The Wailers "One Love/People Get Ready" noicon "One Love/People Get Ready" by The Wailers. This is a Ska version of the famous Bob Marley song.
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Ska ( /ˈskɑː/, Jamaican [skjæ]) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae.^[1] Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. It is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the upbeat. In the early 1960s, ska was the dominant music genre of Jamaica and was popular with British mods. Later it became popular with many skinheads.^[2][3][4][5]

Music historians typically divide the history of ska into three periods: the original Jamaican scene of the 1960s (First Wave), the English 2 Tone ska revival of the late 1970s (Second Wave) and the third wave ska movement, which started in the 1980s (Third Wave) and rose to popularity in the US in the 1990s.^[6]

Etymology[link]

There are different theories about the origins of the word ska. Ernest Ranglin claimed that the term was coined by musicians to refer to the "skat! skat! skat!" scratching guitar strum.^[7] Another explanation is that at a recording session in 1959 produced by Coxsone Dodd, double bassist Cluett Johnson instructed guitarist Ranglin to "play like ska, ska, ska", although Ranglin has denied this, stating "Clue couldn't tell me what to play!"^[8] A further theory is that it derives from Johnson's word skavoovie, with which he was known to greet his friends.^[9] Jackie Mittoo insisted that the musicians themselves called the rhythm Staya Staya, and that it was Byron Lee who introduced the term 'ska'.^[10]

Guitar and piano making a ska sound, like 'ska, ska,' that's why we call it SKA. The sound of the guitar and the piano, that's why we give it the name ska.

—Derrick Morgan^[11]

Ernest Ranglin described the difference between the R&B and the ska beat is that the former goes "chink-ka" and the latter goes "ka-chink".^[11]

History[link]

After World War II, Jamaicans purchased radios in increasing numbers and were able to hear rhythm and blues music from Southern United States cities such as New Orleans by artists such as Fats Domino^[12] and Louis Jordan.^[13]

File:Skank on Em64.png

Quarter note "skank" guitar rhythm^[14] Play (help·info), named onomatopoetically for its sound.

File:Ska-Rock Steady on D and Em64.png

Eighth note skank rhythm^[15]  Play (help·info).

The stationing of American military forces during and after the war meant that Jamaicans could listen to military broadcasts of American music, and there was a constant influx of records from the US. To meet the demand for that music, entrepreneurs such as Prince Buster, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, and Duke Reid formed sound systems. As jump blues and more traditional R&B began to ebb in popularity in the early 1960s, Jamaican artists began recording their own version of the genres.^[16] The style was of bars made up of four triplets but was characterized by a guitar chop on the off beat - known as an upstroke or skank - with horns taking the lead and often following the off beat skank and piano emphasizing the bass line and, again, playing the skank.^[1] Drums kept 4/4 time and the bass drum was accented on the 3rd beat of each 4-triplet phrase. The snare would play side stick and accent the third beat of each 4-triplet phrase.^[1] The upstroke sound can also be found in other Caribbean forms of music, such as mento and calypso.^[17]

One theory about the origin of ska is that Prince Buster created it during the inaugural recording session for his new record label Wild Bells.^[17] The session was financed by Duke Reid, who was supposed to get half of the songs to release. The guitar began emphasizing the second and fourth beats in the bar, giving rise to the new sound. The drums were taken from traditional Jamaican drumming and marching styles. To create the ska beat, Prince Buster essentially flipped the R&B shuffle beat, stressing the offbeats with the help of the guitar. Prince Buster has explicitly cited American rhythm & blues as the origin of ska, specifically Willis Jackson's song "Later for the Gator", "Oh Carolina", and "Hey Hey Mr. Berry".^[18]

The first ska recordings were created at facilities such as Studio One and WIRL Records in Kingston, Jamaica with producers such as Dodd, Reid, Prince Buster, and Edward Seaga.^[17] The ska sound coincided with the celebratory feelings surrounding Jamaica's independence from the UK in 1962; an event commemorated by songs such as Derrick Morgan's "Forward March" and The Skatalites' "Freedom Sound." Because the newly-independent Jamaica didn't ratify the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works until 1994 copyright was not an issue, which created a large number of cover songs and reinterpretations. Jamaican musicians such as The Skatalites often recorded instrumental ska versions of popular American and British music, such as Beatles songs, Motown and Atlantic soul hits, movie theme songs, or surf rock instrumentals. Bob Marley's band The Wailers covered the Beatles' "And I Love Her", and radically reinterpreted Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone".

