THE LION STILL ROARS
RAPHAEL DE LEON 1908-1999
When he died, Calypso Legend, The Roaring Lion, had already contributed more than 65 years to calypso and did not limit his involvement to singing, although he left the calypso world with one of its most extensive catalogues.
Lion's contribution was nothing short of tremendous. Born on June 15, 1908 in Aroquite a little village in the Caura mountains, he made his debut in 1927 and won every competition available to him in that first year.
He began touring in 1933 and by the following year, performed for US President Franklin Roosevelt at the Waldorf Astoria, where he is credited as being the first person to describe Trinidad as "the land of calypso", replacing the traditional hummingbird, in his response to a query from Roosevelt about where he was born. Later in 1934, he performed at Carnegie Hall and was interviewed on Armed Forces radio and NBC, earning him a hero's welcome on his return home.
In 1935 he pioneered cruise-ship calypso entertainment and was commissioned to write a calypso for the coronation of King George VI, which catapulted the art to global attention. From 1936 to '43 he was signed to Decca records and produced 70 songs for the company. In mid-1943, however, when he and Atilla attempted to visit the US, they were arrested on suspicion of espionage and thrown into jail on Ellis Island, where they languished for 14 days, until a Decca lawyer could free them.
All the while (and until 1951) Lion was appointed official entertainer at Government House. In 1941, his song "Ugly Woman" was selected by Paramount Pictures for inclusion in the movie Happy Go Lucky, making him the first calypsonian to enjoy such prestige. Since then, the song has been used in four other movies. He meanwhile starred in another Hollywood production, Holiday in Trinidad.
By 1945 he had established his own tourism thrust, with a centre at Quarry Street in Port of Spain, where visitors were entertained daily. He also opened a gym for the members of the Casablanca steelband (of which he was a member) to keep them from fighting.
In August, he left for the Festival of Great Britain and subsequently played the Royal Albert Hall and did several programmes for the BBC. Returning home in 1951, he established the Trinidad Folklore Research Institute, which attracted scholars from all over the world. His 1988 book, Calypso from France to Trinidad, started a heated debate about the origin of the art form.
For the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1985, Lion composed a special calypso, which was performed at President's House. Ten years later, with the production skills of ICE Records' Eddy Grant (to whom he had assigned his works), Lion did an album of remakes of some of his greatest hits. It was from that album that the song "Papa Chunks" was lifted and became his last hit single.
Some of his famous compositions include "Sally Water", "Old Lady Walk a Mile and a Half", "Dorothy Went to Bathe", "Woopsin, Woopsin" and "Netty, Netty", which was considered too risqué for the local market, causing the authorities to dump the entire consignment of records of that song into the Gulf of Paria when the shipment arrived here.
His last day and Final Words
Raphael de Leon, known in the world of calypso as The Roaring Lion, died at his Mt Lambert home, on the morning of July 11th after ailing for some time. He was 91.
Lion, as he was popularly known, succumbed at about 10 a.m., shortly after being served breakfast. A longstanding friend of the family, who had been tending to him over the past year, reported that he had his morning meal, then asked for the radio to be switched to 94.1 FM, a station that played inspirational music, before requesting to sit up in a chair.
The friend, Helen, said Lion complained of feeling cold in the chair, so she covered him with a blanket and repeatedly asked him how he felt, but he insisted that he was okay. She left him to go to the kitchen and on her return observed that his body was not moving and had become cold all over. She called a friend, who rang for an ambulance, but by the time it got there, the Roaring Lion was dead. His last words, as reported by Helen, were "I love you."
Reaction to his passing
Calypso historian, Professor Gordon Rohlehr, speaking on Lion's death, said: "A whole era of calypso has gone there. He had been active in the calypso world for over 65 years, first as a performer, then as someone with a very professional approach to the whole business of entertainment. Even in the formation of a Calypsonians' Organization (in association with fellow-performer Atilla) there was the word 'business' in the title.
