Authentic Calypso - Lord Christo

 

Food From Chicago

Authentic Calypso

With Lord Christo

Engineer: Bill Putnam

Recorded at Universal Recording Studio, Chicago

Mercury Records MG 20297

1958

From the back cover: Born in Port au Prince, Haiti, Lord Christo has journeyed all through the West Indies as one of the top, authentic delineators of Calypso mucis. His first visit to the United States was in January, 1957, and his work is pure and very steeped in the tradition of the Indies. 

On first hearing, you will find his lyrics difficult to understand, but after a second and third listen, you will find the verses becoming more intriguing. The Calypso singer, like the proverbial rolling stone, gathers a little from each environment in which he is placed.  Fortunately, Christo's vocabulary is regal British (note the three to five syllabled words evenly metered into his verses) and French patois heard so often on Cajun recordings from the Evangeline country, Louisiana. Note, too, in songs like Food From Chicago and Frozen Chicken how much Calypso singer, the modern counterpart to the wandering minstrel of King Arthur's day, knows about such current subjects as American music (Jacob From Panama). To further authenticate the recording, Christo himself assembled the orchestra. Note how the guitarist achieves a very authentic native sound by discarding the conventional guitar pick and strumming with his fingers, chord style.

Trip To Mars

Jacob From Panama

Boy Days

The Landlord

Food From Chicago

Frozen Chicken

Mama Look-A Boo Boo

Tantie Earnestine

Shakespearean Quotations

Hurricane Janet

Apple Tree