The "Beautiful Barbados" Story

It was an ordinary day. Just finished making a CD with all the songs from my new music CD titled "The Merrymen Story - Part 1" on it for Just Sue (JS). I few years ago Carol and I traveled with Jerry and JS to Barbados for the first time. During the trip JS bought a music CD titled "Beautiful Barbados" by The Merrymen. We all enjoyed it immensely and I borrowed it from JS so I could make a copy for myself. I took the copy to work with me at Manheim Township High School during the summer when I ran all the in-house printing needs for the school district. To keep me company I would play "Beautiful Barbados" over and over. And LOUD! Only way I could hear it above the thump, thump, thump of the printing press. Seems that I not only enjoyed the music, but the custodians, maintenance men and secretaries who were close by and could hear it through the concrete block walls of the print shop would enjoy it. I must have made a dozen or more copies of it for others in the school that summer. Well, while traveling around St. Martin in the Caribbean recently, I found "The Merrymen Story - Part 1" and snatched up a copy. Just love the music of the Merrymen. And .... now I am making another CD for my friend JS. In 1962, the year of my high school graduation, three young musicians from Barbados made their debut at the Drift Wood Cellar Bar along St. Lawrence Gap. The called themselves "The Merrymen" and earned $18 for the night. Stephen Fields, Robin Hunte, and Emile Straker made up the trio of guitar and banjo playing minstrels. Shortly they added another member, bass player Chris Gibbs. In 1966 they added the final member to the group, drummer Robert Foster. Their trademark sound is an upbeat form of calypso, reminiscent of what was popular in the Caribbean in the late 60s and early 70s, that samples liberally from latin, funk, tuk, and spouge musical styles. Lead singer Emile's whistling is one of the most distinctive components of their sound, and often serves as the primary focus of the musical interludes in their songs. Come to think of it, while in Barbados we visited the Whistling Frog Bar. Makes me wonder if the Merrymen played that venue many times. In 1966 they released their album, "Introducing the Merrymen." Their biggest single was "Big Bamboo" which topped the charts not only in Barbados, but in Holland, Belgium and Germany. Also in 1966, "The Merrymen" traveled to England to represent Barbados at the Commonwealth Arts Festival. One of their producers was the great George Martin, producer of the "Beatles." While in England they spent many days in the Abbey Road Studio, home of the "Beatles". They have performed in Hong Kong, Austiralia, New Zealand, Canada as well as the USA where they appeared at Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, and the Super Bowl when it was in Miami. They have recorded over 35 albums and won the 1997 Lifetime Achievement Award presented at the Caribbean Music Awards. They stopped touring in the early 2000s, but still remain Ambassadors for the Barbados Board of Tourism and play quite a few charity concerts in their home country of Barbados. In October of this year, we plan to make our second trip to Barbados and hope to be able to see "The Merrymen" perform live. Won't be quite the same as seeing Jimmy Buffett perform, but a close second. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - listen to them perform "Beautiful Barbados" and get a feel for their style of music.

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