Prince Buster, a ghetto youth from the notorious Back-a-Wall neighborhood of Kingston, is credited by many with bringing ska music to the masses -- both as an upstart sound system operator and as a producer and singer. By the mid-'60s he had already had a string of local hits, but "Ten Commandments from Woman to Man" made a particularly big splash, due in part to its unapologetically sexist stance. This album was originally released in 1967 to capitalize on that song's success. Although
Prince Buster's reputation for "slackness" (sexually explicit material) was already growing, Ten Commandments has no slack material; its 31 minutes are dedicated to galloping ska rave-ups like "Girl, Answer to Your Name" and the brilliant "I Won't Let You Cry," as well as the swinging "They Got to Come" and the calypso/summer-camp classic "Wings of a Dove." "Is Life Worth Living" is slower and anticipates the rocksteady sound that was beginning to emerge in late-'60s Kingston, and which would soon slow further and thicken into reggae -- this song also serves to remind you what a great pure singer
Buster was at this point in his career. And the title track still shocks somewhat in its blatant sexism, though the sly humor underlying the song is underscored by the presence of "Ten Commandments from Woman to Man," a sharp musical retort sung by a young woman identified only as Princess Buster (other answer songs were recorded independently at the time by other local artists). There are lots of fine
Prince Buster compilations out there, but this classic album is as good an introduction to his art as any. ~ Rick Anderson