Rhythm and Blues Goes Calypso

Timothy Dodge

Starting in 1945 and continuing for the next twenty years, dozens of African American rhythm and blues artists made records that incorporated West Indian calypso. Some of these recordings were remakes or adaptations of existing calypsos, but many were original compositions. Several, such as “Stone Cold Dead in de Market” by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan or “If You Wanna Be Happy” by Jimmy Soul, became major hits in both the rhythm and blues and pop music charts. While most remained obscurities, the fact that over 170 such recordings were made during this time period suggests that there was sustained interest in calypso among rhythm and blues artists and record companies during this era.

Rhythm and Blues Goes Calypso explores this phenomenon starting with a brief history of calypso music as it developed in its land of origin, Trinidad and Tobago, the music’s arrival in the United States, a brief history of the development of rhythm and blues, and a detailed description and analysis of the adaptation of calypso by African American R&B artists between 1945 and 1965.

This book also makes musical and cultural connections between the West Indian immigrant community and the broader African American community that produced this musical hybrid. While the number of such recordings was small compared to the total number of rhythm and blues recordings, calypso was a persistent and sometimes major component of early rhythm and blues for at least two decades and deserves recognition as part of the history of African American popular music.

Lexington Books

Pages: 256 • Trim: 6 x 8¾

978-1-4985-3098-9 • Hardback • March 2019 • $111.00 • (£85.00)

978-1-4985-3100-9 • Paperback • July 2021 • $41.99 • (£32.00)

978-1-4985-3099-6 • eBook • March 2019 • $38.00 • (£29.00)

Subjects: Music / Genres & Styles / Soul & R 'n B, History / Africa / General, Music / EthnoMusicology, Music / Genres & Styles / Jazz, Social Science / Popular Culture

Rhythm and Blues Goes Calypso

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Starting in 1945 and continuing for the next twenty years, dozens of African American rhythm and blues artists made records that incorporated West Indian calypso. Some of these recordings were remakes or adaptations of existing calypsos, but many were original compositions. Several, such as “Stone Cold Dead in de Market” by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan or “If You Wanna Be Happy” by Jimmy Soul, became major hits in both the rhythm and blues and pop music charts. While most remained obscurities, the fact that over 170 such recordings were made during this time period suggests that there was sustained interest in calypso among rhythm and blues artists and record companies during this era.

Rhythm and Blues Goes Calypso explores this phenomenon starting with a brief history of calypso music as it developed in its land of origin, Trinidad and Tobago, the music’s arrival in the United States, a brief history of the development of rhythm and blues, and a detailed description and analysis of the adaptation of calypso by African American R&B artists between 1945 and 1965.

This book also makes musical and cultural connections between the West Indian immigrant community and the broader African American community that produced this musical hybrid. While the number of such recordings was small compared to the total number of rhythm and blues recordings, calypso was a persistent and sometimes major component of early rhythm and blues for at least two decades and deserves recognition as part of the history of African American popular music.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 256 • Trim: 6 x 8¾

978-1-4985-3098-9 • Hardback • March 2019 • $111.00 • (£85.00)

978-1-4985-3100-9 • Paperback • July 2021 • $41.99 • (£32.00)

978-1-4985-3099-6 • eBook • March 2019 • $38.00 • (£29.00)

Subjects: Music / Genres & Styles / Soul & R 'n B, History / Africa / General, Music / EthnoMusicology, Music / Genres & Styles / Jazz, Social Science / Popular Culture

Author

Timothy Dodge is reference librarian at Auburn University and holds a PhD in history from the University of New Hampshire.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

1. What Is Calypso?

2. Calypso Comes to the United States

3. The Arrival of Rhythm & Blues

4. Rhythm & Blues Goes Calypso

Conclusion

Bibliography

Discography

Reviews

With Rhythm and Blues Goes Calypso Dodge (Auburn Univ.) makes a unique contribution to the music literature and fills a void in the scholarly record. A reference librarian and a historian, Dodge looks at the intersection of Caribbean music and popular music of the US, particularly in the 1950s. He notes that the blues, boogie-woogie, jazz, and gospel genres were all components of R & B, and he looks at how calypso impacted the development of R & B for the better part of 20 years. Obviously well versed in this music, Dodge meticulously cites important work throughout this book, and he provides ample musical examples, in so doing pointing the way for future researchers. This book will most directly inform those studying the development of popular music in the US and those involved in Caribbean studies, and it will be a significant and important addition to reading lists in those areas.

Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers.
— Choice Reviews

Timothy Dodge explores the phenomenon starting with a brief history of calypso music as it developed in its land of origin, Trinidad and Tobago, the music's arrival in the U.S., a brief history of the development of rhythm and blues, and a detailed description and analysis of the adaption of calypso by African American R & B artists between 1945 and 1965. The book also makes musical and cultural connections between the West Indian immigrant community and the broader African American community that produced this musical hybrid.
— Echoes Of The Past

I must say, I found this book fascinating. It is well researched, well written and completely documented with over 500 end notes. . . . Highly recommended for popular music scholars and R&B fans alike.
— Classic Urban Harmony

This is a thought-provoking, interesting and readable book.
— Blues & Rhythm

In Rhythm and Blues Goes Calypso, Tim Dodge provides a thorough, insightful, and highly readable account of an intriguing and understudied niche genre in American popular music history.
— Peter L. Manuel, John Jay College and the Graduate Center, CUNY

Rhythm and Blues Goes Calypso

Timothy Dodge

Rhythm and Blues Goes Calypso

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