Byron Lee & the Dragonaires performed ska with Prince Buster, Eric "Monty" Morris, and Jimmy Cliff at the 1964 New York World's Fair. As music changed in the United States, so did ska. In 1965 and 1966, when American soul music became slower and smoother, ska changed its sound accordingly and evolved into rocksteady.^[17][19] However, rocksteady's heyday was brief, peaking in 1967. By 1968, ska evolved again into reggae.

2 Tone[link]

The 2 Tone genre, which began in the late 1970s in the areas in and around the city of Coventry in England, was a fusion of Jamaican ska rhythms and melodies with punk rock's more aggressive guitar chords and lyrics.^[19] Compared to 1960s ska, 2 Tone music had faster tempos, fuller instrumentation and a harder edge. The genre was named after 2 Tone Records, a record label founded by Jerry Dammers of The Specials. In many cases, the reworking of classic ska songs turned the originals into hits again in the United Kingdom.

The 2 Tone movement promoted racial unity at a time when racial tensions were high in the UK. There were many Specials songs that raised awareness of the issues of racism, fighting and friendship issues. Riots in British cities were a feature during the summer that The Specials song "Ghost Town" was a hit, although this work was in a slower, Reggae beat. Most of the 2 Tone bands had multiracial lineups, such as The Beat (known as English Beat in North America and the British Beat in Australia), The Specials, and The Selecter.^[1] Although only on the 2 Tone label for one single, Madness was one of the most effective bands at bringing the 2 Tone genre into the mainstream.

[edit] Third wave

Europe, Australia, Asia and South America[link]

By the late 1980s, ska had experienced a minor resurgence of popularity in Britain, propelled by bands such as The Burial, The Hotknives and Potato 5, and the re-emergence of the traditional skinhead subculture, ska music festivals, and ska-friendly record labels such as Unicorn Records.^{[20][21][22][23][24]}

The early 1980s saw a massive international surge in ska's popularity, particularly in Europe. Germany proved to be one of the more notable countries, producing a large number of ska bands, record labels and festivals.^[21][25] Notable German ska bands included Skaos, Blechreiz and The Busters. Other prominent bands from Europe's late-1980s/early-1990s ska boom include Mr. Review and Mark Foggo's Skasters from Amsterdam, and Skarface from France.

The Australian ska scene flourished in the mid-1980s, following the musical precedents set by 2 Tone, and spearheaded by bands such as Strange Tenants and No Nonsense, both from Melbourne, and later The Porkers, from Newcastle.^[26] Some of the Australian ska revival bands found success on their national music charts, most notably Sydney's The Allniters, who had a #10 hit with a ska cover of "Montego Bay" in 1983.^[27]

Japan established its own ska and reggae scenes — the former colloquially referred to as J-ska — in the mid-1980s.^[28][29] The Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, formed in 1985, have been one of the most commercially successful progenitors of Japanese ska.^[30]

South America's ska scene started developing in the mid-1980s. South American ska bands typically play traditional ska rhythms blended with strong influences from Latin music and rock en Español.^[31] The most prominent of these bands is Los Fabulosos Cadillacs from Argentina. Formed in 1985, the band has sold millions of records worldwide, scoring an international hit single with "El Matador" in 1994 and winning the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock/Alternative album.^[32]. Other notable bands include: JAS (Peru); Los Auténticos Decadentes (Argentina); Panteón Rococó, Inspector (band) and Maldita Vecindad (Mexico); and No Te Va Gustar (Uruguay);and Desorden Público (Venezuela).

