Track Listing

1. Don't Touch Me Tomato
2. Yes, Yes, Yes
3. Take Me Back to Jamaica - Jolly Boys
4. Crazy Like Mad - Leslie Scott, Irene Williams
5. Peas and Rice
6. Linstead Market
7. No More Rocking and Rolling - King Sparrow
8. Goombay Drum
9. Fed-A-Ray - Lord Beginner
10. Kim - Lord Shorty
11. Little Nassau/Bahama Mama - Andre Toussaint
12. Barbados Carnival - Mighty Panther,
13. J.P. Morgan
14. Limbo Song
15. It's Always Springtime in Nassau

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #112534 in Music
• Released on: 2002-11-12
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
This admirable compilation concentrates on recordings from the '50s, when the toothsome melodies, infectious rhythms, and bawdy double-entendres of calypso and related West Indian styles were on the verge of becoming an international craze. Fun fact: at the height of his popularity, Harry Belafonte was outselling Elvis Presley! However, the tunes on this set are far more authentic than "Day-O." Most of the material comes from the Bahamas, but there are also flying visits to Trinidad, Jamaica, and Grenada. George Simonette's ragtime-inflected "Touch Me Tomato," Mighty Sparrow's "No More Rocking and Rolling," and Lord Shorty's "Kim" are as uproarious as they are danceable. Meanwhile, Calypso Mama comes across as a deadpan Bahamian blues woman on the ribald "Yes, Yes, Yes." Despite the vintage sound quality, these mellow, mischievous tunes are delightful listening from start to finish. --Christina Roden

Customer Reviews

Insulting
As a Trinidadian, I find your interpretation of Calypso Music insulting since you're forgetting the fact that calypso originated right here in Trinidad. I would compare your review to offering 311 or No Doubt as Reggae Music. Anyway, maybe you should include some Shadow, Lord Relator, Lord Kitchener, Roaring Lion, Growling Tiger and the Mighty Sparrow if you intend to sell any Calypso Music on Amazon.com.

I love this CD!
I don't know much about "authentic" calypso music. Some of the other reviewers have panned it based upon those aspects, but I LOVE THIS CD! The music is happy and upbeat. I found myself singing along after one listening. So regardless of whether or not it is authentic or not, it is highly enjoyable and one of the best Putumayo CDs I have heard. I am definately ready for a trip to the islands now!

This is an awful collection
Folks if you want true vintage Kaiso (Calypso) then dont listen to anything that wasnt made in Trinidad and Tobago, the place where Calypso and steelpan (steel drums) were invented. The songs from Bahamas and Barbados tend to be the tourist's sanitised versions. Jamaica's ska and own versions are more acceptable, Byron Lee being excellent. For a proper introduction to TRUE calypso one need not look further than three names, The Mighty Sparrow, Lord Kitchener and The Mighty Shadow. Earlier works by Atilla the Hun, Mystic Prowler and Roaring Lion are very difficult to come by with David Rudder forming the best of the modern era. The authenticity of calypso is Trinidad and Tobago calypso...there is no other kind.