RhoDeo 1919 Roots

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Today's artists proved that you could still make great music with a history of wars, revolutions, kings, psychotic dictators and deadly hurricanes, ah yes the human spirit . .......N'Joy

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Calypso music was the driving force for Carnivals in Trinidad and Tobago (Soca music now has that honor). Trinidad and Tobago is credited with the 'origin' and evolution of Calypso music as we know it today. “Iron Duke in the Land” is considered the first recorded calypso in English (recorded in 1914). Earlier calypsos were sung in patois. “Iron Duke in the Land” is a calypso by Henry Julian (a.k.a. Julian Whiterose) in which he boasts about roles he portrayed in the White Rose Social Union (his masquerade band) in the 1890s when he was instrumental in developing fancy masquerade bands. During that period the musical style was called Cariso. The term “Calypso” evolved later at the turn of the nineteenth century. This title “Iron Duke in the Land,” is the only title of Whiterose’s recordings known to exist. Julian also performed under the names J. White Rose, Henry Julian, and J. Resigna.

Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago during the early to mid-19th century and eventually spread to the rest of the Caribbean Antilles and Venezuela by the mid-20th century. Its rhythms can be traced back to West African Kaiso and the arrival of French planters and their slaves from the French Antilles in the 18th century.

It is characterized by highly rhythmic and harmonic vocals, and is most often sung in a French creole and led by a griot. As calypso developed, the role of the griot became known as a chantuelle and eventually, calypsonian. As English replaced "patois" (Antillean creole) as the dominant language, calypso migrated into English, and in so doing it attracted more attention from the government. It allowed the masses to challenge the doings of the unelected Governor and Legislative Council, and the elected town councils of Port of Spain and San Fernando. Calypso continued to play an important role in political expression, and also served to document the history of Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago.

Calypso in the Caribbean includes a range of genres, including: the Benna in Antigua and Barbuda; Mento, a style of Jamaican folk music that greatly influenced ska and reggae; Ska, the precursor to rocksteady, and reggae; Spouge, a style of Barbadian popular music; Dominica Cadence-lypso, which mixed calypso with the cadence of Haiti; and soca music, a style of Kaiso/calypso, with influences from chutney, soul, funk, Latin and cadence-lypso.

It is thought that the name "calypso" was originally "kaiso" which is now believed to come from Efik "ka isu" ("go on!") and Ibibio "kaa iso" ("continue, go on"), used in urging someone on or in backing a contestant. There is also a Trinidadian term "cariso" that means "old-time" calypsos. The term "calypso" is recorded from the 1930s onwards. Alternatively, the insert for The Rough Guide to Calypso and Soca (published by World Music Network) favours John Cowley's arguments in Carnival, Canboulay and Calypso: Traditions in the Making, that the word might be a corruption of the French carrouseaux and through the process of patois and Anglicization became caliso and then finally "calypso"; however, Cowley also notes that the first mention of the word "calypso" is given in a description of a dance in 1882 by Abbé Masse.

Calypso music was developed in Trinidad in the 17th century from the West African Kaiso and canboulay music brought by African slaves imported to that Caribbean island to work on sugar plantations. The slaves, brought to toil on sugar plantations, were stripped of all connections to their homeland and family and not allowed to talk to each other. They used calypso to mock the slave masters and to communicate with each other. Many early calypsos were sung in French Creole by an individual called a griot. As calypso developed, the role of the griot became known as a chantuelle and eventually, calypsonian.

Modern calypso, however, began in the 19th century, a fusion of disparate elements ranging from the masquerade song lavway, French Creole belair and the calinda stick-fighting chantwell. Calypso's early rise was closely connected with the adoption of Carnival by Trinidadian slaves, including canboulay drumming and the music masquerade processions. The French brought Carnival to Trinidad, and calypso competitions at Carnival grew in popularity, especially after the abolition of slavery in 1834.
Recordings

The first identifiably calypso genre song was recorded in 1912, by Lovey's String Band while visiting New York City. In 1914, the second calypso song was recorded, this time in Trinidad, by chantwell Julian Whiterose, better known as the Iron Duke and famous calinda stick-fighter. Jules Sims would also record vocal calypsos. The majority of these calypsos of the World War I era were instrumentals by Lovey and Lionel Belasco. Perhaps due to the constraints of the wartime economy, no recordings of note were produced until the late 1920s and early 1930s, when the "golden era" of calypso would cement the style, form, and phrasing of the music.

