BEULAH "LADY B" BOBBCALLALOO WOMAN MOVES ONBy Wayne Bowman Although under attack by colon cancer during her campaign of Carnival 2001, Beulah "Lady B" Bobb forged ahead and proved victorious. She performed nightly at the Kaiso House Calypso Tent, each night drawing as many as five encores for her performance of the stinging political commentary, "Castara Kid". Calypsonian, actress, dancer, composer, sports enthusiast, social worker, Bobb was a woman of many dimensions. Most important to her, however, were her God, her people, her family and the culture. It mattered not which cultural expression, as far as Bobb was concerned, be it African, Indian, Syrian or Chinese; as long as it represented the heritage of any one facet of the nation, it was Trinidad's culture and she appreciated it. Bobb passed away late on the night of September 3 (same day as labour Day Carnival in New York) after having battled colon cancer for over a year. A fighter to the end, she was performing up to just days before being hospitalised in Queens, New York, where she died. So weakened was Bobb that she had to sit down to perform. But she still managed to deliver a feisty performance of "Castara Kid", a tribute to President Arthur NR Robinson. Bobb was born in Les Coteaux, Tobago, but grew up in the village of L'Anse Fourmi, which she called "a lovely rural family-life-type of village." She credits the country life led in those days for her being able to develop her gifts of music, drama and dance. There being no television or cinemas nearby, Bobb and her siblings entertained each other by dancing, singing and acting out their own skits. Bobb went to live with her grandmother in Scarborough to attend secondary school. When she was in Form Three, the school held its first-ever calypso competition. Bobb entered with a song composed by her brother Elton, and captured first place. On leaving school, Bobb, now 17, joined the Jerry Stewart Band, with which
she performed sentimental songs and other favourites. When the calypso season
was close at hand, Steward suggested she take a rest, since he thought she might
not want to sing calypso. Bobb instead decided to try her hand at calypso and so joined the Tobago Young Brigade Calypso Tent. She was the only female singer. In her debut year, 1976, she sang a snappy double-entendre, "When They Beg Don't Give Them". She placed fifth in the Tobago Monarch competition that year. In 1977, Bobb made her first appearance at the National Calypso monarch semi finals. She captured the Tobago monarch title in 1978, singing "Message from meh Granny" and "Carnival '78", and successfully defended her crown the following year with "Dread Message". Sparrow saw Lady B performing and invited her to work at his Sparrow's Young Brigade Calypso Tent in 1979. She did several drama and theatre courses and produced the Best Village queen shows. Bobb was featured on the local television series Turn of the Tide, playing the role of Nora, from 1981-1983. In 1986 she won the National Calypso Queen title with "The Queen Coming" and "True Trinidadian". In 1996, Karen Eccles won the National Song Festival with the song "Callaloo Man", which was composed by Bobb. This was the calypsonian's second attempt at the festival. The year 1989 saw Bobb teaming with calypsonians Singing Sandra, Marvelous Marva and tigress to form the United Sisters. Together they did Trinidad proud at the Caribbean Song Festival with their Song "Ambataila Woman". Then in 1994, the United Sisters stomped through the Carnival fetes with "Whoa Donkey", a response to Ronnie McIntosh's hit song. Bobb once served as the public relations officer of TUCO and helped found the Kaisoca Touring Tam in an effort to bring all calypsonians together. Lady B loved life and truly wanted to beat the cancer so she could be around to beat some politicians through her music. Although she did not make it, the music that she was actually able to bless the nation with will continue to speak out and speak through for many years to come.
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