In 1967 Leroy Calliste aka The Black Stalin was cast at Kitchener’s Calypso Revue and graduated to national significance.
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Dr. Leroy Calliste - Black Stalin - Peoples calypsonian
Leroy Calliste (born 24 September 1941), better known as Black Stalin, is a leading calypsonian from Trinidad and Tobago known for his militant Rastafarian and black nationalist lyrics. He has won the Calypso Monarch competition on five occasions and the Calypso King of the World title in 1999. He was born on Coffee Street, the heart of San Fernando, Stalin still resides there.
Apart from a short stint as a tally clerk on the Pointe-a-Pierre waterfront and a brief adventure as a limbo dancer, calypso is all Stalin ever since leaving primary school. He also played pan in his youth and still takes an occasional jam on the piano, but life for Black Stalin has been calypso.
His debut came in 1959 at Saint Madeline’s Good Sheppard Hall, but it was not until 1962 he joined a calypso tent (The Southern Brigade), although his work had previously come to the attention of the art-form’s senior players. Indeed, it was Warlord Blakie, that year’s road march Monarch, who dubbed him The Black Stalin.
In 1967 he was cast at Kitchener’s Calypso Revue and graduated to national significance by earning a place in the annual calypso competition, pitting him against stalwarts like Lord Melody, Cypher, Young Killer and Composer for the $1,000 prize. Two years later, he made the grade and convincingly, singing “Caribbean Man” and “ Play One”, the latter a tribute to pan pioneer Winston “Spree” Simon.
The Spree tribute and several of that ilk were to follow, constructed a relationship between Stalin and pan that is hardly duplicated, although several of his peers set out to create music especially for the national musical instrument. Songs like “Mr. Panmaker” retain a special respect among pannist, while “Sundar”, a tribute to the chutney superstar was a bold step, that one may still be much to steep for those yet to achieve Stalin’s independence of thought.
The song “ Culture”, a most musical sneer at the lack of reference to indigenous arts in the 2000/2001 national budget, makes the kind of point that endears Stalin to a cross section of arts aficionados not limited to his preferred area. Who among us has not joined in the refrain: “If ah did know, ah would hold on to mih steelband and calypso”
ARTIST: STALIN
SONG:
1. Let The Soca Play
2. Where Limbo Gone
3. Isim & Skism
4. Ah Fit
5. Love Your Own
6. Tribute To Sundar Popo
7. The Marriage
8. Bun Bem
9. Look on The Bright Side
10. Come With It
Artist: JOSEPH JOEY RIVERS
Song: Tribute To Sundar Popo
ARCHIVAL MATERIALS
Courtesy of CITV library
Courtesy of TTT
Courtesy of HNC
Courtesy of CTV
Courtesy of CNC3
Courtesy of Visual Arts Productions
Courtesy of Priceless Entertainment
ARCHIVE & RIGHTS MANAGER Jeffery Selvon
ARCHIVE & RIGHTS CONSULTANT Carla Parris
CONTACT: decarlo1995@gmail.com
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28 сен 2022