Calypso evolved into a way of spreading news around Trinidad. Politicians, journalists and public figures often debated the content of each song, and many islanders considered these songs the most reliable news source. Calypsonians pushed the boundaries of free speech as their lyrics spread news of any topic relevant to island life, including speaking out against political corruption. Eventually British rule enforced censorship and police began to scan these songs for damaging content.

Even with this censorship, calypsos continued to push boundaries, with a variety of ways to slip songs past the scrutinizing eyes of the editor. Double entendre, or double-speak, was one way, as was the practice of denouncing countries such as Hitler's Germany and its annexation of Poland, while making pointed references toward the UK's policies on Trinidad. Sex, scandal, gossip, innuendo, politics, local news, bravado and insulting other calypsonians were the order of the day in classic calypso, just as it is today with classic hip-hop. And just as the hip-hop of today, the music sparked shock and outrage in moralistic sections of society.

Countless recordings were dumped at sea in the name of censorship, although in truth, rival US companies did this in the spirit of underhanded competition, claiming that the rivals' material was unfit for US consumption. Decca Records lost untold pressings in this manner, as did its rival, RCA's Bluebird label.

An entrepreneur named Eduardo Sa Gomes played a significant role in spreading calypso in its early days. Sa Gomes, a Portuguese immigrant who owned a local music and phonograph equipment shop in Port of Spain, promoted the genre and gave financial support to the local artists. In March 1934, he sent Roaring Lion and Attila the Hun to New York City to record; they became the first calypsonians to record abroad, bringing the genre out of the West Indies and into pop culture. Lord Invader was quick to follow, and stayed in New York City after a protracted legal case involving the theft of his song "Rum and Coca-Cola", a hit by the Andrews Sisters. He made his home there along with Wilmoth Houdini, and became one of the great calypsonians of the USA. Early forms of calypso were also influenced by jazz such as Sans Humanitae. In this extempo (extemporaneous) melody calypsonians lyricise impromptu, commenting socially or insulting each other, "sans humanité" or "no mercy" (which is again a reference to French influence).

The first major stars of calypso started crossing over to new audiences worldwide in the late 1930s. Attila the Hun, Roaring Lion and Lord Invader were first, followed by Lord Kitchener, one of the longest-lasting calypso stars in history—he continued to release hit records until his death in 2000. 1944's "Rum and Coca-Cola" by the Andrews Sisters, a cover version of a Lord Invader song, became an American hit despite the song being a very critical commentary on the explosion of prostitution, inflation and other negative influences accompanying the American military bases in Trinidad at the time. Perhaps the most straightforward way to describe the focus of calypso is that it articulated itself as a form of protest against the authoritarian colonial culture which existed at the time.

Calypso, especially a toned-down, commercial variant, became a worldwide craze with the release of the "Banana Boat Song", or "Day-O", a traditional Jamaican folk song, whose best-known rendition was done by Harry Belafonte on his album Calypso (1956); Calypso was the first full-length record to sell more than a million copies. The success of that album inspired hundreds of "Folkies", or the American folk music revival to imitate the "Belafonte style", but with a more folk-oriented flavor. The Kingston Trio would be a good example. 1956 also saw the massive international hit "Jean and Dinah" by Mighty Sparrow. This song too was a sly commentary as a "plan of action" for the calypsonian on the widespread prostitution and the prostitutes' desperation after the closing of the U.S. naval base on Trinidad at Chaguaramas. In the Broadway-theatre musical Jamaica (1957), Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg cleverly parodied "commercial" Belafonte-style calypso. Several films jumped on the calypso craze in 1957 such as Island in the Sun (20th Century Fox) that featured Belafonte and the low-budget films Calypso Joe (Allied Artists), Calypso Heat Wave (Columbia Pictures), and Bop Girl Goes Calypso (United Artists). Robert Mitchum released an album, Calypso...Is Like So (1957), on Capitol records, capturing the sound, spirit, and subtleties of the genre. Dizzy Gillespie recorded a calypso album Jambo Caribe (1964) with James Moody and Kenny Barron.

