Send "Mighty Sparrow " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 Trinidadian calypso, like 1980s rap, is the sound of current events masquerading as dance music. Or, put another way, it's a style that uses the social space of the dancefloor to deliver news and opinion. Great calypso singers exploit the same idea your kindergarten teacher did: That lessons are more happily-- and subliminally-- learned when set to rhythm and song.No singer has had a longer career in calypso and soca than Mighty Sparrow. He was born in 1935, won his first major prizes in 1956, and still tours. His best anthologies are considered starting points for anyone exploring the genre-- a project I accept is probably off the radar for a lot of listeners, especially in North America, where "calypso" has the unfortunate reputation as that stuff they play in the background of ads for all-inclusive vacation packages. The music supporting calypso singers is catchy and formulaic, and like all catchy, formulaic music, it requires craft and discipline-- a calypso band is only as good as its ability to subtly vary its tunes without upstaging its singer. The music, affable and upbeat as it may be, is backlighting for its singer....full text |
| Undergroundhiphop |
| Strut present a brand new retrospective of one of the Caribbean's most towering musical figures, Mighty Sparrow, covering 1962 to 1974. During a career of over 40 years, Sparrow has been an unmatchable figure in the world of calypso and a constant backdrop to Caribbean life, recording over 300 albums and winning eleven Calypso Monarch and eight Road March titles at the annual Trinidad Carnival during one of the most competitive times in its history. Scoring his first hit, 'Jean And Dinah', aged 20, Sparrow's style drew on influences from US street harmony quartets to crooners like Nat King Cole, jazz greats – Ella, Sinatra – and the early calypso generation including Lord Melody and Lord Kitchener. By the late '50s and in his early 20s, he was already an influential figure, encouraging Trinidad's people to pay taxes with Carnival hit 'P.A.Y.E.' and highlighting cruelty to animals on 'Russian Satellite'. This new collection hones in on Sparrow's most creative years as he effortlessly surfed musical styles from calypso party jams to hard-hitting boogaloo and soul. He had become a confident political commentator, tackling subjects as varied as domestic economic hardship ('Ah Diggin' Horrors'), slavery ('The Slave') and the Cuban missile crisis ('Kennedy And Kruschev'). Other tracks serve as a vital reference point for today's music. On 'Picong Duel', we hear Sparrow and fellow calypso legend, Lord Melody, trade insults, a direct forerunner to later mic battles in hip hop culture. Elsewhere, Sparrow just plain rocks the party ('Calypso Boogaloo', 'Jook For Jook') and turns in the odd choice cover – we feature here his lilting version of Otis Redding's 'Try A Little Tenderness' with Byron Lee. The album also documents Sparrow's fearsome live reputation with two firing tracks from a late '60s gig at the Barbados Hilton and excerpts from a '70s concert in Brooklyn featuring Sparrow's dynamite backing band, The Troubadours, at the peak of their game. This is a long overdue retrospective placing Sparrow in his rightful position as a true Caribbean great, a cultural and social icon on a par with Fela Kuti in Nigeria or Miriam Makeba in South Africa. As journalist Ric Hernandez wrote in 1967, "It's all there with Sparrow – wit, wisdom and an earthy irreverence for the established order. He sings life as he sees it, as one long boisterous contact sport."...full text |
| Recordcollectormag |
| Growing up in Trinidad, the wonderfully-named Slinger Francisco started in steel bands in his early teens, and was dubbed Mighty Sparrow after he introduced James Brown moves into his stage act. After winning calypso competitions with songs such as Jean And Dinah, his country’s signature music had become world renowned by the mid-50s, thanks to Harry Belafonte. Sparrow was later crowned Calypso King Of The World, with infectious hits such as Ten To One Is Murder and Jook For Jook but, in terms of cultural and social significance, he can sit next to Belafonte, Nigeria’s Fela Kuti and South Africa’s Miriam Makeba. Coming with Strut’s usual ornate presentation, this astute attempt at illustrating the man’s cutting-edge effervescence, with tracks drawn from his creative peak between 1962-74, is long overdue. Over brass-blasted rhythmic cauldrons, Sparrow’s lyrics can veer from topical to lusty in the course of a song, whipping up a contagious marriage between the news and party on tracks such as Kennedy And Kruschev. He can just as easily duet with Byron Lee on Otis Redding’s Try A Little Tenderness or court controversy with the uproarious piss-take of Congo Man, while the closing cut simply asks What’s The Use Of Getting Sober?. The bird is the word....full text |
Mighty Sparrow lyrics
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