Prince Buster
Encyclopedia
Cecil Bustamente Campbell, O.D.
(born 28 May 1938), better known as Prince Buster, and also known by his Muslim name Muhammed Yusef Ali, is a musician from Kingston
, Jamaica
. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of ska
and rocksteady
music. The records he made on the Blue Beat
label in the 1960s inspired many reggae
and ska artists.
Campbell's music career reached maturity with the growth of the sound system. Across Jamaica, music promoters drove vans filled with stereo equipment to stage mobile parties. The operators of the sound system would play the popular R&B
dance records of the day and often they would have a vocalist called a toaster call out the dancers' names, chant in rhythm, and make light-hearted boasts. Deejay "toasting" was one of the precursors to the style of vocal delivery that eventually evolved into rap
.
Eventually, Campbell was introduced to Clement Dodd
, a musically-inclined businessman who operated one of Kingston's most popular sound systems. Interestingly, Campbell was not hired as a musician but as security; because of rivalries between fans devoted to a particular sound system, the parties sometimes could become quite rough, and Campbell had been a skillful amateur boxer
as a teenager. It was in this line of work that he earned the nickname "The Prince", which along with his boyhood moniker "Buster" (from his middle name Bustamente), formed the name under which he would later become famous.
for the Wild Bells label, "Oh Carolina
", under his nickname. Buster dubbed himself 'The Voice of the People', and gave a voice to those people with "Oh Carolina", which expressed black Jamaicans through a commercially successful medium. This record was Jamaica's first to involve an element of African music - the drumming in the record was provided by Count Ossie
, the lead nyabinghi drummer from the rastafarian camp, Camp David, in the hills above Kingston. It was an instant hit in Jamaica, and Buster's early records, which were released in the UK
by Blue Beat
Records, contributed greatly to the developing sound of ska
. Buster was soon recording his own compositions as well as producing records for others.
From 1963 to the end of the decade, Buster wrote and produced hundreds of songs for Blue Beat
. Soon after his initial success, Buster was drawing international attention. He toured Britain extensively during this period, playing to sellout crowds, and appeared on commercial TV broadcaster Rediffusion London's Friday early-evening pop show Ready, Steady, Go!
in 1964. While in England, Buster met World Heavyweight Champion boxer Muhammad Ali
, a meeting that resulted in Buster joining the Nation of Islam
, as well as Ali being mentioned in the song "Earthquake on Orange Street", which was subsequently referenced by the UK group Madness
, who took their name from one of his songs, in their first single "The Prince
". He went on to be a popular as a recorded and touring artist in Europe, and though none of his singles charted as highly in the United States
, he went on a successful American tour in 1967 to support the little-known RCA Victor LP releaseThe Ten Commandments (From Man To Woman). Today, the album (catalog LSP-3792) is a highly-sought-after rarity among collectors of ska and foundation reggae.
Prince Buster had two hit single
s in the UK
: first, "Al Capone" (#18, 1967), and much later, with an updated version of "Whine And Grine", which was used on a television advertisement
(#21, 1998). In 1972 Buster gained notoriety for the title track of his album Big Five, a raunched-up re-write of Brook Benton's
"Rainy Night in Georgia" with explicit references to sex
and drugs
.
Besides being a pioneering musician, Buster, like Clement Dodd, was also very interested in business. He started a record shop
in Kingston in the early 1960s which is still owned and operated by his family today. Later he founded a jukebox
company. He also started the Prince Buster Records label, at first as an attempt to keep the Melodisc label viable, but today is used to reissue his music.
. In addition to the musical influence that ska and rocksteady exerted, many reggae lyrics expressed an Afrocentric
, Marcus Garvey
-inspired worldview, which had been present in some of Prince Buster's songs. Bob Marley
, Toots Hibbert
, and other reggae stars have acknowledged their debt. Buster also made a cameo appearance in the acclaimed international hit movie, The Harder They Come
. However, reggae's Rastafarian orientation led the Muslim Prince to keep an arms distance away from the new music. He turned toward more traditional tourist-based business ventures instead and gracefully exited the Jamaican music scene.
