Last revised: 2/01/08

Background Info

"Played in homes and all Sound Systems and Juke Boxes throughout Jamaica."

In July 2004, the vault was unexpectedly thrown open, or perhaps it was torn off at the hinges, as the first (called "CD 2") of a series of what was to be four, then grew to six CDs was released. The CDs collect 96 tracks of Chin's Calypso Sextet recordings. Such a collection is remarkable for several reasons:

Second, it's Ivan Chin himself that is behind this reissue, personally handling all aspects of this project. Ivan even provides his personal recollections, seen below, that shed more light on this seminal golden age mento and label act than has been available before.

Additionally, each volume contains a copy of liner notes written by Dan Neely which assures unequaled research and an informative package. Dan was instrumental in coaxing Ivan to release this material. These notes even contain the only known period photos of Bedasse, Williams and Ivan. (These appear above, with permission.) Comments from Dan about this set follow those from Ivan Chin, below. These comments are not to be confused with his notes. (Additionally, Dan has posted on his website a comprehensive Chin's s discography.)

These CDs, though made by Ivan Chin, are being marketed by CD Baby (a label that also released the two Golden Aires CDs described on the Can I Buy Mento? page). Buyers should be prepared for a homemade feel to these releases. After all, as you will read below, Ivan put them together by himself! They feature a slim-line jewel box with home printed labels, a CD-R, liner notes on folded 8" x 10" paper and sound quality that can be difficult for some tracks in particular. But these are small prices to pay for a collection of such rare and excellent recordings.

The CDs collect nearly all of the 84 released Chin's tracks, plus some that were never released. There is not a bad song in the bunch and the music, vocals and lyrical content are nicely varied. This is hard-core rural mento. The melodies are strong and catchy and the playing is excellent, as almost all the tracks have little jams between banjo, bamboo sax and/or flute. The rhythm in many songs, to my ears shows mento's quadrille heritage.

If you had a million dollars, a staff of a thousand and one hundred years to turn the world upside down in search of the original 78 RPM singles, you still could not acquire half of this this collection of historic Jamaican recordings that Ivan Chin has released on six inexpensive CDs.

To commemorate the release of this collection of CDs, Ivan Chin has provided the following recollections, giving us great insight into one of the most important acts in the history of Jamaican music.

The band consisted of a rumba box a bamboo saxophone, a Bamboo Flute a Banjo, a guitar, a floor bass guitar with four strings, a maracas and two heavy sticks called clave, which they knock together. All the instruments were made in Jamaica with local wood, bamboo and other things.

Bedasse was the song composer and singer, Williams was the lyrics composer, Williams also played the maracas and sticks as extra duty in the band, the saxophone player played the bamboo sax, and the bamboo flute, Bedasse played his guitar.

Most of my records were sent to Decca in England for mastering and pressing, some were done by the late Ken Khouri of the then Federal Records Ltd., some of my records went to Melodisc and marketed through Kalypso.

The first Chin's 45 Calypsos were produced by Melodisc Kalypso, I recently asked Decca if they still had my recordings, they said yes and offered to re-record them digitally on CDs for me, which they did, and sent them to me. That is why I can now offer them again, after all those years. Many people kept my records as collector's items for years, even now, some older people still have them.
 

