In the conclusion of Roy Cape’s interview with Peter Ray Blood about his musical adventures and milestones, he talks about the formation of his band, the Kaiso All Stars and his pride at being conferred with an honorary doctorate by UWI, St Augustine.
In 1968, Cape went to New York with Roy Berridge’s band for Independence celebrations there. Cape said: “Some Trini brothers doing security at the UN had an organisation and they did a party at the New York Hilton. When we got there Ron told us that he would not be returning to Trinidad. After 17 days I returned home not knowing what my musical future would be. Toby told me of an article Sparrow placed in the newspaper that he was looking for musicians. Bert Inniss had died so the band’s bassist, Conrad Little, and myself went to Sparrow’s house and told him of our interest in working with him and he was interested in a few members of our band. But, we convinced him to keep the entire band together. Sparrow agreed, went into his bedroom and came out with a dictionary. He showed us the meaning of the word ‘troubadours’ was ‘a band of roving entertainers’. Our of that dictionary emerged the name of the band—Sparrow’s Troubadours.
“I played on Sparrow’s ‘68 album with Ron, as well as on Kitch’s ‘66 —’68 albums. Then the competition was so fierce between Sparrow and Kitch it was unthinkable to have the same arranger could not arrange for both of them.”
“In September ’68 Sparrow took us on tour through both sides of the Caribbean. I stayed with the Troubadours until 1970. The Wednesday before Carnival 1970 I left the band and right after Carnival went to New York. In New York. Once landed in the Big Apple we reformed Ron Berridge’s band. After some time Ron became disillusioned as it was difficult to run a band with musicians who also had eight to four jobs so he packed up and went to California.”
Upon Berridge’s flight to the US west coast, Cape joined Hugh Hendricks & The Buccaneers in New York. The band was patterned after the style of Byron Lee & The Dragonaires. “It was in this band that I met The Blue Busters and got to know Phillip James, a singer in that group.”
Cape stayed in New York until 1974, working eight to four as a porter. He said: “I did the whole nine yards, complete with a mop and pail in apartment buildings. I ended up being a super. From being a super I became a maintenance man. The four Carnivals I spent in New York playing very little music, I used to cry every time Carnival Monday came around. I got fed up in 1974; I was missing home, my mom had died, and my son and wife were back in Trinidad alone. I returned home in April 1974 and as I reached I began hearing of Shadow who was a big hit with Bassman and I Come Out to Play. I got a little place in River Estate and I fixed it for my family with what I could afford then. By that time in September I was broke, and I was very scared to stay home, especially not knowing how I would survive. Most of my age group friends had migrated, so I had very little musical friends in Trinidad.”
By September 1974 Cape left his home and family again and returned to New York as he was forced to find a way to take care of his family. “I stayed in New York for three unhappy years and, in 1977, I got a letter from Trinidad, the contents of which placed me back on a plane, back to Trinidad. I landed in Trinidad with US$125 when I thought I’d return here with thousands. I got a job with URP through Dr Rat (Winston Bruce). Calypsonian Struggler was an area foreman in Harlem, East Dry River, and he went to the director and told him that we attended school together and of my rough upbringing. They made me a tradesman assistant and I stayed.”
In 1978, Cape became more aggressive in securing work as a professional musician. He said: “In 1978, I heard that William Munro had a store, Cinderella Shoe Store, opposite Royal Castle. I went to him and introduced myself to him and he directed me to Art De Coteau, his calypso tent’s musical director. I got a job in the tent to play in Mr Munro’s Kingdom of the Wizards tent. In 1980, I approached Mr Munro to lead the band at Kingdom of the Wizards.
“I also met (Carl) Beaver Henderson that year and they were doing an album with Denyse Plummer at Semp Studio. Beaver and I became good friends. I must admit that Beaver was one of the few people who helped me to eat a food in Trinidad. We formed a band called TnT Rainbow.
Our engineer was the very enigmatic Wayne ‘Horrors’ Jameson. We did Poser’s Road March (Ah Tell She) album and Lord Shorty’s Om Shanti Om album. We also did Explainer’s Positive Vibration album, Brigo’s Long Ago and Abbi Blackman’s Young and Moving On.
“In 1981-82, Claude Martineau, who I knew for several years, decided to open a calypso tent–Calypso Spektakula. Claude and I played in the CYO band together in 1958 so we knew each other. It was easy to get along with him. I ran the tent show there for the next 12 years.”
If Cape’s musical career had been on cruise mode, gradually igniting subsequently, from 1982 onwards it was blast off time for this experienced musician. He reminisced: “Although all parts of my career have played an important part I think that this period played the most important part.
Spektakula had a lot of shows. Claude brought Kool & The Gang in the Savannah, with Chalkdust, Nelson and Explainer as guest artistes. Somehow our music mashed up that show and the local acts upstaged the American superstars. After that we did Nelson in Concert. The response was so overwhelming that we held several repeats of that concert. This ushered a flood of concerts, featuring artistes like Black Stalin and David Rudder. There were also international concerts starring Evelyn Champagne King, Shalamar, and Third World. This exposure gave us the opportunity to showcase and prove that T&T had the best calypso had to offer. We even experimented with paying musicians a fixed salary. We tried that for six months but it couldn’t work as productions couldn’t be sustained every weekend.”
