- Format: CD
- Label: Revola
- Genre: Blues, Soul, Funk
Yeah, Lord Invader, master stickfighter, king of the Trinidad Calypso tents, though so many would dispute it, and he with they. Rupert Grant, more commonly known as Lord Invader, a prominent calypsonian with a very distinctive, gravelly voice and an astonishing vocabulary. He was born in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago in 1915, and died in New York City in 1962. Along the way, he was to dominate the calypso scene, and be one of the first to take it international....from his first US exposure via an RCA/Bluebird Records contract with "Dont Stop The Carnival" to later covers by the likes of Harry Belafonte, and triumphant tours of the US and Europe, Invader was a giant!
Probably his best known song was "Rum And Coca Cola" which plagiarised by comedian Morey Amsterdam became a monster wartime hit for The Andrews Sisters, predictably, Lord Invader..er... invaded the US courts, taking the opportunity to not only trounce his opponents in a landmark copyright case, but to sing in nightclubs in New York City and, in 1947, appear in folklorist Alan Lomaxs Calypso at Midnight concert at Town Hall. The previous year he sang "Yankee Dollar in Trinidad" in the movie House Rent Party, and recorded for several US labels.. In 1956 he travelled to England, where he appeared on the BBC and recorded for British labels, before touring Holland, Belgium and Germany.
Eventually, he returned to the U.S. and recorded a couple more albums. Lord Invader tragically died in New York at the age of 47. BUT here we have a fabulous collection of his hits, recorded in New York City in the late 1940s and early 1950s when Lord Invader was at his PEAK as the master Stickfighter conquers all in court AND on record - you know you want it!
Track listing:
Out The Fire
Ten Thousand To Bar
Cousin Family
When You Hear I Die
New York Subway
Me One Alone
Sly Mongoose
Happy Land Of Canaan
Mary Ann
Yankee Dollar
Pepsi-Cola
Tied-Tongue Baby
God Made Us All
The Soldiers Came
Labor Day
Brown Girl In The Ring
Chicago, Chicago
