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Mighty Sparrow

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Slinger Francisco, known as The Mighty Sparrow, was born in 1935 in the Grenadian fishing village of Grand Roy and grew up in Laventille, a district of Port of Spain in Trinidad. At fourteen he played in a steelband during carnival. He got the name Little Sparrow because he moved about during his performances, which the older singers found strange. Later this became Mighty Sparrow. His first performance as a carnival singer followed in 1954, his first recordings in 1955, including High Cost of Living and Race Track.

Music and breakthrough

The breakthrough came in 1956 with Jean and Dinah, also known as Yankees Gone, a song about the departure of the American troops from Trinidad. With it he won both the Road March and the title of Calypso King. The prize money was forty dollars, compared with thousands of dollars for the carnival queen, and in protest he wrote Carnival Boycott. He won the Road March eight times, became Calypso King eight times and twice Calypso King of Kings. His records from the 1950s, such as Calypso Carnival (1958) and Sparrow in Hi-Fi (1959), brought calypso to a wider audience.

Influence

Calypso is the singing tradition of Trinidad, full of wordplay, mockery and commentary on current events. Sparrow added an energetic stage show to it, in which he compared himself to James Brown, and showed how a critical lyric can sound like dance music. He became known as the Calypso King of the World. According to the source, he died in 2026.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Jean and Dinah and notice what he sings about the American soldiers and the girls. Can you hear how mockery and dance rhythm come together in one song?

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: ArtistsCalypso