The earliest calypsonians reign
Part II
SOMEWHERE between 1897 and 1900 Phillip Garcia, who sang under the sobriquet of Lord Executor, appeared on the calypso stage. The dates differ between calypsonian Atilla the Hun (Raymond Quevedo) and theatre historian Errol Hill, but most importantly, as calypso historian and ethnomusicologist Dr Hollis “Chalkdust” Liverpool writes in Calypsonians to Remember, Lord Executor revolutionised calypso by being the first calypsonians to sing in English.
Chalkdust says Executor also revolutionised calypso by “moving from a single tone and cemented the eight-line minor key that Atilla later described as the oratorical pattern in song.”
Chalkdust tells us Executor injected wit into calypso. For the first decade of the 20th century he won nearly every calypso contest.