| More Middle Period Album Scans |
Page last revised: 11/17/07
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Many of the releases from mento's golden-age were targeted to tourists. This continued into the 1960s, with most (but not all) mento LP releases having strong tie-ins with the hotel where the band performed. Not only did the jackets celebrate the hotel (often to a greater degree than the band), but judging by the large number of surviving autographed LPs from this decade, the LP was sold at the hotel as well. This practice continues , as today's mento bands performing at hotels typically have a CDR for sale. These hotel LPs span the rural, jazz and folk styles.
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Living up to their name, here are the The Happy Smilers with their LP, "Plantation Inn", on the Kalypso label. Dan Neely has identified one of the Smilers as golden age singer Robin Plunkett. Contrary to speculation I had previously posted, the guitarist, Euton, is not Euton (Lord) Gayle. |
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Though instrumentally spare, superior lead and backing vocals make this LP an good listen. As of mid-2003, a group by this name was active and performing at the Plantation Inn in Ocho Rios! Because they are favorites of mine and it is out of print, a clips from this LP can be heard on the More Artists and Favorite Song Clips page.
Here is an eponymous The Happy Smilers LP on the Kalypso label. I have not heard this release, but Matthias Münchow of Hamburg, Germany supplies both the scan and the track listing
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Courtesy Mark Butcher of Minneapolis, Minnesota are these label scans from another LP by The Goldenaires: "Welcome You" on the Kalypso label. |
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On the
NYC-based Sue Records label is the stereo LP, "Scandal In Montego
Bay", by the Montego Bay-based Percy Dixon and His Merry Boys. The
liner notes are not all that informative, though by mentioning ska, it does
help date this LP as having been released
no earlier than the mid-1960s. Though the front cover is totally irrelevant,
the back jacket does include a small picture of the band (excerpted below)
that reveals a classic rural mento line up.
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The band is polished and the set is a pleasant listen. The banjo player is accomplished -- which seems to be the rule for Mobay mento bands. The repertoire has few surprises, especially once some of the song names are corrected. "Denny Reel" is "Penny Reel", "In A Row" is "Mandeville Road", and "Ben-O-Dict" is "Ben Wood Dick". This LP spawned a single on Sue Records, as seen here. Billed as King Dixon and His Merry Boys, this act competed in a 1961 calypso competition, as seen here. |
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Special thanks to Matthias Münchow for alerting me to this release.
| Regrettably missing its cover, here is another album by Percy Dixon and His Merry Boys, "Calypso For You Dreams", released on the Kalypso label. "Hold Him Joe" has some of Lord Composer's "Let Me Go Melda" worked into it. |
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Above is "Slim Henry plays at Montego Beach", an
LP on the label of the same name. Slim Henry had previously recorded
rural mento with Ken Khouri in
the 1950s, and two such tracks can be heard on the CD collection "Rookumbine:
Authentic Calypsos and Mentos". The liner notes have surprising
amount of information about the musicians: singer and guitar player Slim
Henry's real name is Henry Dudley Brown. A name familiar as
Lord Flea's fine banjo player, Porkchops, is
present, but on this LP, he plays mandolin, rather than banjo. Happily, his
real name is supplied: Charles Lorenzo Harrison. The rest of the band is Ken
Cole on banjo, Bash (Thomas McLaughlan) on rumba box and Ken Longshaw on
conga and bongo. (Perhaps the latter is "Lord Largie ", who played
percussion with Flea Porkchops. Or perhaps not.) A detailed version of the
band photo from the front jacket can be seen
here. The jacket also includes the lyrics for some of the songs,
apparently only the ones it had handy from the earlier
Lebby LP release. The repertoire is also based on Lebby's stint at the MBH. One track, "Montego Mama" is probably the song the notes intended to single out when it incorrectly stated that "Shame and Scandal" was an original composition by Henry. Another tack, "Beyond The Hills" is unfamiliar. The sound is very nice. Uncharacteristic mandolin by Porkchops is often out front of the banjo/guitar/rumba box/percussion rhythmic back bone. And upon closer listening, the two tracks found on "Rookumbine: Authentic Calypsos and Mentos" also feature this mandolin enhanced line up. |
