music, guiding us through the minefield of his enormous output from the Sixties and Seventies
- Independent on Sunday
Everything in Katz's biography is well documented . . . Fascinating . . . A must-read for the legion of Jamaican music fans world-wide
Dennis Bovell
Lee Perry's importance in the reggae sphere is that he nurtured much Jamaican roots talent, including Bob Marley and his backing musicians. His legacy contains some of the finest reggae recordings known to appreciators of the genre. People should read this book to discover more
Martin Chilton
INDEPENDENTThoroughly engrossing
- ELECTRONIC SOUND
This weighty, in depth and definitive tome is not to be passed up.