Soul shouter Gary "US" Bonds released a calypso album Twist up Calypso (1962) on Legrand records, shortly after returning home from his military post in Port of Spain. Nithi Kanagaratnam from Sri Lanka sang calypso-styled songs in Tamil in 1968, which was a success and earned him the title "Father of Tamil Popular Music". Since Baila rhythm was popular in Sri Lanka, most of his songs were classified as Tamil Baila. In the mid-1970s, women entered the calypso men's-oriented arena. Calypso Rose was the first woman to win the Trinidad Road March competition in 1977 with her song "Gimme More Tempo". The following year with "Come Leh We Jam", she won the "Calypso King " competition, the first time a woman had received the award. The competition's title was changed to Calypso Monarch in her honour. The French and pioneer electronic musician Jean Michel Jarre released an album in 1990 called Waiting for Cousteau. The album has four tracks: "Calypso", "Calypso part 2", "Calypso part 3 Fin de Siècle" and "Waiting for Cousteau". It was dedicated to Jacques-Yves Cousteau in his 80th birthday. This album had a special participation of the Amocco Renegades (a traditional steel-drum band from Trinidad and Tobago). In the first track is possible to notice a strong style influence. Calypso had another short burst of commercial interest when Tim Burton's horror/comedy film Beetlejuice (1988) was released, and used Belafonte's "Jump In The Line" as the soundtrack's headliner and also "The Banana Boat Song" in the dinner-party scene. Disney's song "Under the Sea", a calypso theme from The Little Mermaid won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1989 as well as the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media in 1991.


Did you know the following:

    Calypsos were first sung in French Creole then a mix of Patois and English
    The Rhythm of Calypso  (beat) is done in 2/4, 4/4 time (see "Meter" at  this link for an explanation of Rhythm (beats in the music)
    First ever Calypso instrumental recording was done in 1912 by Lovey's Orchestra.
    First ever vocal Calypso recording was made in 1914 when the "Duke of Iron" teamed up with Jules Sims.
    First ever Calypso tent opened in Port-of-Spain in 1921 was the "Railway Douglas Tent".
    First ever female to sing in a calypso tent was "Lady Trinidad" in 1935.
    First ever female Calypsonian to cut a record was "Lady Trinidad" in 1937.
    First ever "Young Brigade Tent" opened in 1947 by 24 year-old Lord Kitchener, featuring Lord Melody, Mighty Spoiler, Mighty Viking.


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Rounder Records deserves much praise for brightening up the often dull and familiar American pop musicscape with a flurry of releases that challenge our stereotypical view of "island music." This is particularly true of the music of Trinidad and Tobago, identified in the American popular mind with the synthetic Calypso-meets-disco sound of soca. While soca is a more complex and worthy genre than some opine, it's associated less with Calypso's social protest and hilariously witty innuendo than with less-graceful expressions like popular soca artist Arrow's sexual request in "Winey Winey" to "winey winey 'pon your pum-pum." This fascinating CD puts the gleam on the fine old wood of the earliest Calypso songs, featuring wonderfully baroque orchestrations from the finest T&T Calypso orchestras from 1914 to the '50s, with elegant keyboard passages, swooning strings, snaking horns, exotic male choruses with African overtones, and the sublime vocals of seminal Calypsonians such as Lionel Belasco, Roaring Lion, Babb and Williams, Houdini, Lord Executor, and Lord Invader. This collection of treasures from the Smithsonian, other archives, and commercial studios transformed a series of tracks by the set's producers into a heady taste of carnival through the decades. Calypso Calaloo is actually the aural accompaniment to Donald R. Hill's written volume Calypso Calaloo: Early Carnival Music in Trinidad, a fascinating account of that island's music pioneers, its world-famous annual carnival, and the culture that spawned it.

