Audiopile Review: Prince Far I is perhaps best known as the Voice of Thunder that graces so many On-U Sound releases. He is surely the most distinctive deejay in reggae history, and his commanding tones could be heard echoing through On-U releases long after his tragic death in 1983. Of all the Jamaican and British collaborators On-U head honcho Adrian Sherwood worked with, it seems like he loved Far I the best. Far I’s breathtaking 1976 debut ‘Psalms for I’ was released on Carib Gems, an early precursor to On-U. Most of the riddims were laid down by King Tubby’s Aggrovators, produced by Bunny Lee. And most of the lyrics were based on biblical psalms, while one is a straight reading of the Lord’s Prayer. It’s amazing to think of this speaking to the London punk scene, but it clearly did. In his legendary fanzine ‘Sniffin’ Glue’, Mark Perry of Alternative Television described ‘Psalms for I’ as a “a plastic bible that goes round and round”. That’s a pretty good line, but it does little to capture the album’s near-apocalyptic gravity. It may be a deeply religious reggae album, but ‘Psalms for I’ is as heavy and as punk rock as it gets.

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It was 1976 when Prince Far I debuted is unique toasting style under the spell of producer Lloydie Slim at Randy’s Studio. The album features nine tracks based on psalms and “The Lord’s Prayer,” over rhythms largely played by The Aggrovators. Psalms 53 — in particular — used the rhythm from the Lee “Scratch” Perry-produced “Mighty Cloud Of Joy.” It is meditative music and established Prince Far I, literally the man with the voice of thunder, as a formidable force in music business.