JAMMING IN ST
JAMES
By Marc Muneal
Express
December 31, 1999
Page 30
Calypsonian Eddie Yearwood (not to be confused with Edwin Yearwood of
Krosfyah fame) gives you a song-full of pan trivia in his "St James
Jam."
Yearwood,
a panman, also has a song called "Leave Him Out" for Carnival 2000,
which he will perform at Tuco's Klassic Ruso Tent at Soca Boat. That one deals with the issue of domestic
violence.
In
this song, he advises women to make sure they know who and what they're getting
into before committing.
"St
James Jam" tells of how important Yearwood's hometown was in the
development of pan.
"As
a St James boy, I wanted to highlight the town because it is a place of a rich
cultural heritage. Pan grew up
there."
The
research for "St James Jam" was based on information given to
Yearwood by Norman Darway, a man who he describes as "the walking St James
encyclopaedia."
The
St James pan trivia about which Yearwood sings includes that:
The
pan originally used to be held in one hand and played by a stick with the
other. St James bands were the
innovators of "Pan round de neck."
Ellie
Mannette, another St James boy, was the first to put the rubber at the end of
pan-sticks.
Steelpan
came into being in 1939. By 1940 St
James had as many as seven steelbands.
The
band "Pioneer" in 1941 had the first-ever steel captain of East
Indian descent, Sokhoo Jagessar.
In
1956, Tripoli was the first steelband to use amplifiers. That same band would also tour the world
with piano great Liberace.
St
James bands were the first to introduce pan on wheels. Yearwood said that when they did this, other
steelbands made fun of them, saying that they were "selling palette, not
playing pan."
"St
James Jam" is not Yearwood's first attempt at a song aimed at bringing
recognition to the national instrument.
In
1998, he composed and sang "No Pan in de Party', which earned him 17th
place in the Pan Calypso Competition.
That song lamented the fact that there were all other kinds of music
from other countries at fetes and parties in Trinidad, but no pan.
Yearwood
says he is making it his personal quest to bring pan back to the country,
because "Pan is not ours anymore, we have lost it."