..remember that sweet calypso 60’s sound ? I think the sixties
were the years calypso tasted best. Lord Melody is here to make
you realise again. We are very lucky with the near mint condition of
this lp. 52 years old and it still spins like new, pure luck I’d say.
It contains some famous songs like ‘Happy Harry’ and off course
the hilarious ‘Wau Wau’. I hope you like it as much as I do,
get it & spread it..

tracks;

1 Melody twist
2 New York
3 Wau, wau
4 Bong bong bong
5 Blackbird
6 The seagull and the mule
7 Georgie Porgie
8 Yours sincerely
9 Nylon
10 Donkey race
11 Happy Harry

It is not an easy task to find sixties Trinidad stuff let alone
even older. This Lp by Sparrow is from 1959 and before he
was called ‘Mighty Sparrow’. It has 1959 Hi-Fidelity which
didn’t have a whole lot of dynamics and that shows. Still,
eventhough it doesn’t sound fantastic, this album is a rare
piece of old calypso, in fact it is Sparrow’s first recording
for RCA. Click on the backsleeve to read it properly
and get it while you can. I am especially happy to
finally have the original ‘Benwood Dick’, been
searching for that a long time.
Have a nice sunday.

1 Lulu
2 Keep the city clean
3 Cowboy Melo
4 Maria
5 Charlie
6 Leave the dam doctor
7 Monica doo doo
8 May May
9 Benwood Dick
10 Raphaela

In general I like the calypsos from the sixties better
than I do that seventies soca. Lord Nelson is one of
the always present exeptions. I must admit this LP
of 1977 is most enjoyable. From Trinidad
for your pleasure, dance away..with
Lord Nelson, ..ah, ha…

tracks;

1 Ah, ha
2 Boat ride
3 King liar
4 Sweet Tobago
5 All day, all night
6 The big man
7 Send them back
8 Sweet carnaval

Being a calypso lover, I got thrilled finding this crackly 10″ record.
It contains some of the funniest songs. They are not new of course
and although I already knew some of them and the quality is bad,
I’m still very happy. 60’s Trinidad records are hard to find.

track;

1 Lord Kitchener – Big toe
2 George Brown – Single man
3 Eric Hayden – Give her the No.1
4 The Lion – Come Punksie
5 The Charmer – Stone cold man
6 Little Nora – Tomato
7 The Mighty Terror – Chinese children
8 Tony Johnson – Man smart, woman smarter

If we speak about calypso from Trinidad, I think the best material is
that from the late sixties. Quite hard to find are the albums on ‘Sounds
of the Caribbean’, such as this LP. The Duke of Iron is one of those
great artists from that era who really made a difference. Check them
naughty lyrics and you won’t be able to get that grin of your face all day.
Sorry, I’m secretly peeping into your room, hè hè.

tracks;

1 Miss Constance
2 Monkey calypso
3 Under cover man
4 One gone
5 Rye saly water
6 Samson and Delilah
7 Wide screen
8 Tie up me dress
9 The postman
10 Woman police
11 Coldest woman
12 Rock cum babe

…and now for something completely different…
This is Calypso, you already know ? sure you do but really ?
Calypso is more than meets the ear, Duke, Canary,
Fighter and Blakie explain.

tracks;

1 The Mighty Duke – What is Calypso ?
2 The Mighty Duke – Woman baccanal
3 Canary – Beatnik generation
4 Canary – Tribute to Luther King
5 Fighter – What you sow you reap
6 Fighter – Pom pom
7 Fighter – Send me instead
8 Blakie – Monica
9 Blakie – We ain’t going back again
10 The Mighty Duke – Send them girls by me

When I was a youngster I used to listen to an LP by Van Dyke Parks,
called ‘Discover America’. It opens with ‘Jack Palance’ by Mighty Sparrow,
it was my first encounter with the man eventhough I did not realize who
I was listening to in those days. Slinger Francisco alias Mighty Sparrow
is a local hero in Trinidad, with his 74 years of age he’s still performing.
I saw him last year in Amsterdam’s ‘Paradiso’. It was great to see the
living legend in person eventhough the old pervert embarrassed the joint,
shaking his lower parts the whole evening through. It is inherent to calypso
music to speak words with double meaning, I guess if you sing that kind of
lyrics your whole life it becomes part of you. It was good fun to witness.
Check out this 1966 LP of ‘Birdie’ the Calypso Genius, it
contains his massive hit, ‘Obeah Wedding’.

tracks;

1 Bag ah sugar
2 Shanty Town people
3 Going home tonight
4 The rebel
5 Honesty
6 B G Plantain
7 Obeah wedding
8 Papa Jack
9 Sir Garfield sobers
10 Bikini girl

Somewhere probably late 60’s, Esso made theirselves this
funny collector. They found Young Killer to make ‘Tiger in
your tank’ and collected a few big names to complete the set.
Mighty Sparrow and the Merrymen could also use a buck or two,
so they joined in. On track 4 we hear a steelband play ska,
that was the first time for me. The Don Drummond tribute
scores too, I am a big Don Drummond fan, legendary trombone.
All together we’ve got us a funny gem with a nice cover and
a few great tracks.

tracks;

1 Young Killer – Tiger in your tank
2 Carlos Malcolm Orchestra – Tribute to Don Drummond
3 The Merrymen – Never on a sunday
4 Westside Symphony Orchestra – Jamaica ska
5 Clarence Curvan Orchestra – Mama dis is mas
6 The Mighty Sparrow – She’s been gone too long
7 André Tanker Flamingoes – Linstead market
8 The Mighty Dougla – Leave me

73 year old ‘Mighty Sparrow’ played at the Amsterdam Paradiso
tonight, and I went to see him with a friend. Our legend played
with a band from Surinam and I must say, he can still sing
with strong voice, I didn’t expect. At some points the band
didn’t quite know how to play what Slinger Francisco ( his
real name ) wanted to hear but in general they did their
medly’s not too bad. The old Sparrow is still a lady killer,
from the moment he got on stage he was flirting with some of
the women in front. When he got carried away, wiggeling his
hips, he forgot his lines and just mumbled; ” banana nana
Banana nana.” In despite of his being a dirty old man, he
is still a living legend, and it was great to see him.
This is an album of 40 years ago, Sparrow must have been 33.
Hope you like it, enjoy Mighty Sparrow’s Calypso Carnival.

tracks;

1 Mr. Walker
2 Wood in the fire
3 Carnival in ’68
4 Duncan
5 Jook for Jook
6 Jane
7 One hand man
8 Macco man
9 Crazy John
10 Calypso Boogaloo

Lord Kitchener’s or Kitch’s albums you don’t find every day.
I got kinda lucky, last week I already posted ‘Spirit of Carnival’
which I recently found and today here’s ‘Curfew Time’. I bought
this one last sunday when I explored some of my favourite
Amsterdam recordshops. Curfew Time is from 1971, it’s Calypso
at it’s best.

tracks;

1 Curfew time
2 Play Mas’
3 Whait teacher
4 Let them crow
5 P.P. 99
6 Mas’ at Madison
7 True confession
8 Ah go tell granny
9 Jealous Cathy
10 Black power