When you own a Chin's CD, you own the original, you own a piece of HISTORY. Other CDs have a few Chin's records on them. I have all 64 original recordings on four CDs. These musicians were the real salt of the earth Jamaicans, of the old days. Chin's CDs are different, they tell a story. When you own a Chin's CD, it is like owning a piece of art, you not only get the music, you also get a sense of life in Jamaica in those early days, as depicted by Williams and Bedasse. These CDs are put together by hand, not mass produced, that is why they are special and made to keep. The first records I did were Honeymoon, Rough Rider, Samson and Delilah and Depression. The #1 song on CD 1 is Honeymoon on CD 2 is Rough Rider, CD 3 is Samson and Delilah, and CD 4 is Depression. Williams and Bedasse wrote most of their songs from personal experiences and stories they heard on the streets of Jamaica. I will try to explain about a few of them. Take Rough Rider, there was talk around Town about a Beautiful Woman and her special reputation, so every man wanted to try her out, they all did and failed, so a preacher heard about her special reputation and decided to save her soul, he then met her to save her soul, and after she was finished with him, he ended up singing the Rough Rider Hymn. Take Big Boy and Teacher, in School in Jamaica, in those days, there was always a big boy in School, he was always the tallest but not the brightest, so one day he heard the other children talking about catty. He did not know what Catty was, so he went to his Teacher to find out, what catty was, after a lot of questioning, the Teacher got fed up with him, and said to him, catty is the same old pussy cat you see sleeping on the mat. There is Big Sid, it was the name given to a very big bad cow in Jamaica, and there was a very big and fat woman, people called Pearl Harbour, people looked at her and started calling her Big Sid, she did not like that name at all. So one day she caught a woman who called her Big Sid and gave her two buck in her head, she fell to the ground, the police arrested her, when she went to court the judge asked her why she did it, after she explained to the judge why she did it, the judge admonished and discharged her. Most of the records Williams and Bedasse did were based on things happening in Jamaica at that time, in the years 1955 to 1957. Take this one for instance, Rent Worries, life was very hard in those days, and most people had a very hard time paying their rent, the rooms they rented were in very poor conditions and the Landlords were very ruthless. Williams and Bedasse in True Friendship, tried to explain what TRUE FRIENDSHIP meant, who were good friends and who were bad friends, as they knew them in Jamaica. In song 12 reap what you sow, was one of the rare songs sung by Williams, in this song he is trying to give advise to young girls to be careful, because they will reap what they sow. Bedasse stood aside for this one, I think because Williams was the older grand father type to give this advise. At the end song 16, I Love You So, was done at a time when the world loved waltzes of all types, there were many beautiful waltzes played in dance halls in Jamaica at that time, so I decided to produce one of my own, hence, I Love you so. When we made Honeymoon, there was always a joke about a fellow called Rufus, he was so stupid that they made a lot of jokes about him all the time. He had a girl friend, she had to propose to him to get him to marry her, then on their Honeymoon he did not know what it was all about, when his wife wanted to make love, and made herself nude, Rufus wanted to know why she was nude, she called him to the bed to enjoy their Honeymoon, he brought her a spoon with some honey and told her to look out the window there is the moon. Monkey's Opinion, Williams and Bedasse sat under a coconut tree and either dreaming or imagine a monkey was in the coconut tree, then wrote this song about monkeys, there were no monkeys in Jamaica at that time.

From The Daily Gleaner,  July 3, 1956. A strong roster celebrates Norman Manley's birthday. Along with Chin's Calypso Sextet, Count Lasher, Frats Quintet, Louise Bennett, Sonny Bradshaw, amongst others, are on the bill.  Can someone get me a time machine?

Let's look at some of the songs on CD 3. Take Bra Dog and Bra Puss, in Jamaica there was always a story about these two enemies a dog and a puss (cat). Then look at Peaka Pow, in Jamaica in those days, there were two Chinese Bankers playing Peaka Pow, this song tells the story. Black Market Beef was at a period when everything was scarce, there were shortages of everything, including beef, so people would drive out to the country parts to buy beef on the black market, they used every trick to get the beef into Kingston, this woman in the song pretended to be months pregnant, but it was with beef, not a baby. Calypso Opinion was at a period when the Government wanted to ban our calypsos, saying it was too bad, so Williams and Bedasse tried to defend their position, choose for yourself if you think Chin's calypsos are too bad. Here is a track with a very good beat, Woman Ghost Fool Man, it is about a man who was always complain about women, until one night he saw a tall woman in white, he thought she was beautiful, so he followed her in the dark of night, until they reached a burial ground, (a cemetery), then suddenly the woman disappeared, he was following a Duppy (ghost). Adina -- here is another very nice track with the banjo and sax taking the leading roll with Bedasse crooning. A victim of love, this is a song composed and sung by Williams himself, we felt that he was pining for his wife who left him and hoping she would return, he did not want Bedasse to sing this one, listen to the breaking up of his voice as he sung. Come Back My Darling, Williams composed it, Bedasse sung it, it sounds very much like it had something to do with a victim of love, maybe a follow up, we could not tell what was in his mind.

Three photos from Ivan Chin from the late 1960s   Ivan at work.   The Chin's store on Church Street where the recordings occured. It's 'Old Faithful', the Chin's Store vehicle .

Track 16, I am in love, this was another waltz we produced when waltzes were played all over the world and in dance halls all over Jamaica, it was very nice to see people dancing the waltzes and to listen to the beautiful sound of a waltz.

Please listen to it, and enjoy the wonderful music that was heard, in those wonderful years long ago.