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"Calypso at Montego Beach Hotel", an LP on the Federal label is a more anonymous MBH release. It features The MBH Calypso band playing rural mento and shares song selections with other Lord Lebby/MBH recordings. The lead singers and musicians are not identified. And the liner notes tip that, "Throughout the last 17 years the composition of the band has changed from time to time as some of the boys went on to better jobs in the entertainment world." A notch down in musical quality from previous MBH recordings, just as Lebby's MBH sides were from his Kalypso sides. |
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| "Jamaica, Hello", an LP by The Diggers on an undesignated label. This is an interesting release for several reasons: Its from the 1970s (recorded in stereo) but does not appear to be affiliated with a particular hotel. It has informative liner notes, band photos, a band history, the member's names, and a description of their contest wins and subsequent affiliation with the Jamaican Tourist Board that led to performances in the US, Mexico and Canada. It also points out the mix of songs as being either originals, mento ("calypso") staples, or Belafonte popularized. The music is well played and sung, though, tourist friendly, it's a bit tame. |
The Diggers:
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| "Rose Hall Calypso", an LP on the Dynamic Sound Recording label by "Danny" (Gloucester) Hill. The notes and photos of the artist would lead you to believe that the Rose Hall resort's featured performer is a solo act. But Danny Hill leads a rural mento line up, even if the banjo player opts out on a few tracks. This is smooth, polished rural mento in vocals and instrumentation, and the song selection assures that there is nothing in this set that the patrons of Rose Hall could find objectionable. |
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| "Ska-Lip-Soul" is an interesting LP from 1965 by Price Buster on the label that bears his name. Its an interesting mix of mento and ska, as broken down below. It also includes pretty good liner notes.
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| "For Adults Only", an LP on the Vitadisc label by un-credited artist (s). Although I have not heard this LP, looking at the list of familiar songs on the back jacket, the most "adult" aspect of this release is the graphic on the label. The unfamiliar Vitadisc label is explained by the fact that its a Trinidadian company that ventured into Jamaica to make this recording. |
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"Songs From The Caribbean" an eight song 10" LP from 1955 by Lord Composer and the Calypso Champions. This is an interesting find for a number of reasons. First it nay be Composer's only LP. Second its on an unfamiliar label, Art, out of Miami, Florida. Third, the jacket art and Composer's autograph indicate that Composer had by that time relocated to Nassau. Fourth, the label confirms that Composer's name is Omri Mundle. Fifth, front jacket includes a rare photograph of Lord composer. The back jacket is blank. The autograph reads, "Keep me among your souvenirs. Best regards from Lord Composer, P/O Box 1521, Nassau." On this LP, Composer chooses a number of great mento songs of that time, avoiding the over popular, more touristy ones that were flogged to near death in the next decade's wave of hotel LPs. The music is decidedly mellow featuring Composer's laid-back vocals, piano, hand drum and maracas accompaniment. It sounds nothing at all like the classic, intense single Composer recorded for MRS in the 1950s (but then again, nothing did). All of these tracks along with another eight that are similar in source and sound can be downloaded from at least one on-line music service, as described on the Can I Buy Mento? page. |
| Courtesy of Dan Neely, "Let's Dance The Ska" (by mento banjo player Euton "Lord" Gayle ) is also clearly courting the ska dance and music craze of the mid-1960s. Gayle, who was Count Owen's banjo player in the 1950s, plays a ska chop on his banjo on some tracks. But the sound is much more rural mento than ska. Backed by a drum, rumba box, backing vocals and occasional flute, Gayle's strumming and soloing makes for a fuller sound than you might expect. His lead vocals are pleasing as well. The photo of the back jacket reveals that Gayle's base of operation was The Reef Club and lists the members of his band, The Seasiders. |
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Oswald Jackson - Rumba Box Abraham Lewis also appears on an LP by The Joy Makers, as seen below. |
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An LP by Count Frank, who the liner notes (in addition to mentioning "mento") tells us is Frank Anderson. The typical repertoire with bass, banjo, acoustic guitar, maracas and and hand drum backing up Frank's unusual voice. The jacket identifies the label as WIRL, but the label is of the later Kalypso design. |
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Courtesy of Olivier Albot are the scans
a 1970 LP on the frm label
called "Jamaica Magic" by Lloyd Wilks and The Soulettes. From the
back jacket photo, this appears to be the the Rita Marley -
Nora Dean - Cecile Campbell line up of The Soulettes.
