Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post provides some information about Jamaican Ska artist Prince Buster.
This post also showcases two of Prince Buster's now classic records: "Texas Hold-Up" and "Al Capone".
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Prince Buster for his musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.
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Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/04/information-videos-comments-about.html for the 2019 pancocojams post [re-titled] "Jamaican Skanking (Dance) Information, Videos, & Comments"
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INFORMATION ABOUT PRINCE BUSTER
From https://www.allmusic.com/artist/prince-buster-mn0000359494/biography
Artist Biography by Jo-Ann Greene
"On an island overflowing with exceptional talent on both sides of the mixing board, to suggest that just one man was the most influential is perhaps absurd, but if you took a poll, Prince Buster would inevitably win by a wide margin. He was synonymous with ska, while being equally important to rocksteady. From Judge Dread to rude reggae, Prince Buster left his imprint across Jamaica's musical landscape, both as a singer and a producer. 2-Tone wouldn't have existed without him, and by extension, neither would the third wave. And many decades after he first appeared on the music scene, Prince Buster was still making an impact.
Cecil Bustamente Campbell was born on the island of Jamaica on May 28, 1938, the son of a railway worker. While still in his teens, Campbell simultaneously pursued two quite separate careers -- boxing and singing. Eventually, he'd give up the former, a talent he honed as a child leading a gang in one of Kingston's toughest neighborhoods, although it would hold him in good stead once he opened his sound system. He made his singing debut at the Glass Bucket club in the mid-'50s and fronted a number of now long-forgotten groups. Several of them included drummer Arkland "Drumbago" Parkes in their lineups and the two became friends. The drummer provided the introduction to Coxsone Dodd, not yet a producer, but at the time running a hot sound system in competition with another businessman soon to turn producer, Duke Reid. Dodd employed the young singer not for his vocals, but for his fists, as a security guard cum Guy Friday. By 1959, the young Buster understood the sound system business inside and out and set off on his own. He began by opening a record store, Buster's Record Shack, and then set up the Voice of the People sound system.
The following year, the young entrepreneur took the next logical step and produced his debut single, the instrumental "Little Honey," credited to Buster's Group (a trio of Jah Jerry, Rico Rodriguez, and Parkes). It immediately created a sensation, with a sound far removed from the American R&B swamping the sound systems. Prince Buster had basically introduced the classic syncopated rhythm of ska to a voracious Jamaican nation. A second recording session was arranged, this time including vocalists Derrick Morgan, Owen Gray, and the Folkes Brothers, while nyahbinghi drummers Count Ossie & His Wareikas were brought in from the hills to create a rhythm never experienced before by most Jamaican audiences. A baker's dozen of songs were recorded and amazingly, every one became a hit, kicking off with the Folkes Brothers' seminal hit "Oh Carolina." And the smashes just kept on coming, with these artists and more, including Basil Gabbidon, the boogie "War Paint Baby"; Eric Morris, "Humpty Dumpty"; and Chuck & Dobby. All were backed by Buster's Group an aggregation of excellent musicians that included various Skatalites-to-be. Particularly revolutionary was Bunny & Skitter's "Chubby," a startling single that featured the duo a cappella, accompanied by Count Ossie & His Wareikas tribal beats. Not surprisingly, the single wasn't a success as audiences preferred the more commercial sound of "Oh Carolina." But both songs were breaking new ground and kicked off a wave of releases employing nyahbinghi-style rhythms.
Prince Buster himself made his recording debut in 1962, releasing a clutch of hits over the year. Among these was "Hey Got to Go," co-written by the teenaged Derrick Morgan, whose lyrics pointedly summed up Prince Buster's feelings toward his rival producers. This business feud, which the elder men were still winning thanks to their better financial resources, became personal in 1963 when Derrick Morgan deserted Buster for producer Leslie Kong. In truth, it wasn't quite that simple, as the young singer had made his debut with "Lover Boy" for Reid and had remained loyal to him until the producer took a brief hiatus from the music business. Reid had burned him, however, by recording but often not releasing the teen's songs. Needless to say, the youngster was now determined to record for whomever offered him the most work and money. And at the moment, that was Kong. However, adding insult to perceived injury was Morgan's second cut for his new master, "Housewife's Choice," which apparently featured an instrumental break stolen from one of his former employer's own songs. Prince Buster's fury could barely be contained. It all seems a tempest in a teapot today, but the upshot was serious, even though it did create a host of seminal singles. Prince Buster fired the first salvo with "Blackhead Chinaman," a stinging riposte aimed directly at Kong. Of course, the producer had to retaliate, shooting back with Morgan's "Blazing Fire," which ripped off the melody to Buster's own smash hit "Madness."
I Feel the Spirit
To muddy the waters, "Madness" itself had borrowed the rhythm from "They Got to Go." Weeks turned to months, and the feud showed no signs of ebbing as the two men took aim and fired off song after insulting song at each other, each one a classic of wit and music. Unfortunately, the fight was not contained to the studio, but soon spilled over into the sound system parties and streets, as each side's supporters slugged it out on the dancefloors and the streets. The situation had become so serious that the government finally stepped in and a public reconciliation finally put an end to this musical melee. By this time, Prince Buster, as artist and producer, was already releasing so many singles that he set up two new imprints (Islam and Buster Wild Bells) to help with the overflow from his original Voice of the People label. Blue Beat, his U.K. distributor, could barely keep up with the output, and over an eight-year period he released over 600 Prince Buster productions. This works out to approximately two new singles a week produced by Buster, with two new singles of the artist's own hitting the British streets every month. A superstar in Jamaica, he was almost as big in the U.K. Hit after classic hit, a flood of seminal singles was fed into the market, many of which were rounded up on Blue Beat's I Feel the Spirit in 1963.
The year 1964 was just as prolific, as was 1965, and included such classics as "One Step Beyond," "Al Capone" (which broke the Top 20 in the U.K. two years later), "Burke's Law (arguably the blueprint for Eek-A-Mouse's distinctive vocal style), and many, many more. Blue Beat released three compilation albums of Prince Buster productions across 1964-1965. This trio of Fly Flying Ska, Pain in My Belly (the title track is a Maytals' classic), and It's Burke's Law remain the definitive collection of Buster's work during this period. Among the classics included are Don Drummond's "Ska Town," Owen Gray's "River Jordan," the Maytals' smoking "Dog War," and of course, "Al Capone."...
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SHOWCASE YOUTUBE EXAMPLES
Example #1: Texas hold up =Prince Buster
doowopAmnon, Oct 17, 2011
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Example #2: Prince Buster ( Al Capone) Blue Beat, Ska.
BobbyBlueBeat, Jul 1, 2008
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Example #3: Prince Buster - Madness
MetryRoad, Aug 13, 2008
Great Blue Beat from the king himself
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"Ska" was called "Blue Beat" in the United Kingdom.
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