Discover

:''For the First World War leader, see Horatio Kitchener''
'Lord Kitchener' (April 18, 1922 - February 11, 2000) was one of the most internationally famous calypsonians.^[1] Born 'Aldwyn Roberts' in Arima, Trinidad and Tobago, he was the son of a blacksmith, Stephen and homemaker, Albertha. As Kitchener himself said, "I was born a calypsonian."^[2]
Kitchener's success began after he moved to England and he soon became extremely popular there. His fame continued throughout the 1950s, when calypso achieved international success. Later, though, he moved towards soca, a related style, and continued recording until his death. Kitchener's compositions were enormously popular as the chosen selections for steel bands to perform at the annual National Panorama competition during Trinidad Carnival.
His most famous songs include:

★ ''Rain-o-rama'' (also the name he gave to his home in Trinidad)

★ ''Pan in A Minor''

★ ''Sugar Bum Bum'' (noted as one of the first and best soca songs)

★ ''Bees' Melody''

★ ''Dr. Kitch'' (covered by Judge Dread, Dr. Ring-Ding, and others)

★ ''Margie'' (written for his English wife, Marjorie)

★ ''My Wife's Nightie''

★ ''Toco Band''

★ ''Pan In the 21st Century''

★ ''Drink a Rum''

★ ''67''

★ ''Gimme de thing''
Kitchener emigrated from Trinidad, spending six months in Jamaica before traveling on the ''Empire Windrush'' to the UK. In 1952, he met his wife Marjorie. During the 1950s he built a large following in the expatriate communities of the West Indian islands.
"Kitch" became a very important figure to those first 5000 West Indian migrants to the UK. His music^[3] spoke of home and a life that they all longed for but in many cases couldn't or wouldn't return to. On June 29 1950, he immortalised the defining moment for many of the migrants in writing 'Cricket, Lovely Cricket.' This was one of the first widely-known West Indian songs, and epitomised an event that historian and cricket enthusiast C. L. R. James defined as crucial to West Indian post-colonial societies. The song, later recorded by Lord Beginner, is rarely credited to Lord Kitchener although Tony Cozier and many who attended the Test at The Oval can attest that it was a Kitch composition.
Later in his life, Kitch lived in obscurity in Manchester. He was found there by a fellow Calypsonian, Mighty Sparrow, who brought him back to Trinidad in 1962. The two calypsonians proceeded to dominate the calypso competitions of the sixties and seventies. Lord Kitchener won the road march competition ten times between 1965 and 1976, more times than any other calypsonian.
For 30 years, Kitchener ran his own calypso tent, Calypso Revue, by which he nurtured the talent of many calypsonians. Calypso Rose, David Rudder, Black Stalin and Denyse Plummer are among the many artists who got their start under Kitchener's tutelage.
Kitchener, who created highly-popular and sweet melodies, is honoured with a statue in Port of Spain. He is buried in the Santa Rosa Cemetery in Arima. A bust of the beloved entertainer is also on display on Hollis Avenue, Arima, not far from the Arima Stadium. The Lord Kitchener's Manager and Loyal friend to the Roberts Family, Errol Peru was the individual who initiated the Honoring of The Lord Kitchener when he arranged and executed The Unveiling of The Grand Statue of Kitchener in Port Of Spain and Later In Arima. Errol Peru, the most well known and Successful Promoter in Trinidad and Tobago is a much sought out manager for many Calypsonians such as Winston Peters, Gypsy (calypsonian) Lord Relator also known as Willard Harris, Cricket poetry, Michael Osuna (Sugar Aloes), Cro Cro (Weston Rawlins) and many others. He worked with The Grandmaster The Lord Kitchener (calypsonian) Aldwyn Roberts for over twelve years).
Kitchener's son, Kernel, is also a performer, playing drums for the biggest soca band in the country, Xtatik. He's also their musical director and composer of the 2006 Road March.
Kitchener's manager for over 12 years, Errol Peru, noted that Kitchener had won ten Road Marches and his songs have won 18 Panoramas, that to date have been unparalleled. He also pointed out that Kitchener never released a song that did not have a sense of completion to it. His songs were always smooth and without blemish. Errol also said that he calls for more respect to be given to the nation's calypsonians, composers and others involved in art and culture.
Errol stated on The Dateline Television Show with Allyson Hennessy that unlike any other calypsonian, Kitch would compose songs to forget them - because in order to come up with fresh material he needed to purge the old ones out of his system. Sometimes, said Errol, if he had recorded a song and was going to have to sing it somewhere, he would have to get the material back and play it for Kitchener so he could re-learn the words.
It has always been important in Kitch's career to gain new experiences which can be woven into his material. This took him to performances in Curaçao, Aruba and Jamaica in the early days, and finally to London, when he was already flying high in Trinidad. Kitch said "I had reached to the height of my popularity in Trinidad, he remembers. What am I doing here? I should make a move."
In England, Kitch started out working in London pubs. At first there were difficulties with English audiences who did not understand all the words, but that did not deter Kitch, and after the BBC gave him a chance to broadcast, he moved on to club bookings, and was soon performing in three clubs every night.
Peru's tribute to the King of Calypso is apposite, considering the amount of violence in the world today. "At a time when our country is filled with so much that is ugly, it is nice to know that we have Lord Kitchener to look up to as a living legend of creativity, excellence and humility." Trinidad honoured its man of street music in 1994 by putting his face on a postage stamp.
In 2007, Errol decided that there was need for a restoration project to clean up Lord Kitchener's Statue. "I have been observing it over a period of time and saw that the statue needed cleaning," Peru said. "Carnival and the ICC World Cup tournament are upcoming. For those events tourists would be in the country, so we wanted the statue to look its best."
Peru formed a committee in 1994 which was responsible for the construction of the statue of the Grand Master Lord Kitchener.
He fondly recollected that "While I was Kitchener's manager I wanted to give something to him before he died. We have a tendency of not honouring and showing respect to our cultural icons who have contributed to the development of this country. Only when they die we pay tribute to them. It was the first time that a statue was ever erected for a calypsonian in this country."

Contents

See also

See also

★ Lord Beginner

★ Errol Peru