RAPHAEL DE LEON
ROYAL SALUTE FOR ROARING LION
By Terry Joseph
Express
February 26, 2002
Page 7
The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Elton John and Sir Lawrence Olivier have been overlooked. But work from Trinidadian calypsonian The Roaring Lion is included on a limited edition CD to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
Her Majesty's 50th anniversary on the British throne is being celebrated for a full year. The commemorative CD was compiled by the National Archives of Great Britain, part of official memorabilia Buckingham Palace will soon release to mark the historic occasion.
Titled The Royal Story (subtitle: History of the House of Windsor in Words and Music), the 40-track double-CD is narrate by Dame Judy Dench. It chronologises the dynasty from King George V and includes a recording of the Festival of Britain opening ceremony, coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the first televised Christmas Day broadcast from the palace, aftermath of the Falklands conflict and other signal events during the reign of Elizabeth II.
Divided into three categories (The Speakers, The Music, The Events) the CDs include speeches from King George V, Queen Mary, King Edward VIII, George VI, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and Elizabeth II.
For the music section, highlighted are Sir Edward Elgar's "Coronation March", first performed on June 22, 1911 for the enthronement of King George V, "Your King and Country Want You", "Princess Elizabeth", Walton's "Orb and Sceptre", "Elizabeth of Glamis" and The Roaring Lion's "The Royal Tour".
Both at home and abroad, Lion (1908-1999) frequently sang for Royalty and Heads of State.
When George VI died in 1952, Lion also wrote a calypso lamenting his passing and like the one done for his coronation, sent a copy to Buckingham Palace.
Queen Elizabeth II acknowledged his gesture by letter dated February 15 that year on palace stationery, which read: "The Private Secretary is commanded to thank Mr Rafael de Leon for his kind message of sympathy, which Her Majesty much appreciates."
He also composed a work on the coronation of Elizabeth II in June of 1953 (see box), adding to The Royal Archives collection which had already secured a copy of "The Queens of England", a calypso that trotted out the history of the British Throne up to 1945.
His extensive catalogue is held by producer Eddy Grant. Speaking yesterday from his Bayley's Plantation home in Barbados, Grant said: "This is a very important issue. Her Majesty, The Queen is celebrating her golden jubilee and the commemorative work leaves out some of England's most famous names in 20th Century music to include The Roaring Lion.
"This is a huge feather in the cap of not only Lion, but calypso in general, that he of all the calypsonians in the history of the art has been cited by Royalty. He would have been over the moon with pride if he were here to experience this triumph. It is almost a knighthood. We must note that, apart from Royalty, there are very few 'outsiders' on the CD, so Lion is especially singular in this regard," Grant said.
In addition to Ibn Llama de Leon, one of Lion's sons resident here, two others (Ishmael and Akenathon) are currently visiting Trinidad. Ibn Llama described the royal salute to his father as: "Tremendous."
"I cannot tell you the elation that this particular accolade has brought about; especially coming from the British Royal family, for whom Lion always demonstrated great respect."