World Music Legends

Some people think of calypso as a light musical form. In Trinidad, however, it’s serious business, especially at Carnival time. It’s a musical style that boasts its own great names, and they don’t come any bigger than Lord Kitchener.

            Born Aldwyn Roberts on Arima in 1922, he was the son of a blacksmith and a washerwoman, a poor family that could barely afford to feed and clothe itself. But ‘Bean,’ as the young Roberts was nicknamed, always looked past that, and from an early age had dreams of becoming a recording star. He had a guitar that went everywhere with him, and as a boy he played to tourists for change, composing picong, or improvised calypsos.

            In 1938 he won the Arima Calypso King contest, a title he kept for three consecutive years until he headed off to try his luck in Port-of-Spain in 1942. He’d sing in the rum shops, honing his skills, before he entered the calypso contest, in Roaring Lion’s Roving Brigade Tent, in 1943 with “Green Fig.” Part of a group of up-and-coming singers, along with Lord Pretender and Lord Destroyer, Kitchener (the name Lord Kitchener was given to him by fellow calypsonian Growling Tiger) had to follow the rules of Lion’s tent, which meant dressing in a suit and tie; however, the newcomers were so broke they had a share a suit between them.

            In 1944, Kitch moved to the Victory Tent, then the House of Lords Tent the following year, although 1946 saw him back in the Victory Tent, continuing with hits like “Tie Tongue Mopsy,” before opening his own tent, the Young Brigade, in 1947. The youngsters were eager to be heard, with a more aggressive style that brought in elements of Latin and swing music, although Kitch also used steel pan bands behind him on many occasions. It was a huge success.

“It was 8:00 p.m.,” he recalled, “the first opening night of both tents. We were all nervous, fearing that we may begin with an empty tent, but it was just the opposite. Lion and Attilla’s tent was empty, and we were sold out.”

But he had itchy feet; he wanted to see more of the world, and initially moved to Jamaica, intending to get a visa for the United States. When he was turned down, he picked England instead, and sailed there in 1948.

            Part of the first wave of West Indian immigrants, he arrived on the Empire Windrush in June, captured by the newsreel cameras singing his latest composition, “London Is The Place For Me.”

            At first, though, it didn’t seem as if London was receptive to his calypsos. Initial pub shows received a terrible response. But an appearance at the West Indian Antilles Club marked a breakthrough, and within six months of his arrival, Kitch had all the singing work he could handle.

            He made his first British recording in 1948, and continued all through the 1950s, and into the ’60s. Songs like “Kitch In The Jungle” and “If You’re Not White You’re Black” were instant hits with the immigrant community. But the discs were also rushed back to Trinidad, where they became hits, keeping his name very much alive at Carnival time. Kitch opened a nightclub in Manchester, and appeared to be settled.

            However, in 1963 he returned to Trinidad. He claimed it wasn’t to perform, but he entered the Carnival Monarch competition and the Road March anyway, taking second place to Sparrow in the former, and winning the latter with “The Road Make To Walk On Carnival Day,” the first of a staggering 13 Road March victories.

            For a few years, Kitchener seemed undecided about which country was his home, traveling back and forth between England and Jamaica. Finally, in 1967, he returned permanently to Jamaica.

            His successes continued. In 1975 he won the Calypso Crown for “Fever” and “Tribute To Simon Spree,” two of his greatest hits. And when the faster soca style arrived on the scene, Kitch was ready. “Sugar Bum Bum” became his biggest-selling single. It wasn’t a style he especially admired, however, although he was adventurous in many areas, mixing calypso with jazz on “12-Bar Joan,” and even venturing into disco for “Break Dancing.”

            Kitch was one of the greatest calypsonians. But he was equally lauded as a composer of tunes for pan, the steel drum. He wrote his first one in 1944, and continued throughout his career, with his pieces winning 18 Panorama titles. Between that and his Road March titles, no artist has come close to his staggering achievements.

            What made his work so special? In part it was a highly advanced sense of composition within the basic musical framework of calypso, which at heart can be a simple form. He introduced a lot of new ideas, with subtle key changes that added interest, and interesting, less obvious voicings on the chorus. But the attention-grabber of all calypsos is the lyrics, and he was a master of what one of his colleagues called “clean smut.” His innuendoes were humorous, never crude, but to the point. And he was equally capable of pointed, funny social and political commentary.

            Until the late 1990s he remained active in Carnival—indeed, his “Guitar Pan” won the ’97 Panorama Award. But in February 2000 he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of the Erci Williams Adult Hospital, where he died on February 11. Trinidad and Tobago Culture Minister Dr. Daphne Williams summed up his contribution to the island’s music:

            “As a people, we have been blessed by his presence among us and now that he is gone, he has left us with a body of work from which we can glean a clear and comprehensive record of our history during the 20th century.”