By the late 1970s, Buster was in serious financial trouble. His business ventures were all posting losses or low profits, and the loans he had taken out to start them were catching up. Fortunately for him, ska was experiencing a revival in the United Kingdom, and the most prominent bands of the revival drew from his material. In 1979, the band Madness
released their first record, a tribute to Buster called "The Prince
", which urged ska fans to remember "the man who set the beat". The b-side to this record was a cover of the Prince Buster song "Madness" from which they took their name. Their second single was a cover of Buster's "One Step Beyond
" which reached the Top 10. On their first album
, The Specials
covered "Too Hot" and drew heavily on "Judge Dread" in the song "Stupid Marriage", and "Al Capone" in the song "Gangsters". The Specials
also included a cover of Buster's version of "Enjoy Yourself"
on their second album
. Not to be outdone, the The Beat included covers of the Buster originals "Rough Rider" and "Whine & Grine" on its first album
. Interest in Buster soared during this time; he received royalties when his songs were covered by 2-Tone bands, and his old records were re-issued and sold well. Buster's songs continued to be popular sources for ska bands in the U.S., an example being The Toasters
covering "Hard Man Fe Dead" in 1996. In 1989, Prince Buster recorded a 12" single with London based ska and blues band, The Trojans, which was released on Gaz's Rockin' Records in the UK. "Stack O Lee" was a limited edition and it sold out within weeks.
Prince Buster now lives in Miami
, Florida
. He has performed at several shows over the past few years, including: the 2002 Legends Of Ska festival in Toronto; Dedham, Massachusetts in 2002; the 2006 Boss Sounds Reggae Festival in Newcastle upon Tyne
, the 40th Montreux Jazz Festival
in Switzerland with the Delroy Williams Junction Band, and 2007's Rhythm Festival
. During the last day of the 2008 Notting Hill Carnival
, Prince Buster made an appearance on the Gaz's Rockin' Blues stage, alongside The Trojans.
Prince Buster was due to make a rare live appearance in London on September 5, 2009 at Camden Centre, but it was cancelled two weeks beforehand, with ticket holders being informed by e-mail.
Order of distinction
The Order of Distinction in Jamaica is the fifth in order of precedence of the Orders of Societies of Honour, which were instituted by an Act of Parliament – The National Honours and Awards Act.The Motto of the Order is "Distinction Through Service"....
(born 28 May 1938), better known as Prince Buster, and also known by his Muslim name Muhammed Yusef Ali, is a musician from Kingston
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
, Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
and rocksteady
Rocksteady
Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor to ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was performed by Jamaican vocal harmony groups such as The Gaylads, The Maytals and The Paragons. The term rocksteady comes from a dance style that was mentioned in the Alton...
music. The records he made on the Blue Beat
Blue Beat
Blue Beat Records was a record label that released Jamaican rhythm and blues and ska music in the United Kingdom in the 1960s. It led to the creation of the term bluebeat as a generic term to describe all styles of early Jamaican music from R&B to Ska, Rocksteady and early Reggae, including music...
label in the 1960s inspired many reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
and ska artists.
Early life
Campbell began his professional career as a singer in 1956; performing in Kingston nightclubs. He formed a succession of bands with several of his friends, none of which were successful.Campbell's music career reached maturity with the growth of the sound system. Across Jamaica, music promoters drove vans filled with stereo equipment to stage mobile parties. The operators of the sound system would play the popular R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
dance records of the day and often they would have a vocalist called a toaster call out the dancers' names, chant in rhythm, and make light-hearted boasts. Deejay "toasting" was one of the precursors to the style of vocal delivery that eventually evolved into rap
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
.
Eventually, Campbell was introduced to Clement Dodd
Coxsone Dodd
Clement Seymour "Sir Coxsone" Dodd, CD was a Jamaican record producer who was influential in the development of ska and reggae in the 1950s, 1960s and beyond...
, a musically-inclined businessman who operated one of Kingston's most popular sound systems. Interestingly, Campbell was not hired as a musician but as security; because of rivalries between fans devoted to a particular sound system, the parties sometimes could become quite rough, and Campbell had been a skillful amateur boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
as a teenager. It was in this line of work that he earned the nickname "The Prince", which along with his boyhood moniker "Buster" (from his middle name Bustamente), formed the name under which he would later become famous.
Artistic and producing career
In 1960, Buster produced a record for the Folkes BrothersFolkes Brothers
The Folkes Brothers were a Jamaican mento group, composed of John, Mico, and Junior Folkes. Their 1960 single "Oh Carolina" was the first hit record produced by Prince Buster, and is regarded as a landmark in the history of ska and reggae music....
for the Wild Bells label, "Oh Carolina
Oh Carolina
"Oh Carolina" is a song made famous by Shaggy, and released as the lead single from his debut album, Pure Pleasure. Written by John Folkes, produced by Prince Buster and performed by The Folkes Brothers in 1960, "Oh Carolina" was a landmark single in the development of reggae music, especially as a...
