Ricky Dread pays tribute to the legends with ‘Chase the Devil’ - Says evil that needs to be chased out now is COVID-19
Published:Thursday | February 18, 2021 | 12:18 AMYasmine Peru/Senior Gleaner Writer
It was back in 1976 that reggae singer Max Romeo waged war against Lucifer with a song titled Chase the Devil, which was composed by him and respected producer Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry. “Lucifer son of the mourning, I’m gonna chase you out of earth! I’m gonna put on a iron shirt, and chase Satan out of earth,” croons Max Romeo, often hailed as “the singer who put the ‘rude’ in rude boy”.
In a BBC interview recorded in 2010, he explained the meaning of the song. According to the lyricist, the devil represents everything negative in people’s minds and the iron shirt is their strength of spirit that allows them to cast out the devil.
Fast-forward to 2021, and reggae music is again armed and ready to chase out devils. Broadyard Records and musician-cum-producer Ricky Dread have released a tribute to three reggae legends, Scratch Perry, Max Romeo and Pablo Moses, with an instrumental remake of Chase the Devil.
“This project started from 2019, when I was inspired to do an instrumental CD. I felt the need to acknowledge the achievements of some of our biggest veterans in the reggae industry, and figured that a good way would be to produce this classic tune in both an instrumental and dub version. We need some more instrumentals in reggae, and when people hear this, they will go back and look for the lyrics. On this project I am playing the melodica, which is a shout-out to the great Augustus Pablo,” Ricky Dread said of the project, which was released in celebration of Reggae Month.
Chase the Devil was originally released on the album War Ina Babylon in 1976 and that same year, reggae group The Upsetters recorded a version with different lyrics. Later, Perry made a dub remix of both versions, called Disco Devil. It has since been sampled many times, and is included on the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas official soundtrack. The just-released dub version, courtesy of Broadyard Records, is by renowned engineer Raymond Valles, also know as ‘Mondo’.
Ricky Dread, who is a member of reggae band Bonafide, says he has embarked on a mission of sorts to help to invigorate the music and bring about some kind of balance. “My project nah bring in nuh bag ah money, but if we can elevate the minds of people and reach to dem heart, it is worth the while. Others a throw fire, we a try bring back some niceness and downplay the craziness,” he shared with The Gleaner.
He pointed out that one devil that needs to be chased out now is the novel coronavirus. “The pandemic stopped everything, and of course, the financial part tek a hit. I’m living off cornmeal porridge and bulgur right now. But I grew up in Mt Salem, so I know how to live, even when I am in another country. My mother have eight of us, so time wasn’t easy and we haffi mek do all the time. Mi nah look to rob somebody or sell drugs, so if a cornmeal mi haffi tun, mi a go tun it,” the producer said honestly.
Like many music industry players, he has embraced the unexpected free time brought on by the pandemic to create music. Another personal project in the making is a rhythm CD, featuring artistes such as Anthony B, Fantan Mojah, Bonafide, Ras Chronic and Fiji.
Chase the Devil is now available on all leading download and streaming platforms.