The Buster All-Star group's musical performers included the likes of Earnest Ranglin, Jah Jerry Haynes - Guitar, Gladstone Anderson - Piano, Arkland Parks - Drums, Junior Nelson and Rico Rodriguez - Trombone, Raymond Harper and Baba Brooks - Trumpets and Val Bennett - Tenor Sax. Prince Buster's early material was greatly distinct from other music of that period, having an up-tempo style that was decidedly charged with horny Ska riffs dominated by cymbals and handclaps. When one considered that Duke Reid was extremely critical of Prince Buster's efforts to change the affluence of the old American type sound. Duke Reid from the old school of record producers in his criticisms of the new Ska/Blues rhythm, made a statement of; "that kind of sound will never catch on! The tunes Prince Buster produced proved him to be right in experimental changes of the old rhythm. This new sound of Prince Buster eventually led him to be crowned champion of sound system taking away the title from Duke Reid who himself took an about turn in following in Prince Buster's footsteps in producing records similar to Buster. Duke Reid later became a master of the Rock Steady beat. In the meantime Byron Lee, a Chinese offspring of middle class background and one of the practitioner of musical entertainers, began renovating the Ska sound to favour the upper middle class society of Jamaica. The new musical beat did catch on, and Prince Buster's techniques of musical recordings, fashioned a new itinerary that other producers would later follow the same trait of music in the 1960's. Buster's innovative contributions to Jamaican music inexorably brought about its own cultural agenda and in no time at all, Buster tracks were on general release in the UK on the Blue Beat label. |
