Remembering The Mighty Sparrow’s soulful side
The king of calypso, The Mighty Sparrow’s songs rocked countless fetes for seven decades. But on the 1969 album, Sparrow Meets The Dragon, he showed his versatility by singing several soul ballads.
Sparrow died on September 27 in New York at age 91. Born in Grenada and raised in Trinidad and Tobago, he was a giant of Caribbean culture whose many classic songs include Obeah Wedding, Saltfish, Dragon Dance and Capitalism Gone Mad.
Working with his friend Byron Lee at Dynamic Sounds in Kingston, he recorded the album Sparrow Meets The Dragon which hears him covering songs like Only A Fool, a soul ballad originally done by American singer Arthur Prysock (as Only A Fool Breaks His Own Heart).
Produced by Lee, the album contains calypso gems like Maria and No Money, No Love, but it was Only A Fool that fared best commercially. It made the British national chart and also did well in The Netherlands in 1969.
Sparrow’s version of Only A Fool re-entered The Netherlands chart in 1977, peaking at number two.
Lee’s daughter, Julianne Lee, said her father and Sparrow shared a close bond. Lee, who died in 2008, was a regular at Trinidad Carnival and regularly worked with musicians from that country.
“He and Daddy did quite a lot of collaborations outside the soca/calypso space. They did a ballad album that was so popular; Only A Fool knocked Elton John’s Little Jeanie off the charts in Holland. There are lots of great memories,” she told Observer Online.
The Mighty Sparrow is the third calypso/soca giant to die this year. Barbadian singer Emile Straker, leader and founder of The Merrymen, died in June at age 90.
Singer Oscar B of Tobago also died in June at age 57. He was lead singer for Lee’s band, The Dragonaires, for several years.
