Mighty Sparrow and Lord Kitchener

I am a big fan of calypso music. I wrote about it at length elsewhere, so I'll keep it brief. It's a caribbean tradition that appeared early in the XXth century and is still alive, after a lot of permutations. Although calypso is played all over the Caribbean basin, the main source is Trinidad (and Tobago, too!). My favorite period is the 50's-60's, when calypso was musically influenced by the american bebop and the contemporary latin styles like samba of the neighboring islands. This was a time when a new, post-war generation of calypsonians appeared; it is comparable to the punk revolution of the 70s, with the shocking, lurid lyrics and a driving, danceable beat.

The Mighty Sparrow is my favorite calypsonian, and this is an album from his best period. May May could be his most sexually explicit song, with a deathless post-coital line "When a man is finish / I think it's foolish / to play licorice". I suspect that Maria borrows a riff from some jazz tune of the period (Gillespie?) but I can't quite place it. Leave the Damn Doctor is about the politics ("Doctor" is Dr. Eric Williams, trinidadian prime minister at the time, whom Sparrow supported). Cowboy Melo is a swipe at a famous calypsonian Lord Melody in the tradition of "calypso wars" (an equivalent of today's freestyle rap battle).


REUP: mediafire
192 kbps, 56 mb
1. Lulu
2. Keep The City Clean
3. Cowboy Melo
4. Maria
5. Charlie
6. Leave The Dam Doctor
7. Monica Doo Doo
8. May May
9. Benwood Dick
10. Raphaela

Here's a Lord Kitch / Sparrow split with their greatest songs. Jean and Dinah is the Sparrow's first hit that won him the calypso crown in 1956.


Mighty Sparrow / Lord Kitchener - 16 Carnival Hits
REUP: mediafire
160 kbps, 74 mb
1. Jean & Dinah (Mighty Sparrow)
2. Pay As You Earn (Mighty Sparrow)
3. May May (Mighty Sparrow)
4. Royal Jail (Mighty Sparrow)
5. The Road (Lord Kitchener)
6. Mama Dis Is Mas (Lord Kitchener)
7. My Pussin (Lord Kitchener)
8. Obeah Wedding (Mighty Sparrow)
9. Sixty Seven (Lord Kitchener)
10. Miss Tourist (Lord Kitchener)
11. Sa Sa Yea (Mighty Sparrow)
12. Margie (Lord Kitchener)
13. Mas In Madison Square Gardens (Lord Kitchener)
14. Drunk & Disorderly (Mighty Sparrow)
15. Rain-o-Rama (Lord Kitchener)
16. Tribute To Spree Simon (Lord Kitchener)