1. Prince Buster, “Wash Wash” (1963)
That Lucky Old Sun is a spiritual of sorts that dates all the way back to 1949 from its first recording by Frankie Laine, and became a standard in its own right after being covered throughout the years. It’s been known by many names, such as “Walk Around Heaven All Day and Wash All My Troubles Away,” and, in the case of Prince Buster, it was released as “Wash All Your Troubles Away” and most commonly known as “Wash Wash” for his swinging ska rendition recorded in 1963. Recorded in England, “Wash Wash” – which featured Millie Small as a prominent backing vocalis,t not too long before she recorded “My Boy Lollipop” – was so powerful with its crisp, organ-laced boogie shuffle arrangement, that it became one of the first of the few Jamaican ska recordings to be released in North America by a major U.S. label.