North America[link]

By the early 1980s, influenced by 2 Tone, ska bands began forming throughout the United States.^[19] The Uptones from Berkeley, California and The Toasters from New York City — both formed in 1981 — were among the first active ska bands in North America, both credited with laying the groundwork for American ska and establishing scenes in their respective regions.^{[6][33][34][35]} While many of the early American ska bands continued in the musical traditions set by 2 Tone and the mod revival, bands such as Fishbone, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Operation Ivy pioneered the American ska punk subgenre, a fusion of ska and punk rock which typically downplayed ska's R&B influence in favor of faster tempos and guitar distortion.^[19][36]

Two hotspots for the United States' burgeoning ska scenes were New York City and Orange County, California. In New York, Toasters frontman Robert "Bucket" Hingley formed independent label Moon Ska Records in 1983. The label quickly became the largest ska independent record label in the United States, distributing titles from east coast bands like The Slackers, The Scofflaws and The Pietasters.^[37] The Orange County ska scene was a breeding ground for ska punk and more contemporary pop-influenced ska music, personified by bands such as Reel Big Fish, No Doubt and Sublime.^[38] It was here that the term "third wave ska" was coined and popularized by Tazy Phyllips (host of the Ska Parade radio show) to describe the new wave of ska-influenced bands which were steadily gaining notoriety.^[39][40] The San Francisco Bay Area also contributed to ska's growing popularity, with Skankin' Pickle, Let's Go Bowling and the Dance Hall Crashers becoming known on the touring circuit.

The mid-1990s saw a considerable rise in ska music's underground popularity, marked by the formation of many ska-based record labels, booking organizations and indie zines. While Moon Ska was still the largest of the United States' ska labels, other notable labels included Jump Up Records of Chicago, which covered the thriving midwest scene, and Steady Beat Recordings of Los Angeles, which covered Southern California's traditional ska revival popularized by the band Hepcat. Stomp Records of Montreal was Canada's primary distributor of ska music, carrying titles from Canadian bands such as The Planet Smashers, The Kingpins and King Apparatus.^[41] Additionally, many punk and indie rock labels, such as Hellcat Records and Fueled by Ramen, broadened their scope to include both ska and ska punk bands. Asian Man Records (formerly Dill Records), founded by Skankin' Pickle's Mike Park in 1996, started out primarily releasing skapunk albums before branching out and releasing early albums by punk bands Alkaline Trio and The Lawrence Arms.^[42]

In 1993, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones signed with Mercury Records, becoming the first American ska band to find mainstream commercial success, with their 1994 album Question the Answers achieving gold record status and peaking at #138 on the Billboard 200.^[43] In 1995, punk band Rancid, featuring former members of Operation Ivy, released the ska single "Time Bomb" which reached #8 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks, becoming the first major ska hit of the 1990s and launching the genre into the public eye.^[44] Over the next few years, a string of notable ska and ska-influenced singles became hits on mainstream radio, including "Spiderwebs" by No Doubt, "Sell Out" by Reel Big Fish and "The Impression That I Get" by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, all of whom would reach platinum status with each of their respective albums. By 1996, third wave ska was one of the most popular forms of alternative music in the United States.^[44]

By the late 1990s, mainstream interest in third wave ska bands waned as other music genres gained momentum.^[45] Moon Ska Records folded in 2000, but Moon Ska Europe, a licensed affiliate based in Europe, continued operating in the 2000s, and was later relaunched as Moon Ska World. In 2003, Hingley launched a new ska record label, Megalith Records.

See also[link]

• Australian ska
• Christian ska
• List of ska musicians
• Rude boy
• Skank (dance)

Footnotes[link]

Further reading[link]

• Du Noyer, Paul (2003). "Ska". The Billboard Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music. New York City: Billboard Books. pp. 350–351. ISBN 0-8230-7869-8. 
• Neville Staple (2009) Original Rude Boy, Aurum Press. ISBN 978-1-84513-480-8

External links[link]

• Allmusic Section about third wave ska
• Ska's Third Wave Article from Furious.com
• SKAlovers.de Ska website for Germany, Austria and Switzerland
• [1] Ska Website with news of Ska in Wales and UK
• Ska Information & Fan Zine

Jimmy Cliff
Cliff performing in 1997.
Background information
Birth name	James Chambers
Born	(1948-04-01) 1 April 1948 (age 64) Somerton District, St. James, Jamaica
Genres	Ska, reggae
Occupations	Musician, singer, actor
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, conga drums, keyboards
Years active	1962–present
Labels	Island, MCI, Columbia, Trojan, EMI, CBS[1]
Website	Official site

Jimmy Cliff, OM (born James Chambers on 1 April 1948) is a Jamaican musician, singer and actor. He is the only currently living musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievement in the arts and sciences.