In those days there were no computer for me to use, now I use Easy CD Creator, Adobe Photo Deluxe, a Scanner, a CD Burner a printer and all the other modern attachments on a computer for my CD recordings. What you have here is very unusual, in 1955 I made these recordings with primitive equipment, now in 2004, I am again recording these same songs, with modern equipment, to CDs, almost 50 years apart, yesterday as today, 1955 to almost 2005, AMAZING.

To make it more of an ART, I am putting the CDs together with my own hands, now 2004 as in 1955.  I put the recordings on CD by hand, also printed the labels and put the CDs together, then put them into a ziploc bag to protect the CDs from dust, this CD is hand made and is worth preserving, no mass production here, no big commercial sales pitch, no fancy art work, just CHIN'S CALYPSO, the true recordings are what counts, even with their faults. I will also enclose this history folder [Dan Neely's liner notes] along with the CD in the ziploc container. I found that Williams was the very best calypso composer for that period, and Bedasse was the best calypso song writer, and also a very good singer.  They both work together on each song, line by line, until the words and songs came together in harmony, they were an excellent team. I was very proud of them, The other members of the band were also very good musicians, they got along very well together, there was always peace and laughter at every session during rehearsal and recording.

A different calypso Ivan Chin:   "Man! It's Calypso" by Ivan Chin and His Calypso Band is not the same Ivan Chin and is calypso music, not mento.

I left Jamaica in 1974 to Canada, I am happy that I was able to save all these recordings, they are different from
most other recordings, because most of them tell a short story of life in Jamaica in those early years. Williams and Bedasse felt that their songs were good, because they tell a Jamaican story, 64 of these precious Jamaican music are saved for other generations to enjoy.

In 2005 you will have in your position recordings done 50 years ago, and as an added bonus, the person who did them in 1955 may still be around in 2005. I would like to add  a short bio of myself, which I hope will make these recordings have more meaning to you.

When I was in my early teens, I heard that people could talk hundreds or thousands of miles away and you could hear them in Jamaica, you could also hear music the same way.

I got fascinated with the idea and decided to learn more about it, at that time I did not know anything about Alexander BELL or MARCONI, I heard that the thing that could do all that was called a RADIO.

One day I saw an ad in a news paper which read, LEARN RADIO BY CORRESPONDENCE COURSE. The school was HOLLYWOOD RADIO AND TELEVISION INSTITUTE of California.

I sent for the course, I paid five shillings per week, or one Pound each month from my allowance, of five shillings weekly. The first radios I saw were an ATWATERKENT and a Philco, their shapes were like a Church of those days, with a very small opening in front and a round knob to turn some numbers in the window called a dial.
 

Adds for Chin's Radio Service, including calypso records,  from The Daily Gleaner.   From October 26, 1956.   From September 28, 1956. From October 11, 1956.   From September 29, 1958.   From December 24, 1957.

