Neville Marcano (1916–13 May 1993), known as the Growling Tiger, was a

Trinidadian 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 ...

calypsonian A calypsonian,Definition of CALYPSO
Diego Martin Diego Martin is a town and is the urban commercial center and capital of the Diego Martin region in Trinidad and Tobago. Its location in the region is just on the south eastern border, west of the capital city of Port of Spain and east of the t ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

, Tiger was originally a boxer who won the Trinidad

flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing above 49 kg (108 lb) and up to 51 kg (112 lb). Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of b ...

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 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", whi ...

, and

Lord Pretender Lord Pretender (8 September 1917 – 22 January 2002) was the stage name of Aldric Farrell, M.O.M., H.B.M. a calypsonian vocalist born on the island of Tobago widely acknowledged to be a "master" of extempo, a lyrically improvised form of calyp ...

. In 1935, he went to New York with Attila and Lord Beginner to record for the

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

label, recording 46 songs in total. In 1939, he won the first

Calypso King The Calypso Monarch (originally Calypso King) contest is one of the two major annual calypso competitions held in Trinidad as part of the annual carnival celebrations. History While Trinidad's carnival has its origins in the 18th century, a sing ...

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 Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. Recording together with Atilla and Beginner as the Keskidee Trio, he recorded some lighter tunes, including "Don't Let Me Mother Know". Folklorist Alan Lomax recorded him in 1962. In 1966, Growling Tiger performed at the

Newport Folk Festival Newport Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the Newport Jazz Festival. It was one of the first modern music festivals in America, and remains a foca ...

. In 1979, he recorded an album, ''Knockdown Calypsos'', for Rounder Records. Fellow Trinidadian George Browne was dubbed "Young Tiger" after recording a cover version of Marcano's song "Single Man" in 1953.Jason Ankeny, "Young Tiger"
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