When I have more details on these shows, I'll pass them on. In the meantime, here are the lyrics to a Melody song from 1951 about Kitch and other calypsonians who were out of country, Beginner going with Kitch to England and Caresser up to Canada, which refers to various songs by each.
Tribute to KitchenerKitchener sang Nora Nora too late
Otherwise calabash would be out of date
Kitchener sang Nora Nora too late
Otherwise calabash would be out of date
You talking ' bout road breakaway
Listen at what I have got to say
You must have the pep and vitality
To swing the tempo musically
Chorus:
For instance Nora Nora Nora
I want you to leave Lord Kitchener
Nora Nora Nora
I want to go home to see my grandmother, etc.
Caresser should take a rest
And fly back to the city of Port-of-Spain.
We waiting so come by plane
We don't want to hear them old songs again
When I turn on me radio Saturday night
Caresser singing myself and me girl in fight
She like it but I don't like it at all
and as If he does hear we and start to bawl.
Chorus:
(mute ) I'm the Lord Caresser the king of hearts
And I'm living among the aristocrats
And all those people over there
All they studying is obeah
So the more they try to do me bad, etc.
Beginner is another one
His career I really can' t understand
And they both took the plane for London city
Not a letter, not a cable, nothing to read
As he trying he best and he can't succeed
And as the cold country have him totolbay
I hear him singing ' bout the cricket the other day
(mute ) those little pals of mine
Ramadin and Valentine
They are resting on my mind
Ramadin and Valentine
Kitchener filled my heart with glee
When I heard his programme on the BBC
I turned on the full volume
And ah daneday to hear Lord Kitchener croon
He started with Jamaica, Jamaica
I bound to remember
Jamaica, Jamaica
My haven and savior.
Chorus:
Then I'll walk the Journey
I don't care 'bout nobody
Not even a taxi
Not even a taxi
Alone.
Some comments on the first publication on The Trinidad Carnival " ... sets down the origin of the carnival, its influences and what has given it that magical quality that pulls one in ten in the population to put on a costume and jump up in the streets" - Sunday Guardian. "Skilfully reconstructs the development of the institution of carnival from the period of its introduction ... a vital and handsome encounter with the Trinidad Carnival" - Educational Theatre Journal. 176 Pages; 18 colour plates 30 black and white illustrations ISBN: 1873201141. £21.50
Forthcoming soon from the University of Chicago Press is the following:
Like many other small towns in Trinidad, Felicity is populated almost entirely by East Indians. In their Caribbean exile, the residents of Felicity have created and recreated the music of their Hindu ancestors. Music of Hindu Trinidad is a fascinating account of the history and cultural significance of Hindu music that explores its symbolic, aesthetic, and psychological aspects while asking the larger question of how this music has contributed to the formation of identity in the midst of their great diaspora.
Myers details the musical repertory of Felicity, which is based largely on north Indian genres including the traditional Bhojpurï folk songs and drumming styles brought by the first indentured laborers in 1845. In her engaging exploration of the fate of Indian classical music and new popular styles such as Hindi calypso, soca, and chutney, she even finds herself at the ancestral home of Trinidadian V S Naipaul in India. Copiously illustrated and accompanied by a compact disk, Music of Hindu Trinidad is a model ethnographic study.
Next week I plan to look at advertising calypsos and calypso in Dominica. With luck, I'll try to keep to a more regular schedule.
Ray Funk
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