Mighty Growler
The Growler (1911 – July 15, 1952) was a Trinidadian calypsonian (calypso singer/composer). Growler (sometimes known as Mighty Growler or the Growling Growler) recorded 36 record sides (78-rpm) during the 1930s and 1940s, making him among the most prolific recording artists in the golden age of calypso, with only Roaring Lion, Growling Tiger, King Radio, Attila the Hun and Wilmoth Houdini exceeding his output during this period. Lord Kitchener, one of the most important figures in the later development of calypso, acknowledged Growler as one of his influences. Growler's calypso career began in 1934."Vainglorious Appellations" by Donald R. Hill and John H. Cowley, essay printed in accompanying book to West Indian Rhythm - Calypso 1938-1940, Bear Family Records, 200/ref> In 1936 he entered the Carnival calypso contest in Besson Street and placed 2nd to Lord Caresser (Rufus Callender). Growler made his recording debut for RCA Bluebird in 1937 with a calypso entitled 'In the Dew a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Port Of Spain
Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municipal population of 37,074 (2011 census), an urban population of 81,142 (2011 estimate) and a transient daily population of 250,000. It is located on the Gulf of Paria, on the northwest coast of the island of Trinidad and is part of a larger conurbation stretching from Chaguaramas in the west to Arima in the east with an estimated population of 600,000. The city serves primarily as a retail and administrative centre and it has been the capital of the island since 1757. It is also an important financial services centre for the CaribbeanCIA World Factbook Trinidad an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Trinidadians And Tobagonians
Trinidadians and Tobagonians, colloquially known as Trinis or Trinbagonians, are the people who are identified with the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The country is home to people of many different national, ethnic and religious origins. As a result, Trinidadians do not equate their nationality with race and ethnicity, but with citizenship, identification with the islands as whole, or either Trinidad or Tobago specifically. Although citizens make up the majority of Trinidadians, there is a substantial number of Trinidadian expatriates, dual citizens and descendants living worldwide, chiefly elsewhere in the Anglosphere. Population The total population of Trinidad and Tobago was 1,328,019 according to the 2011 census, [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Calypsonian
A calypsonian, merriam-webster.com originally known as a '''', is a musician from the anglophone Caribbean who sings songs of the calypso genre. Calypsos are musical renditions having their origins in the West African tradition. Originally called "Kaiso" in , these song ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Roaring Lion
Roaring Lion (22 February 190811 July 1999) was a Trinidadian calypsonian (calypso singer/composer). His 65-year career began in the early 1930s and he is best known for his compositions "Ugly Woman" (1933), " Mary Ann" and "Netty, Netty", which are still performed today. The song "If You Wanna Be Happy", which hit number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on 18 May 1963, as well as the R&B singles chart, is based on Roaring Lion's "Ugly Woman". Early life Lion was born Rafael de Leon in Aroquita, in the Caura Hills of northern Trinidad, to a mother named Basalicion de Leon and a father named Arias Cairi Llama. An illegitimate child, Lion spent some of his earliest years in two orphanages, before being taken in, following his mother's illness, by an elderly woman named Miss Charles who lived on Coffee Street in the southwestern city of San Fernando. Finally, he was presented by Charles to a Muslim Indian family in San Fernando who wanted him; he was adopted by Najeeran Khan, who ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Growling Tiger
Neville Marcano (1916–13 May 1993), known as the Growling Tiger, was a Trinidadian calypsonian. Biography Born in Diego Martin, Trinidad, Tiger was originally a boxer who won the Trinidad flyweight championship in 1929.Thompson, Dave (2002), ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, , pp. 5, 59. He was active in calypso from his teens and began singing professionally in 1934. He was a member of the old brigade of calypso singers, which included Lord Beginner, Attila The Hun, the Roaring Lion, and Lord Pretender. In 1935, he went to New York with Attila and Lord Beginner to record for the Decca label, recording 46 songs in total. In 1939, he won the first Calypso King competition with "Trade Union". More so than his contemporaries Tiger sang about social and political issues. His best known songs are "Money is King", about economic inequality, and "The Gold in Africa", about the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. Recording together with Atilla and Beginner as the Keskidee Trio, h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
King Radio
