Biography
Aldwyn Roberts, who received the stage name Lord Kitchener from Growling Tiger, guided the development of calypso across nearly sixty years. Between multiple victories he claimed the Road March award on ten occasions and secured the Panorama Steel Drum Orchestra Competition eighteen times before his 1989 induction into the Sunshine Awards Hall of Fame. The songs that brought him prominence spanned lively party numbers and pointed topical pieces, among them “Green Fig Man,” “Chinese Never Had a VJ Day,” “The Beat of the Steelband,” “Tribute to Spree Simon,” and “Pan in Harmony.”
Born in Anima, Trinidad, Roberts learned guitar from his father, a blacksmith, and soon played with complete fluency. After losing both parents in 1936 he left school and supported himself by performing for laborers installing water pipes. His first local success, “Shops Close Too Early,” appeared in 1938, the same year he began a run of annual Calypso King of Anima titles that lasted through 1942. In 1942 he relocated to Port of Spain and joined the Roving Brigade, appearing in neighborhood cinemas. Steady work arrived when the Victory Tent hired him as a regular performer at one dollar per night. The 1944 release of “Green Fig Man” established his reputation, prompting him in 1947 to launch his own club and to guide an emerging generation he called the Young Brigade.
Limited prospects in Trinidad prompted Roberts to depart; he lived six months in Jamaica before settling in England, where he quickly became a headliner and often played three separate venues in one evening. While based in Manchester he ran a calypso club with nightly sets of his own and, during mid-1950s visits to the United States, brought his style to American listeners.
After sixteen years abroad he returned to Trinidad in 1963 and immediately reclaimed his place on the local scene. Beginning that year he captured three consecutive Road March titles, added wins in 1967 and 1968, and then took the prize seven years in a row from 1970 through 1976. Also in 1964 he earned the Panorama Contest award for Best Instrumental and founded the Calypso Revue Tent. Government officials resisted his political commentary; although a 1993 petition urged that he receive the Trinity Cross, the country’s highest civilian honor, authorities offered a lesser distinction, which Roberts declined.
On 11 February 2000 he died from a severe infection stemming from a blood disorder and organ failure, an event that prompted widespread mourning across the West Indies.
Born in Anima, Trinidad, Roberts learned guitar from his father, a blacksmith, and soon played with complete fluency. After losing both parents in 1936 he left school and supported himself by performing for laborers installing water pipes. His first local success, “Shops Close Too Early,” appeared in 1938, the same year he began a run of annual Calypso King of Anima titles that lasted through 1942. In 1942 he relocated to Port of Spain and joined the Roving Brigade, appearing in neighborhood cinemas. Steady work arrived when the Victory Tent hired him as a regular performer at one dollar per night. The 1944 release of “Green Fig Man” established his reputation, prompting him in 1947 to launch his own club and to guide an emerging generation he called the Young Brigade.
Limited prospects in Trinidad prompted Roberts to depart; he lived six months in Jamaica before settling in England, where he quickly became a headliner and often played three separate venues in one evening. While based in Manchester he ran a calypso club with nightly sets of his own and, during mid-1950s visits to the United States, brought his style to American listeners.
After sixteen years abroad he returned to Trinidad in 1963 and immediately reclaimed his place on the local scene. Beginning that year he captured three consecutive Road March titles, added wins in 1967 and 1968, and then took the prize seven years in a row from 1970 through 1976. Also in 1964 he earned the Panorama Contest award for Best Instrumental and founded the Calypso Revue Tent. Government officials resisted his political commentary; although a 1993 petition urged that he receive the Trinity Cross, the country’s highest civilian honor, authorities offered a lesser distinction, which Roberts declined.
On 11 February 2000 he died from a severe infection stemming from a blood disorder and organ failure, an event that prompted widespread mourning across the West Indies.