CALYPSO - Musical Poetry In The Caribbean 1955-69 (CD)

“A joyous compilation. Lovingly annotated, it’s a glimpse into a now distant era when the Caribbean first took on the world and won” The Guardian

“This glorious Soul Jazz compilation explores Calypso’s roots as party music that doubled as a delivery system for current events, street wisdom, social humour, and reflections on daily life.” Pitchfork

TRACKLIST 

1. Lord Cobra y Los Pana Afros – Man On The Moon

2. Young Growler – Pussy Galore

3. Lord Hummingbird – Teenage Bossa Nova Girl

4. Lord Byron & Orquesta Nueva Alegria – Yes Parssin

5. Cyril Diaz & His Orchestra – Voodoo

6. Lord Flea & His Calypsonians – Out De Fire

7. Brownie – The Bed Bug Song

8. Count Zebra and The Seasiders – Cat-O-Nine

9. Carlos Malcolm & His Afro Jamaican Rhythm – Elena

10. Azie Lawrence and The Carib Serenaders–West Indians In England

11. Lord Cobra y Los Pana Afros – Negro Heart

12. Lord Kitchener – Love In The Cemetery

13. Charlie Binger & His Quartet – JamaicaIs The Place To Go

14. Mighty Dougla – Exchange No Robbery

15. Viper – Dog Better Than Man

16. Lord Kitchener – Jamaican Woman

17. JB Williams Band – Gee Bongo Lady

18. Lord Ivanhoe & His Caribbea nKnight s– Lift The Iron Curtain

19. King Fighter – People Will Talk

DESCRIPTION

Soul Jazz Records’ ‘Calypso – Musical Poetry in the Caribbean’ was first issued in 2014 and has been out of print for nearly 10 years. On its release ‘Calypso’ was voted one of the year’s best 50 reissues in Rolling Stone magazine and received glowing reviews in Pitchfork, The Guardian, Songlines and many more. This new edition has been fully remastered and comes as a one-off limited-edition double vinyl pressing on translucent green vinyl, complete with bespoke inners featuring extensive sleevenotes, notes on all the artists and songs featured, and original artwork and photography. The album is also available in a new card-edition CD package, also with complete notes and text. Featuring Lord Kitchener, The Mighty Viper, Count Zebra, Lord Flea, Lord Hummingbird, King Fighter, Lord Growler, Lord Byron, Lord Ivanhoe and other members of Calypso’s aristocracy and aristocrats, the album features the music of Calypso in its many styles.

Calypso is one of the most exciting and enduring forms of musical expression that first emerged at the beginning of the 20th century – swinging, persuasive rhythms, brilliantly expressive melodies, and lyrics of great humour, wisdom and wit. Here you will find music from Trinidad, birthplace of Calypso, other Caribbean islands including Jamaica and the Bahamas, as well as sounds from the style’s subsequent onwards journey including Britain, Panama and the United States.

Calypsonian songs play out a role in society similar to the storytelling Griots of West Africa (and the corresponding music of Kaiso); with their own tales about popular and incredible news items, modern life, local politics all mixed up with sexual innuendo, one-upmanship, comedy and more. At its source, Calypso is intricately and inextricably bound to the social history of Trinidad and its myriad of traditions, beliefs, folklore and fables. As the music spread around the world, both from the diaspora of many of its performers as well as its commercial success, the subjects of songs similarly took on local topics.The most notable singer of Calypso in England was the Trinidadian Lord Kitchener, who came to Britain in 1948 on HMS Empire Windrush, along with fellow Calypsonians Lord Beginner and Lord Woodbine.

The songs here vividly capture the popular news stories and fashions of the era – ‘The First Man On The Moon’, James Bond’s ‘Pussy Galore’, ‘Bed Bugs’, ‘Voodoo’, ‘Love in Cemeteries’, as well as West Indians in England, Bossa Nova, the Iron Curtain, and the story of a white man who had a black heart transplant operation.

This album celebrates a criminally unsung and under-documented art form in the modern age.

“Decades before Hip-Hop became Black America’s most visible news source, Caribbean and British calypso stars were singing about current events in lilting tunes so seemingly carefree you barely noticed how sharply they were sticking it to the man. With chatty and conversational voices front and centre, carnival stars like Viper, Lord Hummingbird and Lord Flea delivered their sass amid suave, jaunty horns and percolating Afro-Caribbean percussion. // This collection focuses more on pop culture: Lord Cobra’s enthusiastic account of the 1969 moon landing is followed by Young Growler's bawdy celebration of James Bond consort ‘Pussy Galore.’ Calypso’s predominant voice, Lord Kitchener, is represented by the hilarious ‘Love in the Cemetery,’ wherein a resident warns him, ‘Mister, you be brave to be bringing your girlfriend atop me grave.’ 

” Top 50 best reissues of 2014 - Rolling Stone magazine *****

“This joyous compilation aims to demonstrate Calypso’s pre-ska popularity across the Caribbean region and beyond. The album gathers 19 rare gems that find Calypsonians in Trinidad, Panama, Jamaica, NYC and London. The songs feature lots of witty innuendo along with deeper meditations on race and place. Top marks to Soul Jazz for avoiding obvious favourites and taking pride in the presentation of a music that, today, is often only noted during Carnival (in London and Trinidad).” Songlines *****