"He was also important as a commentator and historian and someone who was deeply interested in the art, folk and culture of his time and was a source of information," Rohlehr said, although the professor sometimes questioned Lion's findings. "But it was important that people like him were interested in the history of the art form at that point in time. When he got together with Pretender, Beginner and John "Buddy" Williams, you got a good insight into the development of calypso, from the 30s to the 50s. He pursued his interests vigorously, particularly in the 70s, when he did a radio programmes on calypso's 'golden age' and wrote articles for the Evening News, he was one of the stalwarts."
Rohlehr observed that the test of the integrity of Lion's work was that, as recently as 1995, he was able to touch the youth with a remake of hits from the 40s, like "Papa Chunks". The fact that the song could so easily transcend so many decades was its real signature, Rohlehr said.
Calypso Grandmaster the late Lord Kitchener recalled Lion's heyday: "He was in the league of Atilla, the Growling Tiger, Invader and famous singers like that. In the 40s, when I first met him, he was singing at the St Vincent Street tent that they called The Old Brigade. They ruled the roost during the period, attracting hundreds of upper class and brown-skinned people to the tent. Lion, particularly, sang a lot of good songs and all with a touch of humour. He became so popular, that if there was a big show at a cinema, people would go to the venue, but would not buy tickets until they saw Lion arrive, well-dressed as always, with hat and walking cane.
"When you speak of calypsonians," Kitchener said, "you must mention Lion. For years, fellas like he and Destroyer and Invader controlled the tents. In fact, they were the calypsonians people preferred, until the Young Brigade tent came along in 1947. But his name will always mean a lot to calypso. He was a top singer and certainly loved a lot."
Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Organization (Tuco) then President, Seadly "Penguin" Joseph, said: "Calypso lost one of its legends. We knew that he had been ailing for quite some time and our welfare officer had been in touch and had kept us abreast, but even so,we were shattered by the news of his passing. Of course, we are not yet clear on the type of tribute that we can pay, for he was such a towering figure, but we will have to develop something significant enough, so as to really honour his contribution to calypso."
Original Story by the late Terry Joseph - Trinidad Express, July 12, 1999. Re-edited and formated by Calypso Global
Lion's contribution was nothing short of tremendous. Born on June 15, 1908 in Aroquite a little village in the Caura mountains, he made his debut in 1927 and won every competition available to him in that first year.
He began touring in 1933 and by the following year, performed for US President Franklin Roosevelt at the Waldorf Astoria, where he is credited as being the first person to describe Trinidad as "the land of calypso", replacing the traditional hummingbird, in his response to a query from Roosevelt about where he was born. Later in 1934, he performed at Carnegie Hall and was interviewed on Armed Forces radio and NBC, earning him a hero's welcome on his return home.
In 1935 he pioneered cruise-ship calypso entertainment and was commissioned to write a calypso for the coronation of King George VI, which catapulted the art to global attention. From 1936 to '43 he was signed to Decca records and produced 70 songs for the company. In mid-1943, however, when he and Atilla attempted to visit the US, they were arrested on suspicion of espionage and thrown into jail on Ellis Island, where they languished for 14 days, until a Decca lawyer could free them.
All the while (and until 1951) Lion was appointed official entertainer at Government House. In 1941, his song "Ugly Woman" was selected by Paramount Pictures for inclusion in the movie Happy Go Lucky, making him the first calypsonian to enjoy such prestige. Since then, the song has been used in four other movies. He meanwhile starred in another Hollywood production, Holiday in Trinidad.
By 1945 he had established his own tourism thrust, with a centre at Quarry Street in Port of Spain, where visitors were entertained daily. He also opened a gym for the members of the Casablanca steelband (of which he was a member) to keep them from fighting.
In August, he left for the Festival of Great Britain and subsequently played the Royal Albert Hall and did several programmes for the BBC. Returning home in 1951, he established the Trinidad Folklore Research Institute, which attracted scholars from all over the world. His 1988 book, Calypso from France to Trinidad, started a heated debate about the origin of the art form.
