perry's musical life began in the late 1950s as a record seller for clement coxsone dodd's sound system. as his sometimes bad relationship with dodd developed, he found himself doing a variety of important tasks at dodd's studio one hit factory, going on to record nearly thirty songs for the label. disagreements between the pair due to personality and financial problems, a now normal theme throughout perry's career, led him to leave the studio and seek new musical outlets. he soon found a new home at joe gibbs's amalgamated records.