Go Calypso, Go

Cultural appropriation of the kitschiest variety, starring the voluptuous Mamie Van Doren:

Calypso girl

HT: Michelle Shaw

Sir Galba

Small Island Pride, King (Mighty) Sparrow, Sir Galba (mid-1950s)

London-based Kate Blenman is great-grand niece of Sir Galba, a Trinidad calypsonian who reigned briefly in the late 1940s and early 1950s, but led a troubled life. Kate discovered one of his songs on a Muriel's Treasure playlist, and wrote that despite years of searching, she had never been able to find any of Galba's music. She explained about her great-grand uncle:

Most of the information I have was obtained from Ray Funk, a kaiso researcher. Galba's real name was George Brindsley McSween, and he made his recording debut in 1946 with "Hooligan Hide Yourself" and "Put the Knife on the Shelf." In 1949 he recorded "Calypsonian from Toco" and "Residents of Nowhere Square." He was crowned Calypso King of 1952 at the Young Brigade with "Man in the Garden Hiding" out of the Victory tent. That same year he stabbed someone in a nightclub. He sang "I Don't Want Any Women Police in Trinidad" and won second place in an intercolonial calypso contest for Princess Margaret in 1955, singing "The Queen at Montego Bay." He also recorded three singles for the Sagomes label. He died September 18, 1957, at the age of 38, by committing suicide after stabbing his girlfriend.

"Too Many Fires" is the only recording I've heard by Galba. An mp3 transfer from an original 78 (Sagomes 138-27) was provided by friend and Optigan savant Pea Hicks, who does all manner of audio restoration. It can be heard here (about 20 seconds in).

Update (5 May 09): Hear Sir Galba's "Bajan Diplomat," a Vitadisc 45 courtesy listener John Hill (with thanks to Don Brockway for the mp3 conversion).

It's The Rhythm We Want

It's pricey—anywhere from $196.06 to $305.99. Lifting it could dislocate your vertebrae. In today's media-saturated, sensory overloaded world, no one will have time to absorb it all.

But you must buy it. Now.

West Indian Rhythm, released in 2006 by the obsessives at Bear Family Records, is one of the best collections of classic calypso ever commercially released. Hyperbole? Forget it — there's nothing comparatively close. You want deep cuts? Start here.

The historic collection contains all but one of the 268 performances recorded by New York engineers of Decca Records on field trips to Trinidad in 1938, '39, and '40. (Yes, one track is AWOL. Don't think the producers of this album didn't search exhaustively for it.)

Besides ten CDs of music — 267 rare recordings, impeccably remastered — West Indian Rhythm comes packaged with a 316-page hardcover book that contains so much essential and authoritative information, is so beautifully designed and so dedicatedly researched, that it's a bargain at any price. Colorfully written essays chronicle the history of the genre and the artists who developed it. There's a glossary of calypso terms; lyrics transcribed for every track; photos; hundreds of illustrations; news clippings; bios of the singers and entrepreneurs; discographies. The CDs include a dozen or so previously unreleased — that is, censored — songs. The only thing they didn't include is a bottle of rum.

All performances were recorded in one take. Decca didn't return in 1941 or thereafter, so you've got the history of pre-World War II Trinidad calypso preserved in amber. Legends like Atilla the Hun, Cyril Monrose, Lord Invader, Tiger, Lion, Growler, and King Radio. Forgotten footnotes like Codallo's Top Hatters, Joe Coggins, and Lord Ziegfield. A dozen songs about Hitler, and countless syncopated chronicles of unfaithful wives, drunken louts, lecherous old men, and municipal scandals.

If you needed any further convincing about the integrity of this package, the name Dick Spottswood appears prominently in the credits as Reissue Co-Producer. 'Nuff said.


"These compelling performances personify calypso at its best," writes Spottswood. "Mostly sung in English, they represent a sophisticated world-view unique to the small population of a remote Caribbean island. Popular music in England and North America at the time was largely escapist, designed for social dancing and romantic fantasy. Calypso ignored those tendencies, replacing romanticism with scepticism, and mindlessness with content. The calypso chantwell [singing storyteller] observed events at home and abroad with informed incredulity, readily pronouncing humorous judgments that nonetheless ranged from troubled acceptance to outright contempt."

Be good to yourself. Splurge. It will take you a year to get through this box and you'll continue listening for the rest of your life.

Center photo L to R: King Radio, Beginner, Executor, Tiger, 1939
Bottom photo L to R: Lord Invader, the Growler, Atilla the Hun, Lion, February 1943