Norman Span, known as King Radio, was a top Trinidadian calypsonian active in the 1930s and 1940s. He was a waterfront worker in Port of Spain when he started performing in public in 1929. Six years later he started his short-lived recording career. He was the composer of many calypsos, several of which later became standards through popular recordings by Harry Belafonte such as "Matilda Matilda or Mathilda may refer to: Animals * Matilda (chicken) (1990–2006), World's Oldest Living Chicken record holder * Matilda (horse) (1824–1846), British Thoroughbred racehorse * Matilda, a dog of the professional wrestling tag-team The ...", " Man Smart, Woman Smarter", and "Brown Skin Girl". References {{DEFAULTSORT:King Radio Calypsonians 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago male singers ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Attila The Hun (calypsonian)
Raymond Quevedo (24 March 1892 – 22 February 1962), better known as Atilla the Hun, was a calypsonian from Trinidad. He began singing in 1911 and was at his most prominent in the 1930s and 1940s. He was one of the pioneers in spreading awareness of calypso beyond its birthplace in Trinidad and Tobago. Together with the Roaring Lion ( Rafael de Leon) he brought calypso to the United States for the first time in 1934. One of his popular calypsos was "FDR in Trinidad", commemorating U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's 1936 trip to Trinidad. Atilla competed in the first Calypso King contest in 1939, and won the title in both 1946 and 1947.Thompson, p. 5, 59 Known as a defender of the poor, Atilla was able to transition to a political career. When several of his records were censored he composed "The Banning of Records", which was itself banned. Atilla was the first calypsonian to hold elected public office; he was elected to the Port of Spain City Council in 1946 and was ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Wilmoth Houdini
Frederick Wilmoth Hendricks (November 25, 1895 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago – August 6, 1973 in New York, New York), best known as Wilmoth Houdini, was a prominent calypsonian. Life In 1916 he started his career in earnest when he began working with the African Millionaires, a large carnival group consisting of about 25 members. He arrived in New York City sometime around 1927, after working on cargo ships and travelling extensively. Not long after his arrival there, he began cutting records with local bands for Decca Records, notably Gerald Clark's Night Owls. He released well over a hundred different 78s between 1928 and 1940, also under the names of Fredrick Wilmoth Hendricks (his given name), Edgar Leon Sinclair (the name on his US passport), and King Houdini. His 1939 composition "He Had It Coming" was a hit for Louis Jordan and Ella Fitzgerald under the new title " Stone Cold Dead in the Market". The song stayed on the top of the R&B charts for five weeks, a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Lord Kitchener (calypsonian)
Aldwyn Roberts HBM DA (18 April 1922 – 11 February 2000), better known by the stage name Lord Kitchener (or "Kitch"), was a Trinidadian calypsonian. He has been described as "the grand master of calypso" and "the greatest calypsonian of the post-war age".Thompson, Dave (2002), ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, , pp. 149–154Talevski, Nick (2010) ''Knocking on Heaven's Door: Rock Obituaries'', Omnibus Press, , p. 343. Early life Roberts was born in Arima, Trinidad and Tobago, the son of a blacksmith, Stephen, and housewife, Albertha. He was educated at the Arima Boys Government School until he was 14, when his father died, leaving him orphaned. His father had encouraged him to sing and taught him to play the guitar, and he became a full-time musician, his first job playing guitar for Water Scheme labourers while they laid pipes in the San Fernando Valley.Pareles, Jon (14 February2000)"Lord Kitchener, 77, Calypso Songwriter Who Mixed Party Tunes With Deeper Messag ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Mighty Terror
Fitzgerald Henry (13 January 1921 – 14 March 2007), better known as the Mighty Terror, was a Trinidadian calypsonian. Early career in Trinidad He was born Fitzgerald Cornelius Henry in Anguilla Village, Arouca, Trinidad.Paul Wadey, "The Mighty Terror - Calypso king" ''The Independent'', 19 March 2007.Peter Mason, "Obituary: Mighty Terror" ''The Guardian'', 4 April 2007. he studied trumpet as a child and also sang in church and school choirs. [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
List Of Calypsos With Sociopolitical Influences
This is a list of calypsos categorised by main topics. "Calypso music has been used by Calypsonians to provide sociopolitical commentary. Prior to the independence of Trinidad and Tobago, calypsonians would use their music to express the daily struggles of living in Trinidad, critique racial and economic inequalities, express opinions on social order, and voice overall concerns for those living on the island. The Black lower class in particular used Calypso music to protest inequalities inflicted upon them under British rule and advocate for their rights. In response, Calypso music came to exist as a form of musical protest." American presence in Trinidad and Tobago *"Base (The)" (1958), Mighty Sparrow *"Brown Skin Gal" - "Brown Skin Girl" (1933), King Radio *"Gimme Back Me Dam Kimona" (1951), Mighty Growler *"Green Fig" - "Mary, I am Tired and Disgusted" (1943), Lord Kitchener *"No Nationality" (1946), Atilla the Hun *"Roosevelt in Trinidad" - "FDR in Trinidad" (1936), At ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |