Ba Boo La La (Roaring Lion 1938) Is this Ska?
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- Опубліковано 28 гру 2014
- Roaring Lion Calypso Foundation. roaringlioncalypso.org
This Calypso may be of interest to the public. Listen to the style of music at the end of each verse. Could this musical phrasing have influenced Ska in any way? We are asking experts, musicologist musicians/producers and you to kindly give an opinion- are there any similarities between this Calypso from 1938 and Ska of the late 1950's early 1960's in Jamaica?
What is the connection between Calypso, Ska and Reggae, if there is any? Calypso dominated the Caribbean Dance Halls during the 1930's and 1940's.
The lyrics are also very interesting for several reasons. Lion expressed in the past that Ba Boo La La was an "Anti- Colonialist". Cinemas and theaters were vital instruments of British colonial propaganda. Short "News Film Reels" and Radio broadcasts about the state of the Empire occurred on a weekly basis all over the Colony. Thus Ba Boo La La could/may have targeted the London & Empire theaters for political purposes. This took place just before World War 2.
(Ba Boo La La may be a pseudonym that Lion uses.)
Searching the Web recently I found one "mini" short article about the actual incident. It indicated that the arsine attempt was just an insurance scam. Is this the truth?. RLF has a typed written song text by Lion which fits the melody but the lyrics are different than the Ba Boo La La recording. In this song text Lion chastises the arsonist but on the record he does not really attack or condemn the so called perpetrator of the "crime". The record version starts by Saying:
Burn down the London theater
Burn down the big Empire (Repeat)
Ba Boo La La made an attempt to burn down the theater
Made an attempt to burn down the theater severing seven down at Carrera
Ba Bo La La made an attempt to burn down the theater
Ah never see such conspiracy burn the theaters in this colony
Ba Boo La La made an attempt to burn down the theater.
Why did Lion write two different versions of the same song? Did he have "Grass roots" info that differed from the Government's official opinion? Maybe some one out there can enlighten us about Ba Boo La La?
-What is Lion really saying here? Is it an anti Colonial Calypso?
Kindly bear in mind that in 1938 the Sedition Laws were being effectively enforced by the Colonial government and Calypsonians were one of it main targets.
This video is for educational purpose only. All copyrights of the pictures used belong to their respective owners.
Band: Harmony Kings Orchestra
Recording: Decca Port-of-Spain, Trinidad; 25 February 1938
Band: Harmony Kings Orchestra
Rounder Records
(Copyrights Roaring Lion)
Posted by RLF (Roaring Lion Calypso Foundation)
roaringlioncalypso.org
my grandfather is 94 yrs old and he was in a Trinidadian Jazz band called the Eastern Stompers. He told me when I was a kid that his friend brought the ska rhythm to Jamaica. And here is a fine example of it heard in this song 20 yrs before ska.
Is this documented?
Lord Kitchener did say that reggae came out of calypso.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING THIS. My father played me this song five years ago when I was 14, and I've been trying to find it since!
+DeathWatch13 : You are most welcome! There's plenty more where that came from and we are working on producing and releasing more vids and related info.
All imput data is researched and compiled from reliable sources (such as: The artis them selves, friends and relatives, as well as archives from that era.
Big respect to All of them, the fans and "Akie de leon" (son of Roaring Lion and the one making possible for these and many more related videos, photos and diverse info on the topic to be able to be shared with the populous).
Raspectfully.
Amy more information on 1930's Ska?
The bridges do have a strong ska/rock steady flavour.
And Rocksteady was basically created by Trinidadian guitarist Earlin 'Lynn' Taitt who lived in Jamaica when he was stranded by promoters while touring with some Calypsonians.
I can see some influence. But herein lies the problem.. With Jamaican "mento", Calypso and American R&B in the 50's it's clear to hear Ska's early influences when you hear certain hits by Fats Domino, and others.. You hear that particular shuffle of the bass and the piano back-beats.. When early Ska took off, the beat was utilized based on American R&B of the time being played over the air from the Southern US.. Jamaican musicians took this beat with a prominent emphasis on the off beat.. It worked out so perfectly for Jamaican musicians to turn into something of their own.. Perhaps adding emphasis on the offbeat was because of songs like "Ba Boo La La".. Just my two cents, for what it's worth :)
+Jim W. Hipolito : And there is the detail! All of the above mentioned music genres/type/styles etc... Were deeply impacted and influenced by "that type of Trinidad's music". In adition, the time when they all came to be and how they came to be clearly shows the influence. Even Cuba, where i come from was somewhat influenced by this rhydim. In other words, you may say that cubans have a "special type of boxing style", but that won't anulate the history of how it got to be; or how we have nigerian culture so old that even in Nigeria is rare, that combined with several aspects can bring several theories; but when you track the roots, Shango does NOT come from Cuba!
In any case, glad for any imput that can either enphasise or challenge.
This is after all dedicated to culture!
Raspectfully.
The influence comes from New Orleans. Trinidadian bandleaders incorporated New Orleans style jazz into calypso in the 20's and 30's whereas the Jamaican musicians who created ska were heavily influenced by New Orleans R&B of the 50's.
Certainly sounds like Ska or should I say Ska sounds like it since this is 1938.
Most genres we know are jus different versions of Calypso. That beat is just another calypso beat Ska is a combination of Calypso and Jazz. Mento singers imitated Calypsonians. Nerlynn Taitt from Sando, Trinidad invented Rocksteady which is combination of Mento, Ska, and Soul, the term was then changed to Reggae, so this is basically Soul Calypso. Mento and Ska was just uptempo and didnt have de versatility like in Trinidad, So he gave them dis slow version.
First, I understand that it was because of efforts of the political and ruling authorities that made it so little islands in the Caribbean became populated by a large number of Africans (who were destined to be slaves in this New World, only were instead set free in these places). How and why? Simple. Over time, Surveys and other Census type population data that show us how populations change over time have been conducted since before Roman times. As the 19 century unfolded, the number of African slaves in the United States had grown to very disproportionate levels, or, there were so many slaves that rulers decided that to cut back on these huge numbers by simply not letting them into America. But what to do with the ones in mid-voyage? "Park the ships out that way nearer to Barbados, St. Thomas, Martinica, etc. Then, simply set them free!"
If you look in books for examples of how populations of Africans grew and shrank during the 19th century, the numbers speak for themselves. You know a song "Buffalo Soldier", and "Redemption Song"? These songs dabble in this observation.
With the Africans came their songs and dances, which have strong ties to spirituality and religious elements. There is a whole lot of chaotic displacement because of the state of being cut off from home, along with many efforts to render practices of these 'old ways' as forbidden or illegal.
Without fail, these practices went on, and Calypso, Mento, Blue Beat, and others are the types of music that came from out of the people of the Caribbean! I am waiting for someone to connect the Cumbia of Colombia and some of the Kalypso music styles, and demonstrate just what common connecting element might exist. Perhaps songs from the Roman Catholic Church (since they were everywhere back then and they made efforts to make converts of everyone)??
I know that a style called "Mento" seemed likely to be the child of Kalypso and parent of Ska, only I now understand that Mento is Jamaican, Kalypso is from Trinidad.
I hope that I haven't really made some awful comments here, these things I've written are my poor interpretation of a lot of memories that I have collected over my life. I love Calypso, I love Mento, Blue Beat, Mento, Ska, Reggae, I love Caribbean music! If you don't love it too, I recommend you listen again, harder this time!
I'm just speculating, but as a Trinidadian... Baboo Lala sounds like an Indian person's name to me. Lala is a definitely a surname, and Baboo would have been a nickname i'm guessing.
I'm not a music expert but Calypso has it's origins in Venezuela and Trinidad and Tabago. That Ska is the modernized (1950s) versions of Reague and Calypso. It's all a common rhythm that is present in all of the Carribean. For instance "regueton" from Latin Carribean is different from Reague but is more similar in sound to calipso. The two words share the same etymology. The words to describe sound has it's origins in West Africa. i grew up listening to Calypso from Venezuela or Calipso, the lyrics are also in "patois" that are also sung in Trinidad. Check out Calipso from El Callao. Most of the Calipso is now sung in spanish, but the Group "Convenezuela" has preserved patois lyrics
In simple terms, Ska was a progression from Jamaican Mento music.
Some early Ska records used the word calypso in their titles, but truthfully Trinidad's Calypso has its own story to tell, from its golden age in the 1930s right through to today's Soca music. Trinidad was once Dutch, once French, eventually British...... Calypso music's popularity spread far and wide in the 40s and 50s, but it really didn't originate in Venezuela - correct me if I'm wrong!
Once into the late 1950s, Jamaican music also seemed to make its own progression - from Mento to Ska, from Rock Steady to Reggae to Ragga etc.
But yes, always a crossover effect at work. Please remember that virtually every Caribbean island has its own musical story to tell, and many genres are now almost forgotten - who thinks about Haitian Konpas music now, or Merengue music? The truth is that the thousands of African slaves brought into the Caribbean over the centuries brought their music with them - and as that music met various European cultures it ultimately created the richest melting pot of music the world has ever seen.
Cuba - some of the great Cuban musicians knew that their ancestors had come from the Congo - think about the beautiful music of Cuba, think of the beautiful Soukous music of the Congo....
I'm just off to listen to some Cumbia records.....
@@legrandmaitre7112 nice write-up but you stand corrected on Trinidad's past owners. Trinidad was never a Dutch nor a French colony. Our first colonisers were Spain and we were taken over by the British in 1797. We remained British until independence in 1962. We did have a heavy influx on Francophone immigrants in the late 18th century.
Calypso in Callao came directly form Trinidad. The immigrant workers from Trinidad wen to Callao in the1930s to work in the gold mining industry. They introduced calypso to Venezuela.