Search - Various Artists :: Fall of Man

The Very Best of Golden Age Calypso

Lawrence Waldron | Queens, NY United States | 02/25/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Calypso from the 20s, 30s and 40s is my thing. And this is the first Calypso CD of that Golden Age in Trinidad music that I have given a perfect score of 5 stars! This is the definitive collection of calypsos about all the essential topics of that clever, elated medium. As suggested by the title, these masters of calypso largely focus on the battle of the sexes but take the battlefield from a hilarious angle. The infamous Atilla admonishes men to "assert control, or women will rule the world." If he didn't go out of his way to crack you up, you might think he actually feared for his safety in the face of 1930s feminism. He warns that "If women gain their ascendency, They would show us no sympathy, They'd make us do strange things, Goodness knows, Scrub floors or even wash clothes!" Well it seems the apocalypse ole Atilla was dreading has already come and gone, at least at my house. Many of these songs also challenge the hypocricy of the wealthy, take a cynical look at romance, turn a suspicious eye on fair weather friendships. The Gerald Clark Orchestra accompanies many of the tunes recorded at different times with different prominent calypsonians. But the great John Buddy Williams orchestra is here too. These songs are dark gems, heartbreaking and tragicomic. From Tiger's Sadu Man about a man who resorts to the life of a wandering Hindu ascetic after being scorched by romantic betrayal to the haunting but bouncy chorus of Death by the Roaring Lion, there is no escaping the piercing wit of the Fall of Man calypsos."