LION - GURU OF
MODERN CALYPSO
Trinidad Guardian
January 1, 2000
Page 11
|
Guyanese
musician Eddy Grant in eulogy to calypsonian Raphael de Leon, the
Roaring Lion, who died in 1999 at the age of 91. |
Most people seem to think that Lion is at least 100 years old, but
in fact current thinking seems to place him at 91, having been born on February
22, 1908.
Raphael
de Leon was born in Aroquita in the Caura Hills to Basalicion de Leon. Being an illegitimate child, Lion was
treated like an outcast and, according to him; he spent some of his early years
in two orphanages before ending up in San Fernando at the home of a Miss
Charles on Coffee Street.
By
that time he was working at the Usine factory in Ste Madeleine and before long
Coffee Street became his stomping ground, as Lion would always be in the thick
of things.
It
was during this period that he endeared himself to the Muslim community in San
Fernando and, in particular, Najeeran Khan, who became his adopted mother (yes,
you guessed it, Lion adopted her).
It
is fondly remembered that in the 30s Lion and Atilla would meet at the
"Bake and Accra Fry Shop" owned by Miss Chin on Prince Street in Port
of Spain and talk on many subjects, often into the wee hours of the morning.
Lion
told me that as a youngster he wrote poetry and that on one particular
occasion, at about the age of 18, while attending a competition he was coaxed
onto the stage by one Douglas Walter, also known as Lord Walter, host of
Trinidad's Grand Calypso Competition.
While
in the middle of his first rendition a shout went up from one of the patrons,
"All yuh doh see de boy is a young lion?
Roar, lion, roar." The song
he sang was entitled "Shango Cult", which was a humorous song.
It
is a well known fact that "Lion collects everything to do with
calypso" and it was exactly this idiosyncrasy that enabled Lord Invader to
prove ownership of the song "Rum and Coca Cola" and managed to
negotiate a settlement and some money from Maury Amsterdam who had downright
stolen it and given it to the Andrew Sisters.
They made it into a million selling standard…thanks again Lion.
Before
his departure for England in the early 1950s, Lion had won more Road Marches
(then called Leggoes) than any other calypsonian.
This
record stands till today, albeit that the aficionados from time-to-time seek to
create a spurious distinction between the title Road March and Leggo.
Upon
arriving in England, where he then re-launched his career as an entertainer,
Lion lived in the area of London known as West Kensington where at that time a
great number of west Indians settled.
Lion went on to own several properties on Fairholme Road in London.
In
the mid 1950s Lion embarked on a new project of producing and marketing
cosmetics aimed at the coloured people's market. Business grew rapidly and in 1960 he opened a shop on North End
Road, which he named Caribbean Bazaar.
At
this time his calypso "Mary Ann" was used in the motion picture
"Tiger Bay" without his consent and on the advice of a friend he
contacted the Performing Rights Society to have the matter straightened out.
During
this same period he made several visits to the USA where he had an ongoing
lawsuit against Harry Belafonte.
In
1965, he made a decision to return to Trinidad and Tobago after having
travelled to all parts of Europe and Scandinavia.
Lion
was not an ordinary person. His
interest in history and logic was astonishing.
He had such reverence for people of great stature that the names of his
sons reflect the intensity of his thoughts.
He
was above race and colour and none of his philosophies and/or his utterances
were even it seems circumscribed by these; what was right was light. It didn't matter who you were, with all due
respect, he would say.