", under his nickname. Buster dubbed himself 'The Voice of the People', and gave a voice to those people with "Oh Carolina", which expressed black Jamaicans through a commercially successful medium. This record was Jamaica's first to involve an element of African music - the drumming in the record was provided by Count Ossie
Count Ossie
Count Ossie, born Oswald Williams was a Jamaican drummer and band leader.-Biography:As a young boy Ossie grew up in a rasta community where he learned techniques of vocal chanting and hand drumming under the tutelage of Brother Job...
, the lead nyabinghi drummer from the rastafarian camp, Camp David, in the hills above Kingston. It was an instant hit in Jamaica, and Buster's early records, which were released in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
by Blue Beat
Blue Beat
Blue Beat Records was a record label that released Jamaican rhythm and blues and ska music in the United Kingdom in the 1960s. It led to the creation of the term bluebeat as a generic term to describe all styles of early Jamaican music from R&B to Ska, Rocksteady and early Reggae, including music...
Records, contributed greatly to the developing sound of ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
. Buster was soon recording his own compositions as well as producing records for others.
From 1963 to the end of the decade, Buster wrote and produced hundreds of songs for Blue Beat
Blue Beat
Blue Beat Records was a record label that released Jamaican rhythm and blues and ska music in the United Kingdom in the 1960s. It led to the creation of the term bluebeat as a generic term to describe all styles of early Jamaican music from R&B to Ska, Rocksteady and early Reggae, including music...
. Soon after his initial success, Buster was drawing international attention. He toured Britain extensively during this period, playing to sellout crowds, and appeared on commercial TV broadcaster Rediffusion London's Friday early-evening pop show Ready, Steady, Go!
Ready Steady Go!
Ready Steady Go! or simply RSG! was one of the UK's first rock/pop music TV programmes. It was conceived by Elkan Allan, head of Rediffusion TV. Allan was assisted by record producer/talent manager Vicki Wickham, who became the producer. It was broadcast from August 1963 until December 1966...
in 1964. While in England, Buster met World Heavyweight Champion boxer Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
, a meeting that resulted in Buster joining the Nation of Islam
Nation of Islam
The Nation of Islam is a mainly African-American new religious movement founded in Detroit, Michigan by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad in July 1930 to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African-Americans in the United States of America. The movement teaches black pride and...
, as well as Ali being mentioned in the song "Earthquake on Orange Street", which was subsequently referenced by the UK group Madness
Madness (band)
In 1979, the band recorded the Lee Thompson composition "The Prince". The song, like the band's name, paid homage to their idol, Prince Buster. The song was released through 2 Tone Records, the label of The Specials founder Jerry Dammers. The song was a surprise hit, peaking in the UK music charts...
, who took their name from one of his songs, in their first single "The Prince
The Prince (song)
"The Prince" is a song by British ska/pop band Madness. It was written by Lee Thompson, and was the band's first single. On 10 August 1979 the single was released through 2 Tone Records and peaked at number 16 in the UK singles chart, spending a total of 11 weeks in the charts."The Prince" is a...
". He went on to be a popular as a recorded and touring artist in Europe, and though none of his singles charted as highly in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, he went on a successful American tour in 1967 to support the little-known RCA Victor LP releaseThe Ten Commandments (From Man To Woman). Today, the album (catalog LSP-3792) is a highly-sought-after rarity among collectors of ska and foundation reggae.
Prince Buster had two hit single
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
s in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
: first, "Al Capone" (#18, 1967), and much later, with an updated version of "Whine And Grine", which was used on a television advertisement
Television advertisement
A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...
(#21, 1998). In 1972 Buster gained notoriety for the title track of his album Big Five, a raunched-up re-write of Brook Benton's
Brook Benton
Brook Benton was an American singer and songwriter who was popular with rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and pop music audiences during the late 1950s and early 1960s, when he scored hits such as "It's Just A Matter Of Time" and "Endlessly", many of which he co-wrote.He made a comeback in 1970...
"Rainy Night in Georgia" with explicit references to sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
and drugs
DRUGS
Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows are an American post-hardcore band formed in 2010. They released their debut self-titled album on February 22, 2011.- Formation :...
.
Besides being a pioneering musician, Buster, like Clement Dodd, was also very interested in business. He started a record shop
Record shop
A record shop or record store is an outlet that sells recorded music. Although vinyl records and audio cassettes are no longer sold in the majority of music stores, in favour of compact discs and home video recordings products, people in some countries, like the UK, still use the term "record...
in Kingston in the early 1960s which is still owned and operated by his family today. Later he founded a jukebox
Jukebox
A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media...
company. He also started the Prince Buster Records label, at first as an attempt to keep the Melodisc label viable, but today is used to reissue his music.
Post-recording life
The ska sound and rhythms were undergoing a change by the late 1960s, musicians were slowing the beat and introducing more subtle rhythmic pulses that audiences found less frantic and therefore easier to dance too. This new music was eventually called rocksteady, slower than ska and more influenced by gospel and soul. Rocksteady itself would eventually be replaced by reggaeReggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
. In addition to the musical influence that ska and rocksteady exerted, many reggae lyrics expressed an Afrocentric
Afrocentrism
Afrocentrism is cultural ideology mostly limited to the United States, dedicated to the history of Black people a response to global racist attitudes about African people and their historical contributions by revisiting this history with an African cultural and ideological center...
, Marcus Garvey
Marcus Garvey
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., ONH was a Jamaican publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator who was a staunch proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League...
-inspired worldview, which had been present in some of Prince Buster's songs. Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
, Toots Hibbert
Toots Hibbert
Frederick Nathaniel "Toots" Hibbert is a ska and roots reggae singer and leader of the reggae band Toots & the Maytals.-Biography:...
, and other reggae stars have acknowledged their debt. Buster also made a cameo appearance in the acclaimed international hit movie, The Harder They Come
The Harder They Come
The Harder They Come is a 1972 Jamaican crime film directed by Perry Henzell.The film stars reggae singer Jimmy Cliff, who plays Ivanhoe Martin, a character based on Rhyging, a real-life Jamaican criminal who achieved fame in the 1940s...
. However, reggae's Rastafarian orientation led the Muslim Prince to keep an arms distance away from the new music. He turned toward more traditional tourist-based business ventures instead and gracefully exited the Jamaican music scene.
By the late 1970s, Buster was in serious financial trouble. His business ventures were all posting losses or low profits, and the loans he had taken out to start them were catching up. Fortunately for him, ska was experiencing a revival in the United Kingdom, and the most prominent bands of the revival drew from his material. In 1979, the band Madness
Madness (band)
In 1979, the band recorded the Lee Thompson composition "The Prince". The song, like the band's name, paid homage to their idol, Prince Buster. The song was released through 2 Tone Records, the label of The Specials founder Jerry Dammers. The song was a surprise hit, peaking in the UK music charts...
released their first record, a tribute to Buster called "The Prince
The Prince (song)
"The Prince" is a song by British ska/pop band Madness. It was written by Lee Thompson, and was the band's first single. On 10 August 1979 the single was released through 2 Tone Records and peaked at number 16 in the UK singles chart, spending a total of 11 weeks in the charts."The Prince" is a...
", which urged ska fans to remember "the man who set the beat". The b-side to this record was a cover of the Prince Buster song "Madness" from which they took their name. Their second single was a cover of Buster's "One Step Beyond
One Step Beyond (song)
12" vinyl-Chart performance:-Song appearances:* It is used in the episode "I'm with the Band" of the 2000-2001 show Freaks and Geeks when one of the characters, Sam Weir, streaks around the school while trying to avoid showering after PE....
" which reached the Top 10. On their first album
Specials (album)
Specials is the debut album by British ska revival band The Specials.Released in 1979 on Jerry Dammers' 2Tone label, the album is seen by some as the defining moment in the UK ska scene...
, The Specials
The Specials
The Specials are an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry, England. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude", and had a "more focused and informed political and social stance" than other ska groups...
covered "Too Hot" and drew heavily on "Judge Dread" in the song "Stupid Marriage", and "Al Capone" in the song "Gangsters". The Specials
The Specials
The Specials are an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry, England. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude", and had a "more focused and informed political and social stance" than other ska groups...
also included a cover of Buster's version of "Enjoy Yourself"
Enjoy Yourself (1948 song)
"Enjoy Yourself" is a popular song published in 1949, with music written by Carl Sigman and lyrics by Herb Magidson.-Well known recorded versions:...
on their second album
More Specials
More Specials is an October 1980 album from the ska band The Specials. The album was the band's second, after their self-titled debut, and expanded the group's 2 tone sound to include lounge music and other influences. It includes collaborations with The Go-Go's, Rhoda Dakar from The...
. Not to be outdone, the The Beat included covers of the Buster originals "Rough Rider" and "Whine & Grine" on its first album
I Just Can't Stop It (album)
I Just Can't Stop It is the debut album by UK 2 tone band The Beat. The album was released in 1980 via Go Feet Records in the UK. It was released the same year in the US on I.R.S...
. Interest in Buster soared during this time; he received royalties when his songs were covered by 2-Tone bands, and his old records were re-issued and sold well. Buster's songs continued to be popular sources for ska bands in the U.S., an example being The Toasters
The Toasters
The Toasters was one of the first American bands in the third wave of ska, and is one of the longest active third wave ska bands.They have released nine studio albums, most of them on Moon Ska Records. The Toasters experienced a small degree of commercial success in the late 1990s due to the...
covering "Hard Man Fe Dead" in 1996. In 1989, Prince Buster recorded a 12" single with London based ska and blues band, The Trojans, which was released on Gaz's Rockin' Records in the UK. "Stack O Lee" was a limited edition and it sold out within weeks.
Prince Buster now lives in Miami
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. He has performed at several shows over the past few years, including: the 2002 Legends Of Ska festival in Toronto; Dedham, Massachusetts in 2002; the 2006 Boss Sounds Reggae Festival in Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
, the 40th Montreux Jazz Festival
Montreux Jazz Festival
The Montreux Jazz Festival is the best-known music festival in Switzerland and one of the most prestigious in Europe; it is held annually in early July in Montreux on the shores of Lake Geneva...
in Switzerland with the Delroy Williams Junction Band, and 2007's Rhythm Festival
Rhythm Festival
The Rhythm Festival is an outdoor music festival held at The Mansion House, Old Warden Park, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire from 2011. From 2006 until 2010 it was held at Twinwood Arena, near the village of Clapham, Bedfordshire, England.. Rhythm Festival was founded by music promoter Jim Driver...
. During the last day of the 2008 Notting Hill Carnival
Notting Hill Carnival
The Notting Hill Carnival is an annual event which since 1964 has taken place on the streets of Notting Hill, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea , London, UK each August, over two days...
, Prince Buster made an appearance on the Gaz's Rockin' Blues stage, alongside The Trojans.
Prince Buster was due to make a rare live appearance in London on September 5, 2009 at Camden Centre, but it was cancelled two weeks beforehand, with ticket holders being informed by e-mail.
Album discography
- I Feel The SpiritI Feel The SpiritI Feel the Spirit was Prince Buster's first studio album. The album includes many well known songs such as "Madness", "They Got to Come", "Wash You Troubles Away" and "Black Head Chinaman"...
(1963) - Fly Flying SkaFly Flying SkaFly Flying Ska was Prince Buster's second studio album. The album features many ska legends, including The Skatalites, Toots and the Maytals, Roland Alphonso, and Don Drummond among others.-Track listing:# "Flying Ska "# "Lucky Seven"...
(1964) - It's Burke's LawIt's Burke's LawIt's Burke's Law is an album by Prince Buster from 1965. The album features "Al Capone" one of Prince Buster's signature songs.-Track listing:# "Burke's Law"# "Al Capone"# "Gun the Man Down"# "Skahara"# "Trip to Mars"# "Rygin'"# "Mighty As a Rose"...
(1965) - Pain In My Belly (1965)
- Ska-Lip-Soul (1965)
- What A Hard Man Fe Dead (1967)
- Prince Buster On Tour (1967)
- Judge Dread Rock Steady (1967)
- Ten Commandments - RCA (1967)
- Wreck A Pum Pum (1968)
- Tutti Frutti - Melodisc (1968)
- FABulous Greatest Hits - FAB (1968)
- The Outlaw - Blue Beat (1969)
- 15 Oldies but Goodies - FAB
- Big Five - Melodisc (1972)
- The Message-Dub Wise - FAB/Melodisc (1972)
- Dance Cleopatra Dance - Blue Elephant (1972)
- Chi Chi Run - FAB (1973)
- She Was A Rough Rider (1978)
- Sister Big Stuff - Melodisc (1976)
- Jamaica's Greatest - Melodisc
- Subliminal Reaction - Subliminal Reacton
- FABulous Greatest Hits - 1963-1981 - Sequel (1993)
- The Original Golden Oldies Volume 1 (1998)
- The Original Golden Oldies Volume 2 (1999)
- The King of Ska (2002)
- Prince of Peace: Prince Buster with Determinations Live in Japan (2003)
UK hit singles
| Date | Song title | UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... peak |
Weeks on chart |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 February 67 | "Al Capone" | 18 | 13 |
| 4 April 98 | "Whine and Grine" | 21 | 3 |