Calypso
Count Frank – Count Frank Sings Calypso (1967)
Ok, I admit it….I nearly wet myself when I found this beauty. I love calypso music and the picture of Count Frank in his Jamaican straw hat is the reason that some of us collect vinyl. Album art just isn’t the same when it’s on a CD slip cover. This cover probably cracks my top 50 all-time favorites.
The first thing I noticed is that this LP came straight from Jamaica. This wasn’t released in the U.S. Anyone who has a reggae album that was released in Jamaica knows that these small labels didn’t exactly stress quality control when it came to vinyl pressings. The sound quality is usually terrible, especially with releases from the 60′s. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised by this album from WIRL Records (West Indies Records Ltd.). I’ve got a few dozen old reggae albums and most of them don’t sound this good.
Count Frank is actually Frank Leonard Anderson, who came from a small village located in the mountainous interior of Jamaica. Frank had a limited education and grew up working in the cane fields where he learned the “mento” songs of the native workers. Eventually Frank moved to the resort town of Ocho Rios to pursue a career in music where he was hired to entertain guests at several high-end hotels.
This album was probably sold at Frank’s shows in order to make a few bucks off of tourists who likely drank a few too many umbrella drinks in the hotel night club. I’ve seen LPs from some pretty awful cruise ship entertainers that cater to the same group. The difference here is that Frank is actually a pretty fair calypso singer and if he showed up at a hotel that I was staying at, I’d consider myself pretty lucky to see his show. There aren’t many songs that really leap out here but the whole album is just a very pleasant introduction to the roots of calypso music. Back before they started drowning the vocals with over mic’d steel drums (not that there’s anything wrong with steel drums).
I appreciate the fact that Frank included the old calypso standby “Shane and Scandal”. I’ve heard the song done by many people over the years and it dawned on me that I didn’t know who wrote it. A quick Google turned up this info from http://www.calypsoworld.org. “Trinidadian singer Sir Lancelot wrote “Shame and Scandal in the Family” for a Hollywood movie titled I Walked with a Zombie (1943)”. Wow!, I had no idea the song was that old. The song was eventually reworked by Lord Melody in the early 60′s into the classic that we know today.
And of course, no calypso record would be complete without a rendition of “Banana Boat”. It’s refreshing to hear it done by someone besides Harry Belefonte.
Finally, as an added bonus, this copy was even autographed by Count Frank himself as you can see in the back cover photo. What a great thrift store find!
Tracks:
Side One
- 01_01 – Calypso Island
- 01_02 – Adam & Eve
- 01_03 – Yellow Bird
- 01_04 – Whistler
- 01_05 – Island Woman
- 01_06 – Going Back to See Her
Side Two
- 02_01 – Island in the Sun
- 02_02 – Shame and Scandal
- 02_03 – Island Girl
- 02_04 – Banana Boat
- 02_05 – Back to Back
- 02_06 – Jamaica Farewell
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