If I had to pick an ideal calypso to kick off a fun weekend, this would be the one. Leroy Calliste gave the world many classics and Black Man Feeling to Party is one of the most eternal.
"Stop all housework you doing! Tonight we going and have some fun
I just feeling to party the way we used to when we was young."
Happy weekend, calypso lovers!
Via Wikipedia: "Lord Executor (c. 1878-84 – 1952) was a Trinidadian calypsonian. He belonged to the first generation of calypso pioneers that consisted of Julian Whiterose (Iron Duke; not to be confused with Duke of Iron), Norman le Blanc (Richard, Coeur de Leon), Henry Forbes the Inventor (Senior Inventor) and Black Prince (Christopher Howell). Unlike these other early figures, however, Executor recorded extensively during the golden age of calypso of the 1930s and early 1940s, producing 28 record sides (78-rpm) and directly exerting influence on the second generation of calypsonians he worked alongside. According to the Roaring Lion, Executor "helped raise the general standard of the Calypso genre, gaining it more respect and acceptability in the public eye".
The La Diablesse is one of the most known and fearsome folklore figures in Trinidad and Tobago. Also via Wikipedia: "La Diablesse or Ladjablès is a character in Caribbean folklore. According to folklore, she was an enslaved African woman who made a deal with Le Diable (the Devil) to give her soul to him, becoming a demi-human, in exchange for eternal beauty.
To others, her poise, figure, and dress make her seem beautiful. However, her hideous face is hidden by a large brimmed hat, and her long dress hides the fact that one leg ends in a cow hoof. She walks with one foot on the road and her cow hoof in the grass at the side of the road. She smells distinctly of a mix of fine perfume and deadly decay. She can cast spells on her unsuspecting male victim, whom she leads into the forest. When in the forest, she disappears. The victim (confused, lost, and scared) runs around the forest until he falls into a ravine or river, or gets eaten."
This calypso was recorded in 1938 and tells the story of a man, Narbadeen of St. James Village, who fell prey to the legendary La Diablesse. 1938 was the year after Lord Executor suffered an eye injury that plagued him for the rest of his life, a time when he was still a renowned and respected calypsonian. He passed in 1952 and his music has never been forgotten.
Undoubtedly one of the sweetest calypsoes of the eighties. Baron and Leston Paul made magic on this album, timeless classics with beautiful lyrics.
There are so many great calypsonians whose legacies are being forgotten. One of them would be the Mighty Duke, Kelvin Pope. Tall and handsome with a great singing tone, his lyrical content was excellent and wide ranging. From humor and double entendre to steelpan homages and timely topics, he covered it all. Duke won the Calypso Monarch title of Trinidad and Tobago for four consecutive years, and remains one of the titans of calypso history.