Prince Far I aka the Voice Of Thunder got his start in the burgeoning Jamaican music industry as a sound system DJ (for Sir Mike The Musical Dragon), workingsecurity at Joe Gibbs’ stuido and in a similar roll at Coxsone Dodd’s Studio One. As fate would have it, King Stitt, the regular DJ at Studio One, failed to turn up to voice a track and the up and commer convinced Coxsone to give him a try on the mic. The resulting cut launched the career of one of Reggae’s most famous toasters – though he liked to describe his style as a chanter rather than the more popular term toaster. First releasing records using the moniker King Cry Cry, the same name he’d used working Sir Mike’s sound system, he soon changed his name to Prince Far I at the suggestion of producer Enos McLeod.

On Voice Of Thunder, Prince Far I is supported by an extremely sparse yet heavy instrumental backing which perfectly compliments his growling voice. As is often the case with Prince Far I, much of the material is essentially Bible verse, “Ten Commandments” being a perfect example. The Voice Of Thunder full length alsoincludes a tribute to the very recently deceased Bob Marley, and he even takes time to take UK skinheads to task for wearing polyster (forbidden to a real rastafarian).

Long out of print on vinyl, this 1981 masterpiece from Prince Far I is back.