Saturday Night Record: Roosevelt In Trinidad
The Attila: Roosevelt in Trinidad
A interesting insight to the political world of 1937. Hitler had come to power and Europe was changing fast, but he had yet to invade Poland. Cordell Hull, the Secretary of State, was spending months on the road in Brazil, Argentina, and Uraguay, cementing solidarity in the Western Hemisphere, while Europe flung itself into Facism.
In January 1937, returning home from the Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Peace in Buenos Aires, his ship stopped for a few days in Trinidad, to meet with Roosevelt.
Trinidad is a tiny territory off the Venezuelan coast which was a British colony until 1962, with only a population in the tens of thousands. The song conveys a sense of great honor that this little territory was visited by the Great Roosevelt, working to secure peace and democracy for all. There is an Obama-like excitement conveyed, and that wonderful way that calypso and soca singers manage to cram a whole history lesson and political statement into a song. The inter-verse instrumentals on violin and clarinet are also great.
The artist is "The Attila" - the penchant for calypso singers to take the names of brutal dictators is alerady in evidence here, although it seems quite at odds with the song. It's the B side to "Out the Fire" by "The Lion". Comp is by Gerlad Clark and His Caribbean Serenaders, the tunes are written by Fitz McLean.
Attila was the calypso name of Raymond Quevedo (1892-1962). He and The Lion (Raphael de Leon) brought calypso to the US in 1934. He later moved into Trinidadian politics. Several of his records were banned in Trinidad, including one named "The Banning of Records". He was elected to City Council and then to the Legislative Council.