I believe this Lord Melody "Carnival Proclamation" track was originally recorded by him for Cook records in September 1958 and featured as one of the tracks on Melody's album called "Lord Melody Sings Calypso". This version from the "Calypso Awakening" CD album was taken from the original "Lord Melody Sings Calypso" vinyl album from 1958.
Interesting fact is that Melody borrowed quite a few lines from Mighty Zebra's minor calypso "Carnival Proclamation" from around 1952. And as far as the "mama-rook-ama-cuba-nik-mi-bo" part goes, it seems just to be gibberish, faux-Indian chanting.
GRJ. I found out that this was recorded in 1958 . I wonder if the Red Indians still have these chants on Carnival Days and I would also like to know what it means in English. Thanks.
Calypsonian Lord Melody sings Carnival ‘Proclamation’, track 13 on Smithsonian Folkways ‘Calypso Awakening’ SFWCD 40453, an excerpt from ‘The Emory Cook Collection 1956-1962’ recorded on location in Trinidad. This engineering guru (1913-2002) laid down the infrastructure for preservation and archiving of calypso, pan other folklore through the Caribbean.
GRJ . Thanks for another Classic. This has to be from late 50s' or early 60s'. Any idea of the exact year for I can remember as kids we used to sing this and especially the part with the Red Indian Chant. Melo was indeed a Master of Calypso. Thanks.
