Irving Louis Burgie (July 28, 1924 – November 29, 2019), sometimes known professionally as Lord Burgess, was an American musician and songwriter, regarded as one of the greatest composers of

Caribbean music Caribbean music genres are very diverse. They are each synthesis of African, European, Arab, Asian, and Indigenous influences, largely created by descendants of African slaves (see Afro-Caribbean music), along with contributions from other commun ...

. "Irving Burgie", ''Songwriters Hall of Fame''
Retrieved 2 December 2019 He composed 34 songs for

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...

, including eight of the 11 songs on the Belafonte album '' Calypso'' (1956), the first album of any kind to sell one million copies. Burgie also wrote the lyrics of the National Anthem of Barbados. To date, songs penned by Irving Burgie have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide.

Biography

Burgie was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. His mother was from

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

and his father was from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. He joined the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and served in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, where he started playing guitar and singing. After the war, he studied at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

, and met Harry Belafonte in 1950. Biography by Bruce Eder
''Allmusic.com''. Retrieved December 1, 2019. Using the name Lord Burgess, he began singing and playing guitar in New York City clubs, developing a repertoire based around songs from the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

he had learned as a child or collected in visits to the area. After performing as Lord Burgess in the

Village Vanguard The Village Vanguard is a jazz club at Seventh Avenue South in Greenwich Village, New York City. The club was opened on February 22, 1935, by Max Gordon. Originally, the club presented folk music and beat poetry, but it became primarily a jazz ...

in 1954, and releasing an album, ''Lord Burgess' Calypso Serenaders'' (aka ''Folk Songs of Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad'') on

Stinson Records Stinson Records was an American record label formed by Herbert Harris and Irving Prosky in 1939, initially to market, in the US, recordings made in the Soviet Union. Between the 1940s and 1960s, it mainly issued recordings of American folk and bl ...

, a mutual friend,

William Attaway William Alexander Attaway (November 19, 1911 – June 17, 1986) was an African-American novelist, short story writer, essayist, songwriter, playwright, and screenwriter. Biography Early life Attaway was born on November 19, 1911, in Greenvil ...

, suggested that Burgie write songs for Belafonte. Burgie and Attaway wrote a version of the lyrics for the "

Day-O (The Banana Boat Song) "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" is a traditional Jamaican folk song. The song has mento influences, but it is commonly classified as an example of the better known calypso music. It is a call and response work song, from the point of view of ...

" for the ''

Colgate Comedy Hour ''The Colgate Comedy Hour'' was an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show featured many notable comedians and entertainers of the era as guest stars. Many of the scripts of the series ...

'', and it was then recorded by Belafonte for

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

. This is the recording that is by far the best known to listeners today, as it reached number five on the ''Billboard'' charts in 1957 and later became his

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...

. Burgie and Attaway composed eight of the songs on Belafonte's 1956 album '' Calypso'', including "Day-O"' and "

Jamaica Farewell "Jamaica Farewell" is a Jamaican-style folk song (mento). The lyrics for the song were written by Lord Burgess (Irving Burgie), an American-born, half- Barbadian songwriter. It is about the beauties of the West Indian Islands. Harry Belafonte ...

". "Day-O" was a traditional Jamaican song that was sung by dock workers who worked throughout the night loading bananas onto ships. Belafonte's version used lyrics adapted by Burgie and Attaway, though Belafonte is also credited. Burgie later described "Day-O" as "a song about struggle, about black people in a colonized life doing the most grueling work", saying "a lot of my work is based on songs and ditties that I've heard in the Caribbean". The song "Jamaica Farewell" was later recorded by

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffet ...

Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, memoirist, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation" (No. 13), " The Right Thin ...

and others. Belafonte recorded other songs written by Burgie, including " Island in the Sun", one of ten Burgie compositions on his 1957 album ''

Belafonte Sings of the Caribbean ''Belafonte Sings of the Caribbean'' is an album by Harry Belafonte, released by RCA Victor (LPM-1505) in 1957. It followed his album of calypso music, '' Calypso'' (1956), which was a major commercial success in the United States, spending over ...

