SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: PRINCE FAR I – CRY TUFF CHANTS ON U

PRINCE FAR I
CRY TUFF CHANTS ON U
ON-U SOUND

Subtitled “Prince Far I At On-U Sound 1978 – 1984”, that may be as much as the reggae DJ’s fans need to know before they buy this. But if you’re not in that small select band (no pun intended), then…

This set was originally issued as a limited-edition cassette, and as a two-LP set for Record Store Day earlier this year. This CD version has 13 tracks, drawn from the work Far I did with London-based label On U Sound’s semi-legendary outfits Singers & Players and Creation Rebel, and which appeared on various compilations (plus there are some previously unissued takes). Cry Tuff was his own label, handled in the UK by Adrian Sherwood at the time

Prince Far I, also known totally appropriately as “The Voice Of Thunder”, could—and frequently does here—come across as some particularly committed Old Testament prophet coming down from the mountain to smite the wicked in the name of Jah. He’s the very definition of “Dread”, and the backings here match his fervour, whether dubbed into submission like “Nuclear Weapon” or “In I Father’s House’, or taken fairly straight (in relative terms) as heavyweight deep, deep roots reggae, as on “Calling Over The Distant Sea”. Then there is a track like the much more conventional—for the reggae of the time—“Water The Garden”, or the fascinating “Bedward The Flying Preacher”. But really, this is roots reggae as good as it got in its heyday.

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