 Calypso Calaloo    (flac  155mb)

01 Lionel Belasco - Trinidad Carnival
02 Tipical Orchestra of Trinidad - La impresion
03 Lionel Belasco - Buddy Abraham
04 The Roaring lion - African War call
05 Babb and Williams - Lis Camille
06 Tipical Orchestra of Trinidad - Petrol
07 Various - Yaraba Shango
08 Houdini with Gerlad Clark's Iere String Band - Uncle Jo' Gimme Mo
09 Lord Executor - The lajobless
10 Legnum Vital - Legnum Vital
11 Sam Manning - Back to my West Inida Home
12 Lord Invader - Rum and Coca Cola
13 John Bessor - Introduction of steelsbandsmen
14 Woodrook Invaders - Last train to San Fernando
15 Patrick Jones - L'anne Passee
16 George Clark and his Calypso Orchestra - Walter Winchell

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Calypsoul 70 reflects that melting pot through the lens of the funky 70s with an inspired and wide-ranging selection of tracks from Cuba, Trinidad & Tobago, Bahamas, Martinique, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Jamaica, Dominica, Antigua, and mainland Guyana that range from Carnival rave-ups to disco, reggae, gospel, hard funk, and soul jazz with garage rock organ on top. The use of the word Calypsoul as an umbrella term is more clever than historical, and it could be argued that the disc's broad focus means it fails to tell much of a story about this music, but it could be argued more strongly that such a body-moving mixture needs no larger intellectual justification-- there's a lot to be said for shutting up and getting down.

Getting down is no big challenge when confronted with the riff-heavy proto-disco of the Revolution of St. Vincent's "The Little You Say", one of a handful of dancefloor burners that are the stock-in-trade of compilations like this. Where the disc gets more interesting is when it heads a little further off the beaten track into distinctly Caribbean recordings. Clarence Curvan & His Mod Sounds turn in a swinging Carnival instrumental with the compilation's title track, mixing trap drums and hand percussion with a crashing, celebratory horn section and even a twangy guitar solo, while the Hondells' "Raycan" travels similar ground. It's uplifting, insanely fun music that sounds all the better for its relatively ragged production values. You can hear the horns in a room, all gathered around one microphone and just blowing.

Politics were never far from the mic in calypso music, and there are some brilliant examples of that at work here, from Tyrone Taylor's roots reggae "Move Up Blackman" to Biosis Now's raucous funk celebration of independence, "Independent Bahamas". Duke (known earlier in his career as Mighty Duke) is openly confrontational on "Freedom in Africa", offering that if dialogue doesn't produce results, war is certainly an option. The best of the political offerings, though, is Lancelot Layne's stunning "Yo Tink It Sorf?" The Trinidadian singer's style is sometimes called rapso, which makes total sense-- his sing-speak cadence on this song prefigures both dancehall toasting and rapping. The song's musical backing is little more than an army of hand drums and some flute, while Layne rips into Trinidadian youth's idolization of American ghetto life, sometimes oddly harmonized in his raps by his backing musicians. "How you going to feel to see a child suffer permanent brain damage from lead poisoning/ Who you go blame when they end up in the hands of some lawless lawman?" It's a breathtaking track and a revelation for calypso fans who don't know his work.

The other musically radical track is Martiniquan pianist Marius Cultier's wicked, rocket-propelled tribal jazz workout "Guanavaco", which opens with a call-and-response chant over wild hand drumming before settling into a strong piano-funk groove. Even tracks that scream novelty up front, like Amral's Trinidad Cavaliers Steel Orchestra's steel drum cover of Gwen McCrae's "90% of Me Is You" turn out to be great.