So how did his band get its name? Cape explained: “In the ‘80s, a southern impressario staged three shows at Sparrow’s Hideaway featuring Leroy Calliste (Black Stalin). When I saw the poster it read Roy Cape Kaiso All Stars. That name was given by Black Stalin. He said to me, ‘if you are not taking care of yourself, I will have to do it for you’. I had been calypso for so long so it was an honour to have a calypsonian of such great standing to give my band its name, in the tradition of how calypsonians derived their names.”
The All Stars didn’t only excel in the calypso tent and at concerts, but on the road as well. Cape said: “While at Spektakula, in 1989, Earl Patteron offered me the job to provide music for Wayne Berkeley’s mas band. I took the job and played on the road in 1989-’90. I realised I could not compete with bands like Charlie’s Roots, Shandileer, Sound Revolution and Fire Flight, having to also play in the tent. They were playing soca music for 40 nights in fetes while I was playing in the tent. I could only fix music for the road when Carnival Sunday came around. By that time I was eying the dancehall and fetes. I wanted more challenges and the remuneration was more attractive.
“In 1994, Robert Amar offered me the job with Kisskidee Karavan and I signed a three-year contract with him. The Karavan, which had singers like Sparrow, Stalin, Shadow, Duke, SuperBlue, Denise Belfon, Supa Child, Ozzy Merique and Kindred was a nice experience and I enjoyed the season with them very much. What we had was a blend of the youths with elders. The show was too big to be a calypso tent and we didn’t do too well at Carnival. Amar called it quits in ‘95 and he gave me a release from the contract.
“For the 1995 season, Mr Munro had The Socathon at The Spectrum, where MovieTowne currently is, and he asked me to be part of it. Other pluses for the All Stars were Nigel and Marvin Lewis, the frontmen of the All Stars, winning the 1996 Road March with Movin’ to the Left, leaving in 1997 and making room for Kurt Allen and Derrick Seales. Kurt was also a Soca Monarch winner.”
Always behind the singer, Cape eventually decided to venture upfront and be a frontline vocalist as well. He decided to compose and sing his own song. He said: “In 1998, I had another new experience by having the song Jam Mih Mr Cape come to me like a dream while in the bath. I called Stalin as I came out of the bath and he told me that I already had a complete song and wouldn’t need his help. I made the Soca Monarch final that year with my own song and placed ninth.” Chuckling, Cape added: “I beat a lot of the more seasoned soca stars of the day in that final. I had the time of my life.” Cape has published four compositions with Black Stalin.
In addition to supplying musical accompaniment for Soca Monarch finals for 13 years Cape also developed a healthy relationship with Guyanese superstar Eddie Grant and with greats like Calypso Rose, SuperBlue. He also did an album – 1990, First Time – which was produced by Ottie Mieres. Cape’s second album – Highway to Calypso – was recorded in 1997 and was produced by Eddie Grant.
Cape has sustained a burgeoning fan base with his All Stars in the party circuit, regarded today by many as the “number one calypso party band on the planet.”
Reflecting in this accolade, Cape said: “I have been in the dancehall since 1997. I have seen them all come and leave, but the All Stars is still here, very strong and looking towards the future. I regret very much that in the changes since then to now, horns have been ejected from the music. I don’t criticise young people because with every era the new generation makes a valuable contribution to the music, which comes along with changes to the music.
“We the elders would have known of Aretha (Franklin) or Gladys (Knight) or the Temptations has now given way to Beyonce, Nikki Minaj, Jay Z, Rihannas and P Diddy. Although I hate to say this, they are not of the same standard of Aretha and those artistes but they have done something to the hip hop music that has made it attractive to this generation and today’s young people. Soca music is in the same kind of realm as hip hop as it is the music of young people and if we can live with reggae music we can live with calypso music.”
Looking back on his life, Cape said: “I was given a Humming Bird (Gold) National Award in 2004, ‘for loyal and devoted service to the nation’. In 2011, I was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate from UWI. We, the musicians, are the unseen heroes of the land. In today’s times no one cares who plays for who. I would only hope that me getting a UWI doctorate would be the beginning of the door being open for musicians to be respected and recognised. Since we have nobody to speak for us whenever I get the opportunity I always say something on behalf of my musician brothers because nobody sees the player behind the singer. If you are being shunned, and not being given due credit, it brings great pain to see that you are giving your best without any credit or just reward. One observation, if you go from Toco to Port-of-Spain you will never see a musician driving a Range Rover SUV, yet there is the perception that we make big heaps of money. If that was happening you would see it in our lifestyles. Musicians have lots of humility.”
Roy Cape: A Life on The Calypso and Soca Bandstand will be launched on September 26, along with the Cape CD – Roy Cape: A Calypso and Soca Anthology – at Carib Woodbrook Playboyz panyard, Tragarete Road, Newtown, at 6 pm. Published by Duke University Press, the book will have its international release on October 3.
