LORD KITCHENER
(1922-2000)
KITCHENER - A MAN
DESTINED FOR GREATNESS
PEOPLE OF THE
CENTURY
By Michael Anthony
Express
Section 2
February 23, 2000
Pages 4 & 5
When in 1944 the then 21-year-old Aldwyn Roberts climbed the calypso
stage at the Victory Tent with the name of "Lord Kitchener", it would
not have been surprising if most of the patrons that night saw him as a
"passing cloud'; as someone who might cause laughter, even get an encore,
but who, like dozens of other youngsters, might disappear from the scene just
as suddenly as he appeared.
Few
would have dreamed that like the Lord Kitchener from whom he took his name, he
would prove formidable, hard to defeat, long lasting, successful, and much
honoured.
(The
Lord Kitchener who provided Aldwyn Roberts with a name was one of the most
brilliant men in British military history.
Born in 1850 and lost at sea in 1916, he was also 21 when, as Horatio
Kitchener, he began his career. By the
time he disappeared he had led British forces to so many victories that there
was hardly a place left to pin medals on his chest. His last great campaign, and which may have caused his fame to
reach Aldwyn Roberts, was a heady victory in the Boer War, routing the Dutch
Boers in 1902 to end that war and give Britain control of South Africa. Trinidad reacted wildly to him, and honoured
him with "Kitchener Street" when Woodbrook was being developed in
1902. This soldier's performance was so
extraordinary that when Aldwyn Roberts was born in 1922 the name "Lord
Kitchener" was still a household word!)
Lord
Kitchener began his calypso career in his native Arima when he was around 16
years of age, and in 1944 he came to Port of Spain to try his luck.
Although
he achieved popularity in his very first year in Port of Spain, it was his
second year on the stage that set him apart from his fellows as a singer of
significance.
Certainly
it was his two big songs of 1946, recording events of 1945, which at once made
him one of the most popular singers of the day. The first called "Yes, I Heard the Beat of a
Steelband", was the first calypso to take notice of the pan-beating young
men at a time when society was hostile to them, seeing them a idle
noise-makers.
This
calypso captured the steelband's position at a historic moment, and underlined
Kitchener's fascination with the pan - a fascination that was to last to the
end of his life. It will be remembered
that at that point referred to, 1945, the steelband boys could not yet play a
tune.
The
beat of the steelband, which Lord Kitchener heard and described in song, came
on the occasion of V-J (Victory over Japan) celebrations in August 1945.
Earlier
that year, in May, the steelbands had come out onto the streets - legally, that
is - for the first time since the war,
when the Victory-in-Europe celebrations swept Port of Spain.
These
steel-beaters came out timidly at first for they were at the time banned as
noisy troublemakers.
In
his calypso, Kitchener confessed that the steelbands all "came with a
jumbam bajubalam jumbam" and complained that he could not "make a
distinction between Bar 20, John John, and Poland."
On
that occasion, according to the calypso, "Port of Spain was catching
a-fire, when the steelband was crossing the Dry River," and one imagines
Kitchener standing discreetly by the Dry River bridge, watching the bands as
they passed amidst the revelry, and trying hard to make a distinction between
the steelband groups.
At
any rate, he spotted quite a few well-known figures of the pan, figures such as
Zigilee, Battersby, and Ossie. These
were mere teenage boys, but characters well known to the young singer. Kitchener himself was just 23.
It
is possible that, as they passed, these steelband youths also spotted Lord
Kitchener, but that was nothing to worry about, for they were doing their job
and he was doing his. Kitchener was
very much fascinated by Zigilee, who he described in the calypso as
"leader of the ping-pong", and he said Zigilee had "people
jumping wild in the town." He took
note of Ossie, too - Ossie, whose "contrary beat" on the boom was
sending revelers berserk.
Kitchener's
other big calypso of Carnival 1946 was "Lai Fook Lee", which told of
the merry Chinese celebrations in Port of Spain on October 10, 1945.