 Calypsoul 70: Caribbean Soul 1969-1979    (flac  489mb)

01 The Revolution Of St. Vincent - The Little You Say
02 St. Maarten's The Rolling Tones - It's A Feeling
03 Juan Formel Y Los Van Van - A Ver Que Sale
04 Clarence Curvan & His Mod Sounds - Calypsoul
05 Lancelot Layne - Yo Tink It Sorf?
06 Boris Gardiner - Negril
07 Magic Circle Express - Magic Fever
08 The Checkmates - Disco Groove
09 Biosis Now - Independent Bahamas
10 Tyrone Taylor - Move Up Blackman
11 Amral's Trinidad Cavaliers Steel Orchestra - 90% Of Me Is You
12 The Hondells Raycan
13 Marius Cultier - Guanavaco
14 Gemini Brass - You Don't Love Me
15 Sambo - Woman
16 Wadadli Experience We See Jah
17 Duke - Freedom In Africa
18 Cedric Im Brooks - Blackness Of Darkness
19 Ophelia - Red Light Lady
20 The Goretti Group With Dennis De Souza Trio - Of My Hands

Calypsoul 70: Caribbean Soul 1969-1979  (ogg  194mb)

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As frenzied and joyous as Carnival itself, the Pearl compilation Don't Stop the Carnival includes 25 tracks and features great performances from Tiger ("Let Them Fight for Ten Thousand Years"), King Radio ("Madame, Take Back You Basket"), Sir Lancelot ("Scandal in the Family"), Lord Beginner ("Pretty Woman"), Lion ("Bing Crosby"), Lord Invader ("Soldiers Came and Broke Up My Life"), Wilmoth Houdini ("Cooks in Trinidad"), and Atilla ("Treasury Scandal"), among others.

Don't Stop The Carnival - Trinidad and Calypso    (flac  270mb)

01 The Lion With Gerald Clark And His Original Calypsos - Ugly Woman 2:47
02 Gerald Clark And His Original Calypsos Featuring Macbeth The Great Man Smart - Woman Smarter 2:57
03 The Bamboo Orchestra Featuring Wilmoth Houdini - Cousin, Cousin, Scratch Here So For Me 2:48
04 King Radio (Norman Span) With Lionel Belasco And His Orchestra - Madame, Take Back You Basket 2:32
05 The Lion With Gerald Clark & His Caribbean Serenaders - Bing Crosby 2:48
06 The Tiger Accompanied By George Mutoo And His Demerara Orchestra - Let Them Fight For Ten Thousand Years 2:58
07 Lord Invader (Rupert Grant) With Lionel Belasco And His Orchestra - The Soldiers Came And Broke Up My Life 2:51
08 Wilmoth Houdini & His Royal Calypso Orchestra - He Had It Coming 2:47
09 The Executor (Phillip Garcia) With Gerald Clark & His Caribbean Serenaders - Three Friends' Advice 2:59
10 Sir Lancelot (Lancelot Pinard) With Gerald Clark's Caribbean Serenaders - Scandal In The Family 2:59
11 Lionel Belasco And His Orchestra - Big Mouth Bernard 3:12
12 Wilmoth Houdini With Gerald Clark's Iërë String Band - Sweet Like A Sugar-Cane 3:00
13 Lord Beginner With Bert McLean's Jazz Hounds - Pretty Woman 2:54
14 Sam Manning With The Melodettes Accompanied By The Felix Krazy Cats - Looking For Me Santa Claus 2:24
15 Duke Of Iron* With Modesto Calderon, Gregory Feliz & Victor Pacheco - Don't Stop The Carnival 3:14
16 The Bamboo Orchestra Featuring Wilmoth Houdini - Resisting Temptation 2:37
17 The Caresser (Rufus Callender) With Gerald Clark & His Caribbean Serenaders - Edward The VIII 3:06
18 The Lion (Hubert Raphael Charles) With Gerald Clark & His Caribbean Serenaders - Send Your Children To The Orphan Home 3:03
19 The Atilla (Raymond Quevedo) With Gerald Clark & His Caribbean Serenaders - Treasury Scandal 3:11
20 Wilmoth Houdini With Gerald Clark & His Caribbean Serenaders - The Cooks In Trinidad 3:11
21 Gerald Clark And His Original Calypsos Featuring Macbeth The Great - My Donkey Want Water (Hold 'Em Joe) 2:50
22 The Growler (Errol Duke) With Gerald Clark & His Caribbean Serenaders - Old Lady You Mashing My Toe 3:03
23 Lord Invader (Rupert Grant) - Yankee Dollar 2:28
24 Wilmoth Houdini & His Royal Calypso Orchestra - Rum And Coca-Cola 5:56
25 Bert McLean's Jazz Hounds - Calaloo 3:07