For the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1985, Lion composed a special calypso, which was performed at President's House. Ten years later, with the production skills of ICE Records' Eddy Grant (to whom he had assigned his works), Lion did an album of remakes of some of his greatest hits. It was from that album that the song "Papa Chunks" was lifted and became his last hit single.
Some of his famous compositions include "Sally Water", "Old Lady Walk a Mile and a Half", "Dorothy Went to Bathe", "Woopsin, Woopsin" and "Netty, Netty", which was considered too risqué for the local market, causing the authorities to dump the entire consignment of records of that song into the Gulf of Paria when the shipment arrived here.
His last day and Final Words
Raphael de Leon, known in the world of calypso as The Roaring Lion, died at his Mt Lambert home, on the morning of July 11th after ailing for some time. He was 91.
Lion, as he was popularly known, succumbed at about 10 a.m., shortly after being served breakfast. A longstanding friend of the family, who had been tending to him over the past year, reported that he had his morning meal, then asked for the radio to be switched to 94.1 FM, a station that played inspirational music, before requesting to sit up in a chair.
The friend, Helen, said Lion complained of feeling cold in the chair, so she covered him with a blanket and repeatedly asked him how he felt, but he insisted that he was okay. She left him to go to the kitchen and on her return observed that his body was not moving and had become cold all over. She called a friend, who rang for an ambulance, but by the time it got there, the Roaring Lion was dead. His last words, as reported by Helen, were "I love you."
Reaction to his passing
Calypso historian, Professor Gordon Rohlehr, speaking on Lion's death, said: "A whole era of calypso has gone there. He had been active in the calypso world for over 65 years, first as a performer, then as someone with a very professional approach to the whole business of entertainment. Even in the formation of a Calypsonians' Organization (in association with fellow-performer Atilla) there was the word 'business' in the title.
"He was also important as a commentator and historian and someone who was deeply interested in the art, folk and culture of his time and was a source of information," Rohlehr said, although the professor sometimes questioned Lion's findings. "But it was important that people like him were interested in the history of the art form at that point in time. When he got together with Pretender, Beginner and John "Buddy" Williams, you got a good insight into the development of calypso, from the 30s to the 50s. He pursued his interests vigorously, particularly in the 70s, when he did a radio programmes on calypso's 'golden age' and wrote articles for the Evening News, he was one of the stalwarts."
Rohlehr observed that the test of the integrity of Lion's work was that, as recently as 1995, he was able to touch the youth with a remake of hits from the 40s, like "Papa Chunks". The fact that the song could so easily transcend so many decades was its real signature, Rohlehr said.
Calypso Grandmaster the late Lord Kitchener recalled Lion's heyday: "He was in the league of Atilla, the Growling Tiger, Invader and famous singers like that. In the 40s, when I first met him, he was singing at the St Vincent Street tent that they called The Old Brigade. They ruled the roost during the period, attracting hundreds of upper class and brown-skinned people to the tent. Lion, particularly, sang a lot of good songs and all with a touch of humour. He became so popular, that if there was a big show at a cinema, people would go to the venue, but would not buy tickets until they saw Lion arrive, well-dressed as always, with hat and walking cane.
"When you speak of calypsonians," Kitchener said, "you must mention Lion. For years, fellas like he and Destroyer and Invader controlled the tents. In fact, they were the calypsonians people preferred, until the Young Brigade tent came along in 1947. But his name will always mean a lot to calypso. He was a top singer and certainly loved a lot."
Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Organization (Tuco) then President, Seadly "Penguin" Joseph, said: "Calypso lost one of its legends. We knew that he had been ailing for quite some time and our welfare officer had been in touch and had kept us abreast, but even so,we were shattered by the news of his passing. Of course, we are not yet clear on the type of tribute that we can pay, for he was such a towering figure, but we will have to develop something significant enough, so as to really honour his contribution to calypso."
Original Story by the late Terry Joseph - Trinidad Express, July 12, 1999. Re-edited and formated by Calypso Global