This
was a few weeks after a US atom bomb had blasted Hiroshima and ended the Second
World War.
The
Chinese made no secret of their ecstasy over Japan's humiliation, and this was
because of China's long-time persecution by the Japanese, and especially
because of what they regarded as the cruel Japanese invasion of Manchuria in
1936.
Now,
at the Carnival of 1946, Lord Kitchener called on his friends to "try and
remember" the great Chinese event of the "10th of
October", (1945), when, according to him, the Chinese nearly took over
Port of Spain.
The
calypsonian, using a Chinese-like melody said the Chinese were singing: "Lai Fook Lee, Lowsee Ay, Lay-oh Lowsan
eeay."
And
he therefore decreed that "Lai Fook Lee, Lowsee Ay" be the Road March
of 1946. Naturally, revelers obeyed his
orders, as they have been doing all through the years since then.
In
1946 Lord Kitchener had also offered a devastating ditty mocking the girls over
their being left stranded by the returning United States soldiers, after these
girls had made a great deal of style on the Trinidad men folk.
He
was not only in mocking mood, but in ironic mood, too, and at times wickedly
comical. For instance, he said in one
stanza,
"One Saturday morning
I bounced up to big-nosed
Catherine,
She said, "Morning Lord
Kitchener,
I want you to do me a
favour,
Me auntie gone to Chaguanas
and forgot to leave me breakfast."
I said, "Ring up to
Chicago, and get it by airmail at Piarco."
And
in another instance, to end a particularly stinging stanza in which he
described these girls as "hungry and want a breakfast", he jibed:
"Bad luck to them
No more beef and steak,
Is Maraj roti shop what
Paying the cake."
In
the season of 1947 Kitchener created a sensation with Mount Olga, an ingenious
and daring calypso that narrowly avoided being banned in that same year, 1947,
he left for England, and he had hardly got off the ship when he sent back the
beautiful and nostalgic "Jamaica, Jamaica, I'm bound to remember."
Though
Kitch left Trinidad, Trinidad never left Kitch. The prolific calypsonian, though miles away, composed numerous
calypsoes which he posted back home.
And
when years later he returned to the soil, he broke down town with a series of
road march winners this country would never forget.
PEOPLE WHO SHAPED
THE CENTURY
By Michael Anthony
Part 2
Express
Section 2
March 1, 2000
Page 6
It
is well known that Kitchener only lived in England physically but that his mind
was always in Trinidad, especially at Carnival time. He sent back calypsoes every year and his calypsoes were always
received well and were favourites with the crowd.
After
the resounding carnival road marches of 1947 to 1950, when revelers heard
"Pharaoh," by King Pharaoh (1947); "Canaan Barrow" by Lord
Melody (1948); "Ramgoat Baptism" by the Mighty Wonder (1949), and
"In a Calabash" by the Mighty Killer (1950), the Trinidad Carnival
experienced such a famine of road marches that it needed a Lord Kitchener to
come to the rescue.
And
Kitchener did answer this call in 1954 with the calypso "Mama Look a Band
Passing", the only worthwhile Road March of that period.
From
England, Kitchener never ceased to remind Trinidad revelers of his presence by
sending back his calypsoes, and also by showing that whether his calypsoes
became road marches or not he was the man for the road. He also reminded the steelband movement, by
his work, that his interest in 1945 was not a passing interest, that he was
singing calypsoes with them in mind, and that he was the man for the pan. In the succeeding years these two qualities
were to have been proven beyond question.
In
1963 Lord Kitchener returned to Trinidad and straightaway showed revelers he
was truly a man for the road when he advised them, in song, "The road make
to walk on Carnival day." This
turned out to be the official Road March of that year. The following year, 1964, he again captured
the Road March title by singing: "Mama this is Mas!"
As
if that was not enough he took the title again in 1965 with "My
Pussing".
