American singers imitating Caribbean accents

[Charlie]

Louis Jordan had a couple of hits in which he pretended to be from Trinidad - 'Run Joe' and 'Stone Cold Dead in the Market' (with Ella going even further).

Who else did this?

Harry Belafonte had a whole career pretending to be either Jamaican (where his parents were from) or Trinidadian, with an album title Calypso topping the American album pop chart for most of 1957.

I suppose Johnny Nash sounded Jamaican on his hits, but don't think he went out of his way to imitate the inflections of the island's accent.

Richard Berry's 'Louie Louie' and the unrelated Chuck Berry's 'Havana Moon' come to mind as I pursue this thought.

Is there an Ace album concept in this? Admittedly, not a very commercial idea, on reflection. But still intriguing. Don't stop now.

[john poole]

Richard Berry's 'Louie Louie' and the unrelated Chuck Berry's 'Havana Moon' come to mind as I pursue this thought.

I've read that they were both influenced by 'Calypso Blues' by Nat 'King' Cole
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf5ivCfZ_cw[/youtube]

[Neil Foxlee]

If I remember rightly, there's an early Louis Armstrong Hot Five or Hot Seven which features a West Indian-accented spoken section. Only trouble is, I can't remember the title.

Going off at a tangent, there was a female Jamaican singer called Girl Satchmo who (as her name suggests) specialized in Armstrong vocal impersonation.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJxcipPqwXg[/youtube].

She also recorded in the UK with the Les Dawson Combo (no relation).

[Neil Foxlee]

Got it - King of the Zulus (1926) with the Hot Five and Clarence Babcock on spoken vocals. You can hear a relevant extract here:

http://www.amazon.com/King-Of-The-Zulus/dp/B00138I8W0

Don't know whether Babcock was of Caribbean origin.

[Charlie]

I've read that they were both influenced by 'Calypso Blues' by Nat 'King' Cole
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf5ivCfZ_cw[/youtube]

Well done, John, that was at the back of my head when I was writing the question but it would not come to the front. Nat Cole was credited with writing this, but as he wrote so little else I always suspected he bought it outright from a Trinidadian song writer. Anybody know for sure?

[garth cartwright]

Nice thread Charlie. I pulled out my Johnny Nash Hits CD and listened but I don't hear any JA inflections on his Marley-penned tunes. What a wonderful singer! Last time I was at Errol's house we were going through his vinyl and he pulled out an LP of Nash his dad once owned and you wrote the back cover notes! I guess these days there are US singers who try to sing in a reggae-dancehall accent - not that I can name any.

[Neil Foxlee]

There are, of course, a number of non-Jamaican reggae artists who adopt Jamaican inflection in their singing or rapping: Germany's Gentleman, Sicily's Alborosie, the UK's YT, Bermuda's Collie Buddz etc.

And in an earlier age, let's not forget Lance Percival's take on calypso...
Not that any of these are American, but still.

[Hugh Weldon]

John Poole

'Calypso Blues' by Nat 'King' Cole

I first came across this as the B-side to a 78 of 'When I Fall In Love' when I was about 13.

One of my first experiences of hearing something a bit different I think. I wonder if many of Nat's easy listening fans (or their kids perhaps) were turned on to something a little hipper and groovier by flipping this disc in 1958?

[Charlie]

John Poole

'Calypso Blues' by Nat 'King' Cole

I first came across this as the B-side to a 78 of 'When I Fall In Love' when I was about 13.

One of my first experiences of hearing something a bit different I think. I wonder if many of Nat's easy listening fans (or their kids perhaps) were turned on to something a little hipper and groovier by flipping this disc in 1958?

Yes that was a strange choice by the UK record company, whose initiative gave Nat a hit here for a song that had been a US hit for Doris Day.

Why did somebody pick an old 1948 tune for the B-side? Sometimes, such decisions were based on pressure (and/or inducements) from music publishers. How happy somebody must have been, to get a free ride on the back of a million-selling single with a track that was ten years old by then. Nobody in our family liked Nat Cole so I didn't know about this B-side until Ace A&R man Tony Rounce brought it in for a ping pong selection about ten years ago.

[john poole]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3vgaCNY-aI&feature=related[/youtube]

[Ronald]

Not really known as a singer but still he made a couple of albums

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNuLoLdW6_g[/youtube]

[Rob Hall]

Ha! I have this album, I'd forgotten all about it...

The best thing on it (the CD re-release) is the inclusion of his single, "The Ballad of Thunder Road":

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRH7FtAAbJE[/youtube]

(Apologies for going off topic)

[Ted]

There's a bit in "Please Mr. Postman" which sounds as though the Marvelettes are affecting a caribbean accent. I've never really understood why. ("Deliver de letter da sooner da better")

[NormanD]

I'm not sure of the date of this one - early /mid 60s - and obviously following the bluebeat trend. Jerry Jackson's version of the old "Shrimp Boats Is (sic) A-Coming"
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJxPCd4tgFchttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJxPCd4tgFc[/youtube]

[garth cartwright]

Am working on an obit of Luther Dixon, the late great songwriter/producer behind The Shirelles, and found him describing how he gave the first single he produced of theirs (Tonights The Night) a Caribbean flavour because "we knew there was a West Indian market in New York City and they're the ones who bought the record first." I don't know this song - anyone out there think it has that American Caribbean flavour?