This not only creates another
interesting Wailers and mento connection,
but another Nora Dean and mento connection, as this great reggae singer has
also recorded "Walk and Talk" "Out The Light" and "Night Food".
All this is a bit more interesting than the music itself. Aimed at the tourist, tracks include 4 familiar mento selections, plus 8 originals written by Cornel Lumiere. The music is best described as easy listening as played by a jazz combo. Lloyd Wilks has a fine polished "popular vocals" delivery. The Soulettes sound great, though they are criminally underused throughout. The familiar tracks are "Day-O" (which includes some of "Hill and Gully Rider"), "Yellow Bird", "Jamaica Farewell", and "Island In The Sun".
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Here is the "Jamaica Magic" LP in another jacket, complete with a gatefold sleeve and a 16 page booklet. The booklet includes music for The pages with the lyrics to the |
 
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| A 1957 LP called "Jamaica Calypso" by Lord Montego and His Calypsonians led to the hope that this "calypso" was mento. But sometimes Jamaican "calypso" is just that. Trini in sound and repertoire. Released on the American Audio Fidelity label. |
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On a label called SOMB (Sound of Montego Bay)
is the hotel LP, "Jamaica
Calypso Souvenir" by The Joy Makers. One band member, Abraham
Lewis, also appeared on an LP by Lord Gayle, as seen
above. The liner notes point out that this band won a medal in the
calypso/mento completion at the 1976 Festival. |
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Lead vocal - Abraham Lewis Banjo - Cyril Beckford Rumba box - Zephiniah Taylor Guitar/harmony - Count Moodie |
| A single from this album can be seen here. A brief video clip of the Joy Makers performing can be seen on this site's "Mento Video" page. | ||
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An LP on the Island Music
Records label from the late 1960s called, "At The Courtleigh Manor" by
the unoriginally named Calypso Joe. ("Calypso Joe" has served as a
name for songs, artists, records, movies, toys, musical instruments,
etcetera beginning decades before this release.)
This is an urban hotel LP, with a jazzy lead and a rhythm electric guitars dominating the sound. The songs are familiar 1960s mento band selections, with a leaning towards Trinidad calypso covers. One original, "Rock Steady Calypso" is more of a salute than a fusion of these genres. The jacket features nice band photo, but no information about the musicians. Instead, we are reminded that Jamaica has good drinks! |
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An LP on the WIRL label from the 1960s by pianist-bandleader Mapletoft Poulle with vocals by Peter Hudson. Its one of the few LPs labeled as "Mento". Full dance-band style: Latin percussion replaces hand drum. Clarinet and piano are featured instruments. A group of 6 singers provides background vocals. The sound is very full. Banjo is not utilized. Mapletoft explains in the liner notes that clarinet has been used in mento "for at least the last 50 years". The notes also list the musicians, including a familiar name Bertie King on the afore mentioned clarinet as well as drums. Bertie was a band leader for some golden age dance band sides. He also was the saxophonist and pan whistle player on the 1960s mento-jazz LP, "Party Time". |
Personnel: Bass - Herbert
Nelson |
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Thanks to Dan Neely for pointing out that Mapletoft Poulle was co-composer of Jamaica's national anthem (along with Hugh Sherlock and Robert Charles Lightbourne). "Dip and Fall Back" from this LP is included on and names Trojan's 2006 CD compilation "Dip And Fall Back". Another LP from this era, with Mapletoft Poulle and His Orchestra backing the vocals of Lord Fly can be seen here. From the liner notes of that LP, here is Mapletoft's resume:
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Thanks to
Generoso Fierro
of Boston in the US, for alerting me to the following LP from 1958:
"Jamaican Carnival at The Myrtle Bank", by
Baba Motta
and Orchestra on the Carib label.
