VA - Port Of Spain Shuffle - Black Music In Britain In The Early 1950s Volume 1 (1987)

British Black music refers to music of the African diaspora, or music derived from the African diaspora which has been produced in Great Britain regardless of the ethnic background of the musicians.

Fashioned out of a collective Commonwealth-comes-to-Britain experience, London calypso was always more that just a Saturday night feel-good soundtrack (although its importance there shouldn’t be underestimated). It set the template for the black music styles that were to follow: start with a specific style (Trinidadian calypso); adapt it to the new environment (London’s ballrooms, pubs and broadcasters) with different audience/management expectations; acknowledge popularity of existing black musical forms (jazz and swing); and absorb the not-necessarily Trinidadian influences of the pool of players (West Africa, Guyana, Jamaica, the USA). The same intrinsic process created lovers rock reggae, britfunk and jungle, and provides a vivid line from 1940s London calypso superstars such as Sam Manning, Rudolph Dunbar and Freddie Grant through Eddy Grant, Carroll Thompson, Light Of The World and Soul II Soul to Rey BLK. Indeed, put Lord Kitchener next to Skepta and, really, the only thing separating them is the cut of their trousers.

London calypso’s success on its own terms gave Britain’s booming black presence the perfect platform from which to introduce itself, and, as proved to be the case in the future, the public at large happily embraced the real deal. During the 1950s calypso and West Indian culture made huge inroads into mainstream broadcasting. The BBC televised part of Claudia Jones’s first West Indian Carnival live from St Pancras Town Hall in 1959, featuring the cream of the UK’s Caribbean entertainers. Trinidadian music and dance duo Boscoe & Sheila Holder had a radio series called Caribbean Carnival, and their live West Indian-themed TV special Bal Creole was such a huge hit, public demand meant the BBC had to recreate it to show it again because it hadn’t been recorded. The Holders were also regulars on the black variety TV series Caribbean Carnival and, along with Edric Connor and Lord Kitchener, would frequently appear on black TV specials such as It’s Fun To Dance and We Got Rhythm. Guyanan barrister turned calypsonian Cy Grant had his own ITV chat show; and boogie woogie pianist Winifred Atwell, a Trinidadian native, featured much black talent on her primetime variety series, which proved so popular BBC and ITV got into a bidding war over it. Meanwhile, the music’s social commentary aspect saw it become the weapon of choice for the new breed of TV satirists on shows such as Tonightand That Was The Week That Was.

Tracklist:
A1 Lord Beginner With Cyril Blake's Calypso Serenaders - The Underground Train

A2 Lord Beginner With Cyril Blake's Calypso Serenaders - The Dollar And The Pound 

A3 Lord Beginner With Cyril Blake's Calypso Band - General Election 

A4 Cyril Blake's Calypso Band - Iere 

A5 Cyril Blake's Calypso Band - Man Smart And Woman Smarter 

A6 Lord Beginner With Calypso Rhythm Kings - Fedration 

A7 Calypso Rhythm Kings - Port Of Spain Shuffle 

A8 The Lion With Frederico's Calypso Band - Ugly Woman 

B1 The Lion With Frederico's Calypso Band - Tick! Tick! (The Story Of The Lost Watch) 

B2 Grand Lyttelton Paseo Jazz Band - King Porter Stomp 

B3 Grand Lyttelton Paseo Jazz Band - Fat Tuseday 

B4 Bill Rogers With Freddy Grant's Demerarians - Daddy Gone 

B5 Grand Lyttelton Paseo Jazz Band - London Blues 

B6 Bill Rogers With Freddy Grant's Demerarians* - Sightseeing In The UK 

B7 Grand Lyttelton Paseo Jazz Band With George Brown[e] - Mamzelle Josephine (In French Patois) 

B8 Tony Johnson With Calypso Serenaders And The Ebonaires - Linstead Market

VA - Port Of Spain Shuffle - Black Music In Britain In The Early 1950s Volume 1 (1987)

(320 kbps, cover art included)