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Celebrating Black History (Ep. 10)

  • 7 Mar 2021 3:57 PM
    Message # 10174232
    Willoughby Francis (Administrator)

    Mr. Aldwyn Roberts (aka) “Lord Kitchener”, Calypsonian, Composer, Performer

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    Good evening members and friends:

    I hope you all are well, safe and warm.  Excuse my absence but “doh ask me to wuk for carnival” (Lord Kitchener).

    Speaking of Carnival, our feature tonight is on the greatest calypsonian of the post-war era, Mr. Aldwyn Roberts, HBM, DA, better known as “Lord Kitchener”.

    Aldwyn Roberts was born on April 18, 1922 in Arima, Trinidad and died at age 77 on February 11, 2000.  His father, a blacksmith, taught him the fundamentals of guitar and calypso, then called kaiso, which had taken hold in Trinidad in the 1920s.  His parents died when he was only 14 years and he was forced to leave school, so in order to earn a living, he took a job entertaining the employees of the water company as they laid pipes.  Although he suffered from a severe speech impediment as a child and was never able to overcome it, he performed with a pleasant voice and perfect diction.

    His first local hit in 1938 was “Shops Close Too Early,” and he was named calypso king of Arima in the carnival competition from 1938 to 1942.  He then moved to Port of Spain and joined the Roving Brigade, a group that performed in movie houses around the city.  He was hired by the promoter for the Victory Tent, where he made $1 a night working alongside top calypsonians including Growling Tiger, Roaring Lion and Attila the Hun.

    His first major hit in 1944, was “Green Fig,” about a husband's complaint that his cheating wife would not even cook him a good meal.  He made many hit songs, and entertained the American troops as well as Trinidadians; he performed “Green Fig” for President Harry S. Truman when he visited Trinidad in 1945.  In 1947 he opened his own calypso tent called the Young Brigade, and performed Latin-based calypsoes and naughty double-entendres.

    After winning the carnival competition in 1947, Lord Kitchener left Trinidad. He performed in Aruba and Jamaica, then moved to London, where he became a sensation.  He opened his own club in Manchester and recorded for the Parlophone and Melodisc labels.  He performed at the coronation of Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II, and sang for Princess Margaret at the Chesterfield Club.  Some of his songs, like “White and Black”' and “Africa My Home,” protested the racism he met in Britain.

    He toured the United States in the mid-1950s, and when he toured in Africa, his music was embraced in Ghana, where calypso became an influence on high-life music.  After 16 years abroad, Lord Kitchener returned to Trinidad in 1963 and won the Road March competition (most popular song played during the Carnival parade) a total of 11 times between 1963 and 1976.  His tunes won the Panorama steel band competitions in 1964 and every year from 1967 to 1977, with three more Panorama wins in both the 1980s and the 1990s.

    In the 1970s, Kitchener built a spacious home in Diego Martin, Port of Spain. He called it Rain-o-Rama and lived his later years on the estate with his wife and children.  An honorary doctorate was conferred posthumously on Lord Kitchener in 2017 by the University of Trinidad and Tobago.  The Doctor of Arts certificate was received by his daughter, Quweina Roberts from President Anthony Carmona.  Asked how she felt on receiving the certificate, she said: “At last! I was really happy… to see that he has been recognised for his lifetime of achievements, it speaks volumes.”

    For information on the Grandmaster of Calypso, see:

    Lord Kitchener Calypso Songwriter

    Encyclopedia.com/kitchener-lord

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGYLvp2w9A4

    Kitch-gets-honorary-doctorate-daughter-says-at-last

    Claudia and Angela

    On behalf of the IMC, TTADC

    Last modified: 11 Sep 2023 12:49 PM | Willoughby Francis (Administrator)


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