Cliff is best known among mainstream audiences for songs such as "Sitting in Limbo", "You Can Get It If You Really Want" and "Many Rivers to Cross" from the soundtrack to The Harder They Come, which helped popularize reggae across the world;^[2] and his covers of Cat Stevens' "Wild World" and Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now" from the film Cool Runnings. Outside of the reggae world, he is probably best known for his film appearance in The Harder They Come. Cliff was one of five performers inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.

Early life and career[link]

Jimmy Cliff was born in Somerton District, St. James, Jamaica.^[3] He began writing songs while still at primary school in St. James, listening to a neighbour's sound system. In 1962 his father took him to Kingston to go to Kingston Technical school, where he ended up sharing his cousin's one rented room in East Kingston.

Cliff sought out many producers while still going to school, trying to get his songs recorded without success. He also entered talent contests. "One night I was walking past a record store and restaurant as they were closing, pushed myself in and convinced one of them, Leslie Kong, to go into the recording business, starting with me," he writes in his own website biography.^[2] After two singles that failed to make much impression, his career took off when his "Hurricane Hattie" became a hit, while he was aged 14.^[4] It was produced by Kong, with whom Cliff remained until Kong's death from a heart attack in 1971.

Cliff's later local hit singles included "King of Kings", "Dearest Beverley", "Miss Jamaica", and "Pride and Passion". In 1964, Cliff was chosen as one of Jamaica's representatives at the World's Fair and he soon signed to Island Records and moved to the UK.^[4] Island Records initially (and unsuccessfully) tried to sell Cliff to the rock audience, but his career took off in the late 1960s.^[5] His international debut album was Hard Road to Travel. It received excellent reviews and included "Waterfall" (composed by Nirvana's Alex Spyropoulos and Patrick Campbell-Lyons), which became a hit in Brazil and won the International Song Festival.^[4]

"Waterfall" was followed in 1969 by "Wonderful World, Beautiful People" and "Vietnam" in 1970, both popular throughout most of the world. Bob Dylan called "Vietnam" the best protest song he had ever heard.^[2] Also during this period, Cliff released a cover of Cat Stevens' "Wild World" as a single, but it was not included on his Wonderful World, Beautiful People album.

[edit] The Harder They Come (1972) and subsequent career

In 1972, Cliff starred as Ivanhoe "Ivan" Martin in the classic reggae film, The Harder They Come, directed by Perry Henzell. As the film tells Martin's story, he is a young man without funds. Arriving in Kingston from the country, he tries to make it in the recording business, but without success. Eventually, he turns to a life of crime. The soundtrack album of the film was a huge success that sold well across the world, bringing reggae to an international audience for the first time. It remains the most significant film to have come out of Jamaica since independence. The film made its debut at London's Notting Hill Gaumont cinema on 1 September 1972.^[6]

After a series of albums, Cliff took a break and traveled to Africa, and subsequently converted to Islam, and took the new name: El Hadj Naïm Bachir ^{[7] and [8]}. He quickly returned to music, touring for several years before he recorded with Kool & the Gang for The Power and the Glory (1983). In 1984 Cliff appeared at the Pinkpop Festival in Landgraaf, Netherlands.

During the 1981 River Tour, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band added Cliff's previously little-known song "Trapped" to their live set; it achieved great prominence when included on 1985's We Are the World benefit album. The follow-up, Cliff Hanger (1985) won a Grammy Award for 'Best Reggae Album', though it was his last major success in the U.S. until 1993. Also in 1985 Cliff contributed to the song "Sun City," a protest song written and composed by Steven Van Zandt and recorded by Artists United Against Apartheid to convey opposition to the South African policy of apartheid.^[9] Cliff then provided backing vocals on The Rolling Stones' 1986 album, Dirty Work. In 1988, his song "Shelter of Your Love" was featured in the hit film Cocktail.

