by Howard Campbell
KINGSTON, Jamaica – One of reggae’s mystic performers, singer Prince Alla has never risen above the status of cult hero. Best known for songs such as Stone and Bucket Bottom, the Rastafarian artist’s latest album is Burning Fire.
It contains 10 songs, all produced by Alphonso Henclewood, who has known Prince Alla for over 45 years.
Henclewood said he began recording tracks for Burning Fire in 1995, and completed production in 2010. The album was released in 2016, but Henclewood was displeased with what he called the distributor’s lack of promotion, and took it off the market.
“It’s a great album, Prince Alla put his all into it an’ it deserves better than it was getting,” said the producer.
Oh What A Day, Stop Yuh Crying and Mortimer are some of the songs on Burning Fire. The latter is an ode to Mortimer Planno, an inspirational Rasta leader who was mentored many Afro-centric Jamaica during the 1960s, including Bob Marley and Peter Tosh.
Henclewood has known Prince Alla since the 1970s. They both lived in Greenwich Farm, a Kingston community that produced a number of Jamaica’s biggest acts, like lovers rock singers John Holt, Slim Smith and Delroy Wilson.
That decade saw the emergence of Rastafari in Jamaica and Greenwich Farm was home to many of its followers, among them Prince Alla. Though he began recording in the late 1960s, his best work was released in the 1970s, with Stone and Bucket Bottom being his signatures.
Prince Alla still lives in Greenwich Farm where he is a respected elder. Occasionally, he tours Europe and as far away as Australia. In a 2015 interview, he likened himself to a “lost penny.”
“Me never get the proper promotion. Is not like a man used to carry my music go to the radio station dem. So people never really get to know me,” he said.
Burning Fire’s second run is being handled by Henclewood’s company, Montego Records.
