MP3:
He Dead, He Gone Already (2:27)
Moan People Moan (2:50)
Over the last few years, I've moved closer and closer to deciding that Calypso (at least the initial version of the genre, as played in Trinidad and New York in the 1930's and 1940's) is the greatest style of music ever devised by mankind. Even in its weakest examples, the intoxicating rhythms, the wonderful wordplay, even the uniquely accented English of the Trinidadians, can lift my spirit and make my day every time. And when it's good or great, Calypso is just about synonymous with heaven for me.
The list of my favorite Calypso performers would probably include just about everyone who ever made a record in this style, but Wilmoth Houdini stands in the upper tier. Aside from having a really cool name (and although his last name was assumed, he didn't feel the need to adopt a title, such as "The Lion" or "King Radio", like most of his contemporaries), he had a vocal style which gives me chills, featuring a wicked vibrato, and an intensity on held notes which expresses as much emotion as just about any singer I can name. Seek out his performance on the vintage record "Trinidad Hurricane" for perhaps the best example.
A few years ago, I picked up a compilation album which featured Houdini as well as some other lesser lights from the genre. I was caught off-guard by the two tracks posted here today, which combine Houdini's singular style with a dixieland band from what I'd guess is the early 1960's dixieland revival period (as well as some admittedly unnecessary and overused female vocalists).
Early Calypso certainly includes a heavy Jazz influence, but this is Jazz with a Calypso influence, and I can't remember ever having heard other tracks quite like these. I particularly enjoy the drummer's work on these tracks. Houdini is past his prime here, in recordings made perhaps 20-25 years after his heyday, but his singing still gets me.
Both of these tracks are a lot of fun, despite the rather morose subject matter, with "He Dead, He Gone Already" being the clear favorite for me. This is a close cousin, lyrically, to "Stone Cold Dead in de Market", in which an abusive husband gets his rightful comeuppance, and the singer's only regret is that he'll never see the money he had just lent the dearly departed.
Although these tracks appear to appeared only on the compilation album I mentioned, there is a good amount of Wilmoth Houdini material available out there on CD, as well, and one could hardly do better than to seek it out.
- Contributed by: Bob Purse
Media: LP
Album: Calypso Capers
Label: Waldorf Music Hall
Catalog: MHK 33-1220
Thank you for this. Calypso seems at risk of falling exclusively into the hands of collectors, when it used to be a hipster party staple in the United States, which is why a movie star who really enjoyed a laid-back good time, such a Robert Mitchum, might record an entire album of authentic Trinidadian music, seemingly for his own amusement.
That being said, what Bob Mitchum would never be able to do is improvise song lyrics, something true calypsonians were quite proud of. I have several songs in which they boast of their improvisational rhyming skills, and one, in particular, where the singer distinguishes between calypso singers from Trinidad and the pretenders from nearby Jamaica. Jamaicans, he tells us in no uncertain terms, cannot rhyme extemporaneously.
Posted by: Max Sparber | May 20, 2007 at 09:34 AM
Pls keep the calypso posts coming. On top of everything that's great about calypso, it's great to hear it with New Orleans polyphony. Don't think you can ask for more.
http://lestp.livejournal.com/tag/calypso <- it's all in russian, but the mp3s are all worth downloading. Esp Lord Kitchener's Bebop Calypso, which I guess goes with this post, but on the other end of the spectrum.
Posted by: marco | May 20, 2007 at 09:37 AM
Hi Bob,
I enjoyed reading this piece on calypsonian Houdini.
I am a collector and fan of calypso music, especially those of the earlier times.
Pne of my favorite Houdini songs is "Arima Tonight".
We have a forum, listed in the URL above, where we discuss and share information on calypso, its origins, its history, its future. It would be an honour to have you as a member.
If you choose to become member, please contact me at the email address above, or visit the site and request membership.
Thanks
Clevil James
Posted by: Clevil James | May 20, 2007 at 11:44 AM
my family and myself lived on Tobago for several years while dad worked on hotel plannng on construction [late 1950s]
most casual fans of Calypso forever connect it with majestic cruise "party" boats and such, however this was the music of the local townships-just as folk music is part of the Appalachians and serial gamalen music is part of the Indonesian experience
over the years, Calypso music has been dilluted by US Disco and Rock and soul and recently with Rap - there are still a handful of bands who do Calypso the real, "old-fashioned" way
we mustn't forget the large influence of steel drum (pan) bands on the music of Trinidad and Tobago - this acoustic music came about in the late 1920s and is about as addictive as any ever created by humans - thanks - harry
Posted by: Harry | May 21, 2007 at 12:15 AM
You may want to visit my blog
http://baikinange.blogspot.com/
I have a lot of Calypso downloads available there--Duke of Iron, Lord Kitchener, Wilmoth Houdini, Sparrow, etc. If anything needs to be re-posted, please leave a comment and I will take care of it. We need to get this great music to a wider audience!
Posted by: Ange | May 21, 2007 at 12:34 PM
Thank you Clevil for the link to the yahoo group,
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/limers/
And to Ange for your great Calypso blog,
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/limers/
Quick note, also here on WFMU, Irwin Chusid devotes the last hour of his weekly program (Wednesdays at 2pm-3pm Eastern) to Calypso and Soca, http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/IC
Posted by: 365 | May 21, 2007 at 03:00 PM
I'm far from an expert on Jamaican music (I am fairly knowledgeable however about Trad Jazz and Dixieland). Are you sure that's a Dixieland band and not a Mento band? I've got a couple of old Mento sides, and that band (especially the reeds) sounds more like Mento than any Dixieland I've ever heard.
Posted by: HP | May 23, 2007 at 10:05 AM