After
the Mighty Sparrow intervened with "Melda" in 1966, Lord Kitchener
returned to take road march honours in 1967 with his "Sixty-seven",
and he followed that up with "Miss Tourist" in 1968. In 1969 Sparrow again kept off the
Grandmaster, this time with "Sa Sa Yay", but in 1970, who could be
wearing the road march crown again but Lord Kitchener? This time his calypso was
"Margie".
In
1971 there was the ridiculous situation of Kitchener jostling Kitchener for the
road march, for the two outstanding road march calypsoes of that Carnival were
both by Lord Kitchener. Indeed, these
two Kitchener calypsoes were the only calypsoes to brighten up that dull
slate-grey J'Ouvert of 1971. Revelers
grew hoarse by shouting out his: "Play Mas!"
Then
the pans hit back by beating out the beautiful "Mas in Madison Square
Garden". And it was "Mas in
Madison Square Garden" which snatched the road march title for 1971.
In
1972 Sparrow's "Drunk and Disorderly' ruled the road, but in 1973 Lord
Kitchener wore the road march crown again with his orchestral
"Rainorama", recalling the rain-drenched Carnival which, owing to a
polio epidemic, was placed in May, 1972.
In
1974 the Mighty Shadow created the biggest surprise when he shut out both
Kitchener and Sparrow with his "Bassman", but Kitchener came back
with a vengeance in 1975 and 1976.
In
1975 it was his "Tribute to Winston Spree" that captivated revelers,
and here again he showed his undying fascination for the pan, because, as is
seen, he was honouring Winston "Spree" Simon, who, as a nine-year-old
had discovered musical notes on the pan in 1939.
In
1976 it was very different (some might say, uncharacteristic) Kitchener calypso
that won road march honours. This was
"Flag Woman", a bright and flashy "lavway", light in
content, but with a rhythm, which sent J'Ouvert crowds wild. In fact the Carnival of 1976 would be looked
back upon as a Carnival of wildly waving flag women.
And
this was to be the end of Kitchener as road march king for eh rest of he
century. But this is not to say that
the essential thing which Kitchener wanted to do was not being
accomplished. He was still, as it were,
listening to the beat of he steelband, and through his work, he kept calling
for pan, more pan, pan in harmony, sweet pan, pan explosion, and pan night and
day. For these were among the titles of
his offerings. He ended the century
with "Guitar Pan" (1997) and "Pan Birthday" in 2000.
And
all through the years the vast majority of steelbands responded to him,
continually honouring him by giving him sweet pan, pan in harmony, and pan night
and day. And they gave him more pan
than they gave to any other calypsonian.
In the 36 championships between 1963 - when Panorama began and 1999
(1979 had no Panorama), 19 of the winning Panorama pieces were the works of
Lord Kitchener. Among his calypsoes
having the greatest attraction for the steelband were: "Margie",
which Desperadoes played to win Panorama in 1970, "Rainorama", with
which All Stars won in 1973, "Winston Spree", with which Hatters won
in 1975; "Pan in Harmony", with which Desperadoes won in 1976;
"Pan Explosion", with which Renegades won in 1982; "Sweet
Pan", with which Renegades won in 1984, and "Pan Night and Day",
with which Renegades and Desperadoes tied for first place in 1985.
Apart
from the fact that Kitchener also dominated the Road March, it is clear to see,
by the title of his Panorama winners, that he was indeed a man for the pan.
The
1990s can be regarded as Kitchener's retirement from much of the tumult, yet he
continued to rule the road, and his fascination for the pan, which came with
"Yes, I heard the beat of a steelband" in 1945 - the dawn of both his
and the steelband's career - ended in 2000 with "Pan Birthday"; and
sadly with his death, and the end of an era.
Lord
Kitchener has been the outstanding bard of our 20th century, and
merits a great deal more than this humble tribute. He has walked the road with us up to the final Carnival season of
the century, but when Carnival comes, this festival to which he has contributed
so much will find that he has already gone.