In 1991 Cliff appeared at the second Rock in Rio festival in the Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He continued to sell well in Jamaica and, to a lesser extent, the UK, returning to the mainstream pop charts in the US and elsewhere (#1 in France) with a version of Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now" on the Cool Runnings film soundtrack in 1993. In 1995 Cliff released the single "Hakuna Matata," a collaboration with Lebo M, a song from the soundtrack of the film The Lion King.

In 2002, Cliff released the album Fantastic Plastic People in Europe, after first providing free downloads using p2p software. This album featured collaborations with Joe Strummer, Annie Lennox, and Sting as well as new songs that were very reminiscent of Cliff's original hits. In 2004 Cliff completely reworked the songs, dropping the traditional reggae in favour of an electronica sound, for inclusion in Black Magic. He also performed at the closing ceremony to the 2002 Commonwealth Games. In 2003 his song "You Can Get It If You Really Want" was included in the soundtrack to the film, Something's Gotta Give. Cliff appeared in July 2003 at the Paléo Festival in Nyon, Switzerland.

Cliff has also covered Solomon Linda's "Mbube", which has been re-recorded by The Tokens as "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". Cliff name checked the Welsh privateer, Henry Morgan, in his song "Oh, Jamaica". Joe Strummer recorded "Over The Border" with Cliff on the latter's album Black Magic.

In 2007 Cliff performed at the opening Hi World ceremony at Cricket's World Cup. His song "Many Rivers to Cross" references the White Cliffs Of Dover, England.

In the spring and summer of 2010, Cliff embarked on an extensive tour of the US and Canada.^[10]

Acting career[link]

In addition to providing the music for The Harder They Come, Cliff also had the film's starring role as the struggling reggae singer, Ivanhoe "Ivan" Martin, which was his acting debut.^[11]

Cliff also appeared as the Jamaican musician and revolutionary, Ernest Reed, in the 1986 comedy Club Paradise, co-starring with Robin Williams and Peter O'Toole,^[12] and contributed several songs to the soundtrack, including "Seven Day Weekend", which he sang with Elvis Costello.

Cliff appeared in the film Marked for Death^[13] in 1990, performing "John Crow" with the Jimmy Cliff Band.

Awards and honors[link]

The Jamaican government under P.J. Patterson honoured Cliff on 20 October 2003, by awarding him The Order of Merit, the nation's third-highest honour, in recognition of his contributions to the film and music of Jamaica.^[14] He and Mervyn Morris are the only currently living figures from the arts to hold this distinction and he is the only living musician to do so.

Cliff was also an inaugural member of the Independent Music Awards' judging panel to support independent artists.^[15] More recently, Cliff appeared on the Jazz World Stage at the Glastonbury Festival in 2008 and again at Glastonbury in 2011.

Cliff's recording of "You Can Get It If You Really Want" was used as a campaign anthem by the Sandinista National Liberation Front in the 1990 election in Nicaragua. It was also adopted by the British Conservative Party during their annual conference in October 2007. It is unclear whether Cliff endorsed either political party.

In September 2009, Cliff was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, following a campaign on his behalf by the American, Charles Earle.^[16] Cliff reacted to the news by saying, "This is good for Cliff, good for Jamaican music and good for my country." On December 15, 2009, Cliff was officially announced as an inductee and was inducted on March 15, 2010^[17] by Wyclef Jean.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Hard Road to Travel (January 1968)
• Jimmy Cliff (December 1969) (aka Wonderful World, Beautiful People)
• Goodbye Yesterday (1970)
• Another Cycle (September 1971)
• The Harder They Come (1972) #140 US
• Unlimited (August 1973)
• Struggling Man (June 1974)
• House of Exile (December 1974)
• Brave Warrior (1975)
• Follow My Mind (November 1976) # 195 US
• In Concert: The Best of Jimmy Cliff (1976)
• Give Thankx (1978)
• Oh Jamaica (1979)
• I Am The Living (July 1980)
• Give the People What They Want (September 1981, with the Compass Point All Stars)
• Special (July 1982) #186 US
• The Power and the Glory (October 1983)
• Cliff Hanger (August 1985)
• Club Paradise (1986)
• Hanging Fire (March 1988)
• Images (October 1989)
• Save Our Planet Earth (October 1990)
• Breakout (1992) #11 US World #60 R&B
• Higher and Higher (May 1998)
• Journey of Lifetime (1998)
• Humanitarian (June 1999)
• Fantastic Plastic People (2002)
• Black Magic (2004) #11 Reggae
• Sacred Fire (2012) #1 Reggae