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With his ultra-sweet vocals and lyrics that speak of romance and topical politics, Mighty Sparrow (born Slinger Francisco) rose to the upper echelon of Trinidadian calypso. Best known for his hits "Jean and Dinah" in 1956 and "Carnival Boycott" in 1957, Sparrow is an 11-time winner of the calypso monarchy and an eight-time winner of Trinidad and Tobago's Carnival Road March competition. Born to a poor working-class family in Gran Roi, a small fishing village in Grenada, Sparrow moved to Trinidad at the age of one. Learning to sing in the boy's choir of St. Patrick's Catholic Church, he became the head choirboy. At the age of 14, he formed a steel band to perform at the Carnival, sparking his interest in calypso. Teaching himself to play guitar, Sparrow began to write his own songs. Winning the Carnival competition with "Jean and Dinah," he received a grand prize of 40 dollars. In protest, he wrote a scorching indictment of the Trinidadian music industry, "Carnival Boycott." Despite his refusal to compete in the Carnival contests for the next three years, Sparrow became one of the Caribbean's most successful artists.

Sub-titled "wit, wisdom and soul from the King of Calypso 1962-74", this two-album set provides a reminder of the varied skills of the singer-songwriter who dominated Caribbean music in the pre-reggae era, but fails to provide quite the tribute he deserves. Mighty Sparrow was celebrated for his powerful vocals, his fusion of calypso with jazz and soul, and for his brave, often controversial lyrics. This curiously constructed set starts with a batch of his lesser songs such as Calypso Boogaloo, but improves with the outrageous, decidedly non-PC Congo Man. His famed songs of sexual bragging include the cheerfully witty Big Bamboo and Bois Bande, the autobiographical pieces include the gloriously upbeat Sparrow Come Back Home, but there are surprisingly few of his political songs. Kennedy and Khrushchev is a pro-American reaction to the Cuban missile crisis, while Ah Diggin' Horrors is an angry, brass-backed story of bad news and hard times. Best of all, there's the powerful and thoughtful lament Slave, providing further proof that Sparrow was no mere novelty singer.

Mighty Sparrow - Sparromania !    (flac  277mb)


01 Bongo 4:46
02 Zinah 3:27
03 Fool Fool Fool 2:10
04 Calypso Boogaloo 3:40
05 Congo Man 5:15
06 The Slave 7:06
07 Kennedy And Krushchev 3:40
08 Ten To One Is Murder 3:17
09 She's Been Gone Too Long 2:18
10 Mi Son Cha 4:53
11 Sweet Loving 2:47
12 Shango Man 4:54
13 Oriental Touch 2:26
14 Ah Diggin' Horrors 4:20
15 Try A Little Tenderness  (Feat Byron Lee) 2:23

Mighty Sparrow - Sparromania !    (ogg  113mb)

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Mighty Sparrow - Sparromania ! 2    (flac  250mb)

01 Bois Bande 2:56
02 Sparrow Dead 3:32
03 Renegades 5:05
04 Picong Duel 4:28
05 Jook For Jook 3:11
06 Lion & Donkey (Re-Match) 4:18
07 Marajhin 8:28
08 Big Bamboo 5:49
09 Sparrow Come Back Home 4:22
10 Rose 6:00
11 No Money, No Love (Live At Hilton, Barbados) 4:36
12 Letter From Miami 3:15
13 Dancehall Brawl 2:53
14 What's The Use Of Getting Sober 3:50

Mighty Sparrow - Sparromania !  2    (ogg  113mb)

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