A Ska is Born

The origins of Ska are often contested, with many artists claiming credit. Generally, however, it is accepted that Cecil Campbell (better known as Prince Buster), is the father of Ska. Prince Buster gained his name before his musical career. As an eager boxer (who won a good number of his fights), the nickname "Prince" came about as a result of his work as security for the Downbeat sound system owned by Clement Dodd. He would later begin to "DJ" for Dodd, representing the Downbeat Sound System in a number of "Battle of the Sound System" events.

Prince Buster had worked with Clement Dodd, but come 1960, recognising the opportunities opened by Caribbean Records and the other Island changes, he split from Dodd and created his own "Supertown" Sound System.

Prince Buster, through his "Wild Bells" label, began to experiment with new sounds, merging the traditional Mento music with the R&B sounds coming out of America. "When I started recording this music I had to talk the musicians into playing it. At first, the radio stations wouldn't play it and the other sound system owners laughed at it. But the people loved it", said Buster in an interview.

Tracks such as "Shake a Leg" brought a new musical style with the emphasis on the afterbeat. The guitarist Jah Jerry Hinds (who went on to be a key member of the Abyssinians), is credited with being one of the first musicians to give afterbeat syncopation on the guitar, bringing a unique (but soon imitated) sound to Prince Buster.

The name "Ska" is credited to Bassist Cluett Johnson, who apparantly used the made-up work "Skavoovie" to describe people - soon it was being used to describe those who loved this new style of music, and inevitably it was shorterned and "Ska" was born.

This homegrown music grew rapidly in popularity, not only because of its sound and rhythm, but also because it was being created out of the working classes and reflected the mood of the people. The fierce competition between the Sound Systems caused a rapid growth of this musican phenomenon as other Sound System owners realised they needed to create thei own Ska music and groups to be able to compete with Prince Buster.

New faces appeared on the scene rapidly, in terms of artists, Sound Systems and labels. A Chinese-Jamaican by the name of Leslie Kong, spotten the potential of the record business, and when he was approached by Derrick Morgan and a young singer by the name of Jimmy Chambers, who had a number of songs already prepared, he used some of the money made in his resteraunt "Beverly's" to establish the Berverly's label and record a number of their tracks including "Be Still" and "King of Kings", and release them, changing Jimmy Chambers into Jimmy Cliff. Derrick Morgan, who had formerly worked for Prince Buster, defected full time over to Beverly's, and this was to create one of the greatest rivalries in the history of Reggae, and further stimulated the growth of this musical phenomenon.

Remembering his time with Beverly's, Morgan says, "I stuck with Beverley's for a while because Beverley's paid better than the rest. Then in '62, when Jamaica got independence I made this song called 'Forward March'. Prince Buster heard the song and said that part of it came off his song called 'They Got To Come' and he said I was taking his belonging to the Chinaman. Then he and I stated a musical war - it was 'Blackhead Chine' and 'Blazing Fire' time. We were stepping right up the line and he and I kept on doing it right on and on and creating a lot of history in Jamaica. People were fighting over the both of us - some said Buster was better, some said Derrick was better. It caused such a big thing that the government had to come in and stop us. We had to go in the paper and hug up and say that we were the best of friends and so on and stop the dispute." (source: trojanrecords.net)

Derrick Morgan made his debut as a performer back in 1959, at the very dawn of the Jamaican recording industry. After cutting his first recordings for Duke Reid, he went on to record a string of best-selling singles for a variety of producers (at one point holding 7 of the top ten tunes) and throughout the Ska era was widely acknowledged as the island's most popular vocalist. Even as bands such as "The Maytals" and "The Wailers" came onto the scene, Morgan continued to dominate.

Next ... Ska moves off the Island