^[18]

Singles[link]

• "Wonderful World, Beautiful People" - 1969 - Trojan Records - #6 UK #25 U.S.
• "Come Into My Life" #89 U.S.
• "Viet Nam" - 1970 - Trojan - #46 UK
• "Wild World" - 1970 - Island Records - #8 UK
• "Reggae Night" - 1983
• "I Can See Clearly Now" - 1993 - Columbia Records - #23 UK - #18 U.S #9 AC
• "Hakuna Matata" - 1995 #26 AC^[19]

See also[link]

• Caribbean music in the United Kingdom
• List of converts to Islam
• List of former Island Records artists
• List of Jamaicans
• List of reggae musicians
• List of roots reggae artists
• List of singer-songwriters

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Jimmy Cliff at Allmusic
• Interview with Graham Brown-Martin for Air Jamaica's Skywritings Magazine
• Jimmy Cliff among 100 black screen icons
• Video section of the website of the British Conservative Party, where "You Can Get It If You Really Want" was used as a campaign song
• PBS Program: Tavis Smiley Episode: Reggae pioneer Jimmy Cliff, 11/18/2011

Prince Buster
Background information
Birth name	Cecil Bustamente Campbell
Born	(1938-05-28) 28 May 1938 (age 74) Kingston, Jamaica
Origin	Jamaica
Genres	Ska, rocksteady, reggae
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, producer
Labels	Blue Beat

Cecil Bustamente Campbell, O.D. (born 28 May 1938), usually known as Prince Buster, and also having the 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.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

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 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.

Artistic and producing career[link]

In 1960, Buster produced a record for the Folkes Brothers 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.^[1] 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",^[2][3] 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 singles 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).^[4] 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,^[5] but today is used to reissue his music.

Post-recording life[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (July 2011)

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 reggae. 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.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]} 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 in the 21st century including: the 2002 Legends Of Ska festival in Toronto; Dedham, Massachusetts in 2002; the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival in 2003; 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.

Album discography[link]

• I Feel the Spirit (1963)
• Fly Flying Ska (1964)
• It's Burke's Law (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)
• Sister Big Stuff - Melodisc (1976)
• She Was A Rough Rider (1978)
• 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[link]

References[link]

Byron Lee OD, OJ^[1] (born Byron Aloysius St. Elmo Lee, 27 June 1935, Christiana, Manchester, Jamaica, died 4 November 2008, Kingston, Jamaica) was a musician, record producer, and entrepreneur, best known for his work as leader of Byron Lee and the Dragonaires.^[2]

Biography[link]

Lee was born in Christiana in Manchester Parish to an Afro-Jamaican mother and a Chinese father (a language teacher) originally from Kowloon, Hong Kong.^[2] His mother was from Auchtembeddie, where mento and junkanoo were popular musical forms, and his family actively upheld the cultural and musical traditions of their African ancestors.^[2] The family moved to the Mountain View Gardens area of Kingston when Lee was around 8 or 9.^[2] He learned to play piano at a convent school in Mandeville, but put music on hold when he became a member of the Jamaican national football team.^[2] He taught himself to play bass on a homemade instrument, and around 1950, along with his friend Carl Brady, he formed the first incarnation of the Dragonaires, named after the college football team that they played for, at that time concentrating on mento.^[3] The band turned professional in 1956 and went on to become one of Jamaica's leading ska bands, continuing since and taking in other genres such as calypso, Soca, and Mas.^[3]

