Prince Buster - Funky Jamaica

Format: LP
Catalogue No.: RSPBLP002
Barcode: 4589408001759 
Release Date: 04 Apr 2025
Genre: Reggae Classics/Ska

01 Funky Jamaica / Prince Buster
02 Clap Your Hands / Prince Buster
03 Got To Be Free / Prince Buster
04 Black Soul / Prince Buster
05 Dark End Of The Street / Prince Buster
06 All In My Life / Teddy Charmer
07 Tribute To The Toughest / Prince Buster
08 Call On Me / Lee Perry
09 Don't You Know I Love You So / Prince Buster
10 Dancing Floor / Gregory Isaacs
11 I'm Still Here / Winston Samuels
12 Come Get Me / Ernest Ranglin
 
One of the notable tracks on this album is the original long take of Prince Buster's 1967 recording of "A Tribute to the Toughest" (likely the basis for one of the classic rock steady songs, "Ghost Dance"). This unreleased song is dedicated to the rude boys who surrounded Buster.
 
Also included are unreleased takes of Buster's cover of James Carr's soul classic "Dark End of the Street," Ernest Laingrin's "Come Get Me," and Winston Samuels' beautiful rock steady number "I'm Still Here" (featuring Larry Marshall on chorus). Enjoy the solid finish, reminiscent of a dub plate.
 
Also included are many covers of classic songs that Buster loved. Buster's unique interpretations include James Brown's "BRING IT UP (CLAP YOUR HAND), " "FUNKY JAMAICA," a bold arrangement of BEGINNING OF THE END's "FUNKY NASSAU," and THE CLOVERS' "DON'T YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU SO." Lee Perry also makes an appearance on "CALL ON ME," a track with the memorable line, "SO GET MY NUMBER - 6453708, JUST ASK FOR THE WHUP WHOP MAN!..." 

The packed album also includes previously unreleased, treasured recordings by Prince Buster and Teddy Chalmers, "GOT TO BE FREE" and "ALL MY LIFE" (both recorded in 1969), as well as the only Gregory Isaacs recording from Buster Productions, "DANCING FLOOR," and the 1969 release of "BLACK SOUL," a model of skinhead reggae.
 
Buster chose a ghetto cemetery, the final resting place of his long-lost rude boys, as his site for his recording. He was a legendary man who never lost his rude boy spirit to the very end.