''. Burgie also wrote eight of the twelve tracks on his 1961 album ''

Jump Up Calypso ''Jump Up Calypso'' is an album by Harry Belafonte, originally released by RCA Victor in 1961. It reached number 3 on the Billboard Pop Albums charts. Backing musicians include The Trinidad Steel Band. Track listing #"Sweetheart from Venezuela ...

'', and also wrote "Can't Cross Over", and co-wrote "Goin' Down Jordan", on Belafonte's 1977 album ''

Turn the World Around ''Turn the World Around'' is an album by Harry Belafonte, released in 1977. After recording exclusively for the RCA Victor label since 1953, Belafonte signed with Columbia Records in the mid 1970s. After a series of pop-oriented albums, ''Tu ...

''. Burgie set up his own publishing company. By the late 1950s he was able to live comfortably off the

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...

he received, and in 1960 he funded a magazine in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

, ''The Urbanite''. He also helped finance

civil rights activists Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...

. He wrote the music and lyrics for the 1963

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

musical ''Ballad for Bimshire'' and also co-wrote the book with

Loften Mitchell James Loften Mitchell (April 15, 1919 – May 14, 2001) was an American playwright and theatre historian who was part of the black American theatre movement of the 1960s. Life and career Mitchell was born in Columbus, North Carolina, to an Af ...

. The show opened at the Mayfair Theater on October 15 and ran for 74 performances. Burgie also wrote the lyrics for the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

, "

In Plenty and In Time of Need "In Plenty and In Time of Need" is the national anthem of the country of Barbados. It was written by Irving Burgie and was composed by C. Van Roland Edwards. As one part of the West Indies Federation from 1958 to 1962, Barbados' anthem was suppos ...

", adopted in 1966 at the time of the island's independence. Burgie performed rarely after his initial success, but did appear in the early 1980s at venues including

Gerde's Folk City Gerdes Folk City, sometimes spelled Gerde's Folk City, was a music venue in the West Village, part of Greenwich Village, Manhattan, in New York City. Initially opened by owner Mike Porco as a restaurant called Gerdes, it eventually began to presen ...

. In 1996, the album ''Island in the Sun: The Songs of Irving Burgie'' was released, followed by ''The Father of Modern Calypso'' in 2003. He was inducted into the

Songwriters Hall of Fame The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work, represent, and maintain, the her ...

in 2007. His life story was recorded in the book ''Day-O!!! The Autobiography of Irving Burgie'' (2007). Burgie died on November 29, 2019, at the age of 95, from heart failure, at his home in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

.Jon Kalish
"Irving Burgie, Songwriter Who Helped Bring Calypso To America, Dies At 95"
''NPR'', November 30, 2019. His death was announced by Barbados' Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley at the nation’s Independence Day Parade.

Discography

*''Lord Burgess' Calypso Serenaders - Folk Songs of Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad'' (Stinson SLP 62, 1954) *''Ballad For Bimshire. A New Musical of Barbados'' (

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

AM 48002, 1963) *''Lord Burgess and his Sun Islanders - Calypso Go Go'' ( Buddah BDS 5005, 1967) *''Lord Burgess Rides Again'' (Cherry Lane CLR-1-1984, 1984) *''Island in the Sun: The Songs of Irving Burgie'' (Angel 52222, 1996) *''The Father Of Modern Calypso'' (VLT-15170, 2003)Irving Burgie – ''The Father of Modern Calypso'' album page
Valley Entertainment.

References

External links

Irving Burgie
at the Internet Off Broadway Database * * as Irving Burgess * as Irving Burgie {{DEFAULTSORT:Burgess, Lord American people of Barbadian descent 1924 births 2019 deaths Writers from Brooklyn Military personnel from New York City Musicians from Brooklyn Juilliard School alumni National anthem writers Songwriters from New York (state) United States Army personnel of World War II American expatriates in China American expatriates in India American expatriates in Myanmar