Prince Buster

Cecil Bustamente Campbell, O.D. (born May 28, 1938), better known as Prince Buster and less known by his muslim name Muhammed Yusef Ali, is a musician from Kingston, Jamaica and 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.

Biography

Early life

Campbell was born into a family in Kingston as a son of a helicopter driver. He grew up in one of the city's toughest neighborhoods. At a young age, he developed a taste for turkish delight and yearned to be a cook. In 1956, he started singing at Kingston nightclubs for small pay. He formed a succession of bands with several of his friends, none of which were really successful.

What turned Campbell's music career around was the growing sound system craze. Across Jamaica, music promoters drove vans filled with stereo equipment to stage mobile parties. The operators of the sound system would play the most 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; the toaster form was the primary influence on early rap MCs.

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.

He joined the Nation of Islam after meeting Muhammad Ali whilst on a tour of England in 1964 ["Prince Buster presented with Order of Distinction". Friday, December 07, 2001. Accessed on October 21, 2007 [http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/lifestyle/html/20011206T190000-0500_17987_OBS_PRINCE_BUSTER_PRESENTED_WITH_ORDER_OF_DISTINCTION.asp] ] [Prince Buster on National Georgraphic. Accessed on October 21, 2007 [http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/worldmusic/view/page.basic/artist/content.artist/prince_buster] ] .

Artistic and producing career

In 1960, Buster produced a record for the Folkes Brothers for the Wild Bells label, "Oh Carolina," under his nickname. 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 (arguably because of its African drumming - it gave the people of Jamaica a cultural artifact all of their own), 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 himself 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. He became notorious for releasing "Big Five", a raunched-up re-write of Brook Benton's "Rainy Night in Georgia". He never toured the Netherlands but many other European countries. Although 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 release "The 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.

Besides being a pioneering musician, Buster, like Clement Dodd, was also very interested in business. He started a record store 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, [ http://www.georgwa.demon.co.uk/prince_buster.htm Accessed October 21, 2007] but today is used to reissue his music.

Prince Buster had two hit singles in the UK. Al Capone (# 18, 1967) & with an updated version of Whine And Grine, which was used on a TV advert (# 21, 1998).

Post-recording life

The ska sound had finished its run by the late 1960s, but its influence was clearly felt in its descendants: rocksteady, which was slower than ska and more influenced by gospel and soul, and by rocksteady's better-known successor, reggae. In addition to the musical influence, 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. In 1979, the band Madness released its first record, a tribute to Buster called "The Prince", which urged ska fans to remember "the man who set the beat", stating "So I'll leave it up to you out there / To get him back on his feet." Interest in Buster soared during this time; he received royalties when his songs were covered by bands like The Specials, The Beat, and Madness, and his old records were reissued and sold well. Between these boons, The Prince was indeed able to "get back on his feet." Buster is similarly mentioned in The Toasters song "Shebeen": "And there was an old man/Who used to bring up the sounds/And he kept those beats, he kept those beats/From when Prince Buster was around".

Prince Buster now lives in Miami, Florida. He no longer records or produces, but has performed at a few shows over the past several years including the 2006 & 2007 Boss Sounds Reggae Festival in Newcastle upon Tyne.Prince Buster performed in the revival ska festival, Ska Splash 2008 in Skegness, England on April 27, 2008. At the show it was announced that Prince Buster was in the recording studio with his new band. During the last day of the 2008 Notting hill carnival, prince buster also made an apperance outside Gaz's rocking blues, alongside the trojans whom where playing there.

LP Discography

*"I Feel The Spirit" - FAB
*"Fly Flying Ska"
*"Pain In My Belly"
*"Ska-Lip-Soul"
*"It's Burke's Law"
*"What A Hard Man Fe Dead"
*"Prince Buster On Tour"
*"Judge Dread Rock Steady"
*"She Was A Rough Rider"
*"Wreck A Pum Pum"
*"The Outlaw"
*"FABulous Greatest Hits - 1963-1981" - FAB/Sequel (1993)
*"15 Oldies but Goodies" - FAB
*"Tutti Frutti" -Melodisc
*"Chi Chi Run" - FAB
*"The Message-Dub Wise" - 1972 - FAB/Melodisc
*"Sister Big Stuff" - Melodisc
*"Big Five" - Melodisc
*"Jamaica's Greatest" - Melodisc
*"Ten Commandments" - 1967 - RCA
*"Dance Cleopatra Dance" - Blue Elephant
*"Subliminal Reaction" - Subliminal Reacton

UK Top 40 Singles

References