According to Michael E. Veal in his book Dub : soundscapes and shattered songs in Jamaican reggae *Wesleyan University Press, 2007), Byron Lee is known to have introduced the electric bass guitar to Jamaica in late 1959 or 1960. However, the reason Lee began to use the electric bass as opposed to its stand-up counterpart had nothing to do with sound. Rather, it was a way for Lee to avoid carrying the large and heavy stand-up bass to the truck to move from gig to gig. The bass guitar soon gained popularity throughout the country and soon became the standard. The electric bass' louder, clearer, and more in your face sound soon changed the entire sound of Jamaican music entirely, especially after Skatalites bassist Lloyd Brevett took a liking to it.^{[citation needed]}

Lee also worked as a producer, producing many of the ska singles by The Maytals, and his entrepreneurial skills led to him setting up the Byron Lee's Spectacular Show tour, which involved several Jamaican acts (including The Maytals) touring the Caribbean. He also became the head of distribution in Jamaica for Atlantic Records.^[3] Lee purchased the West Indies Records Limited (WIRL) recording studios from Edward Seaga after fire had destroyed the pressing plant on the same site, and renamed it Dynamic Sounds, soon having a new pressing facility built on the site. It soon became one of the best-equipped studios in the Caribbean, attracting both local and international recording artists, including Paul Simon and The Rolling Stones, who recorded their famous song "Angie" there.^[3] Lee's productions included Boris Gardiner's Reggae Happening, Hopeton Lewis's Grooving Out on Life, and The Slickers' "Johnny Too Bad".^[3] Dynamic also acts as one of Jamaica's leading record distributors.

In 1990, Lee inaugurated what became an annual event, the Byron Lee Jamaica Carnival, held on Constant Spring Road, and attended by hundreds of thousands of people that united the "uptown" and "downtown" residents of Kingston, an event that Lee calls "the happiest moment in my life".^[3][4][5] Lee had performed with the Dragonaires at carnivals around the Caribbean since the mid-1970s, and chose the location for the carnival to attract revellers from all of Jamaica's classes, stating "The biggest problem was that most Jamaicans said it wouldn't work, that it isn't a carnival country, but I persisted 'cause I believed in it. I wanted carnival to go to the public. You always had other carnivals that were held mostly indoor, where persons had to pay to get in. I went to the people and choose Half-Way Tree where uptown and downtown meet. That is where the route will remain".^[6] While in the early days of ska, Lee was credited in taking it from the ghettos and giving it appeal among Jamaica's "uptown" middle- and upper-classes, he has been credited with taking soca in the opposite direction, popularising a genre that had previously only been enjoyed in Jamaica among the upper classes, with the island's working class.^[4]

Lee missed the Jamaica Carnival in 2007 as he was receiving treatment for bladder cancer after having surgery in Florida, and no longer appeared on stage with the Dragonaires, although he was still involved in the band's management, and was involved with the festival again in 2008.^[7][8] A concert was held in his honour on June 30, 2007, to celebrate his 50 years in the music industry, with artists performing including fellow cancer-survivors Myrna Hague and Pluto Shervington.^[7] Proceeds went to the Jamaica Cancer Society.^[5]

Lee was awarded the Order of Distinction in 1982, upgraded to Commander level on 15 October 2007, in recognition of his "contribution in the fields of Music and Entertainment both locally and internationally".^[9][10]

In October 2008, after receiving treatment for several weeks in Florida, Lee returned to spend his final days in Jamaica. In a ceremony at the University Hospital of the West Indies on October 26, 2008, he was awarded the Order of Jamaica (OJ).^[11] Lee died on the 4th of November 2008, aged 73.^[12] In a statement on the day of Lee's death, the Prime Minister of Jamaica, Bruce Golding, said "Jamaica, and indeed the world, has lost another great music pioneer with the passing this morning of Byron Lee, one of the greatest band leaders ever to grace the entertainment stages of the world".^[13]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Band web page
• Byron Lee's Bio
• Eder, Bruce "Byron Lee Biography", Allmusic, Macrovision Corporation
• Byron Lee at Roots Archives
• Byron Lee at the Internet Movie Database