The music on this hotel album is best described as mento-jazz. Tracks 1, 2, 5, 7, 8 & 10 are familiar songs from the mento repertoire. In fact, "She Pon Top" is a remake of a Motta's popular golden age dance-band track. The band plays very professional and polished cocktail jazz. The rhythm on these tracks is distinctively Jamaican and Motta's distinctive piano playing is also evident. (Read on for more on the impressive line up of musicians on this LP.) A worthy successor to the Mento Jazz of the 1920s. The other tracks are straight jazz, except for the last track, John Canoe, which is a fine drum and fife pocomania performance. |
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1. Wheel and Turn Me 2. Solas Market 3. Solitude 4. In Bond 5. Linstead Market 6. Music of Latins (with vocal) |
7. Make We Federate
(with vocal) 8. Busy Line (with vocal) 9. Easy To Remember 10. She Pon Top (with vocal) 11. Four Steps 12. John Canoe |
Note: The large back jacket scan is very big in order to preserve legibility. If you click on the above, it may take some time to load. |
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Happily, Dan Neely was able to provide some personnel info for this LP, and there are some familiar names, but not from mento: Roland Alphonso is on sax and Clue J is on bass. The drummer was someone interesting as well, but Dan could not recall exactly who it was. More happiness, as Brian Keyo provided the rest of the roster: Ken Williams is on drums, Leo Wilson was on trumpet, and Ernest Ranglin was on guitar. Motta takes vocals on three tracks, but Brian thinks it might be Roy Shurland on "Music Of Latins". It also sounds like a percussionist is on most tracks, perhaps Larry McDonald. In January of 2006, I heard from Tennille Wilson, granddaughter of Leo Wilson. She was able to provide the following information about her grandfather:
Song clips from this LP cam be heard on the More Artists and Song Clips page. |
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"The Good
Old Days Quadrille" by The McBeth Orchestra on the Joe Gibbs
label from around the early 1970s. The instrumentation is very mento like,
with banjo prominently featured. The music is instrumental, except for a
square-dance-like caller. |
 Although its not uncommon for mento acts from the 1950s to today to record a Quadrille, the above is the only Jamaican Quadrille LP I've come across. Several Quadrille singles can be seen on the Naaman Lee page. Quadrille has its beginnings in 19th century France as a dance and accompanying music. Quadrille moved into Britain, and into its colonies as well. Quadrille was an antecedent to both square dancing music in America as well as to mento in Jamaica. This site makes it clear that mento is still a active in Jamaica, a find like the LP above indicates that neither has Quadrille been totally forgotten. However, Dan Neely notes that in Jamaica, quadrille is rapidly being |
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lost. He explains that a lot of mento bands lament the fact that although they can play quadrilles, they don't have any reason to, as they can't find anyone to dance it properly anymore. And there is an increasingly smaller number of people who can teach it, despite everyone's best efforts. |
The McBeth Orchestra: McBeth - banjo Ruben White - Trumpet Melburn Reynolds - saxophone Cleveland Renolds - bass Edga Murry - guitar Neville Johnson - drums |
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Silver Seas LPs and Lord Jellicoe
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The Silver Seas LP, "Silver Seas Calypsos" on the Ritmo label features a line up with familiar names from mento's golden age and middle period, making for a mento Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
Eddie Brown - guitar and voc. The music is smooth and pleasing with notable acoustic guitar and strong vocals and harmonies. Banjo is not utilized. Lead vocal chores are shared, with Barker and Porter each singing lead on four tracks, Brown on three, Burke on one and Reynolds sticking to backing vocals.
Because it was released on the NYC-based Ritmo, it is relitively east to find and afford for a 1960s mento LP. Two clips from this LP can be heard on the Other Artists & Favorite Song Clips page. The liner notes by by future Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Seaga describe Silver Sea's American television appearances and other significant performances. He goes on to explain that this calypso album is, in fact, mento, "a term, which, strangely enough, is not at all well known in Jamaica".
Robin Bleakley, of Louisville, Kentucky alerted me to the LP, "Conch Ain't Got No Bones". It was released on a label designated as Sounds of The Caribbean (A division of Request Records Inc, 66 Memorial Highway, New Rochelle, NY). Robin explains:
As seen below, in the
list compiled by Olivier Albot of France, Silver
Seas member (Lord) Jellicoe Baker recorded a string of LPs.
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