I learned from the course that a radio needed a long antenna before it could receive a signal to operate. It also needed two poles, with two glass insulators at either end, from which the long wire antenna is strung. In those early days, the only band on the radio was the long wave band, and the only thing we could hear was Spanish language and Spanish music from CUBA. I started my first radio repair business in Montego Bay in 1942, that was during the war years WW2, there were no radio or TV stations in Jamaica at that time, we listened to music on the short wave bands, we had stations like BBC, the Voice Of America and The Armed Forces Radio. In those days there were very memorable songs produced by great composers, I will try to remember some of the songs I enjoyed during those years. Songs like "Via Con Dios", "South of the Border", "Down Argentina Way", "Tennessee Waltz", "Always", "Together", "To Each His Own" and many more very good songs too numerous to mention. I went to New York in October 1946, I never knew what cold was until I felt my first winter and saw my first snow, I went through the winter to March, I survived, I returned to Jamaica March 1947. One of my best experience in New York was going to the Radio City Music Hall, I had never seen a theater so beautiful and the sound was out of this World, the drapes and carpets were so thick, it made the acoustics very outstanding. In Jamaica in the 50s and 60s we had a theater that was also very outstanding called the Carib Theater, for those who are old enough to remember and for those too young to know, let me remind you older ones how wonderful it was and to tell you younger ones that in the old days we had some very good things. When you decide to go to the Carib, you have to dress very neat because everybody else will be in their best, there was behavior standard set for everyone to follow, no fooling around no noise, I even believe there was no smoking allowed. Inside the theater was very elegantly decorated with heavy drapes, very thick carpets and soft plush seats, one of the best part of going to the Carib Theater is to be in your seat before the lights go out. When they gradually dimmed the lights, they lighted the drapes in front of the screen with green and blue colours then they gradually and softly played the most beautiful music you ever heard. LA GOLONDRINA and MELODY OF LOVE. The sound system was the best in Jamaica, it was stereo at it's best, you were wrapped around with the most pleasing sound you ever heard, and they played the sound throughout the show at a very moderate volume, it was a joy to go to the Carib. The sound system was the best Stereo system in Jamaica, you were wrapped around with this wonderful music, and the sound was always at a very moderate level. It was always a joy to go to the Carib in those days. After I returned to Jamaica in March 1947, I moved to Kingston, got married in 1948, started Chin's Radio Service, which developed from One store to Eight.  In those days I used to operate a CB station with the Handle CHB, I made a lot of contacts by skipping across continents. I migrated to Toronto Canada in 1974. I Started A radio and Television repair business called Chin's Radio Television, and Chin's stereo service which I operated until I retired. One of my greatest pleasure in life is fishing, I started fishing from about age nine, I started in a little district called Green Island, I used thread for line and the common pin for hook. When I was growing up I fished in Lucea and Montego Bay, when I moved to Kingston I continued fishing and added bird shooting, which I am doing no more, however, I continued fishing in Kingston then later to Grand Cayman. I received my drivers license at 16 in Lucea, I drove a bread van for my father's bakery. After I moved to Canada I continued going to Cayman twice every year and spent four weeks fishing and swimming. I am going to tell all you rod and reel fisher men that you have not yet experienced real fishing until you fish with a hand line. All my life I fished only with hand lines, I tried rod and reel once or twice but found that winding in fish with that mechanical device is no fun. When you feel a fish at the end of your hand line, that is fishing. In Grand Cayman I do drop fishing at the edge of the deep, usually 16 fathoms, mostly at nights with a light, we use an open boat about 16 ft long and about 4 ft wide, we do not go far out, or in rough seas, we could hear music and cars, in the distance, from homes to the sea is very close.  I use 15lb and 30lb lines, for bait, I use squid or fries, the fishes we caught were dog teeth snappers, mutton snappers, jacks, groupers, grunts and wench man, you Jamaicans know which ones I mean. To feel the pull and run of a good fish is the best sensation a fisher man could have, so you rod and reel fishermen try hand line fishing. There are four CDs, CD 1, CD 2, CD 3, & CD 4. Without CD BABY it would not have been possible to offer these CDs to you. CD BABY allow a new and small producer of CDs, to put them out at very low cost outlay. I highly recommend you to support CD BABY, buy the CDs they sell for the small producers, give them a listening ear. Without CD BABY, those song producers would not have a chance to be heard, because the cost to put one out by the large CD Companies, is so high, that it is beyond the reach of most. I wish to thank Daniel Neely of the New York University for his keen interest and research into the history of Chin's Calypso recordings, and the discovery of photos of Williams Bedasse and I in the archives in Jamaica. We have been in constant e-mail contact.

I also wish to thank Michael Garnice of MentoMusic for his very keen interest and generous contribution to the re-introduction of these Chin's Calypso recordings, Mike has one of the best sites I have discovered, I am also in regular e-mail contact with him.

I also wish to thank Derek Sivers of CD Baby and his entire staff, for their part in getting these recordings to you.


- Ivan S Chin, 2004, Toronto, Canada

Comments about Chin's from Dan Neely, 2004

From the moment I started researching mento music, I have been totally enamored with the songs put out by Chin's Radio Service. Recorded in Kingston between 1955 and 1957, these records were some of the very best of the period and because they were recorded for a strictly local market, they reflect a style of mento (or Jamaican calypso, as its often called) that bears little resemblance to the more sanitized and less risqué versions commonly associated with tourism.  Most of them have not been available since they were pressed in the mid 1950s and consequently most of them are now very, very rare.

These recordings, which range from songs of social commentary, to risqué ballads to traditional folk songs to love songs, is for anyone interested in Jamaican music, its history and its deep roots.  When he made them, Mr. Chin preserved an era of music making that quickly became overshadowed by the international popularity of ska, rock steady and reggae and was nearly forgotten - except by the numerous artists who covered these songs in the decades that passed.  It is indeed fortunate that Mr. Chin has chosen to make these recordings available once again.  They cannot be recommended highly enough.

2005-2008 News

In early 2005, Dan Neely made contact with Alerth Bedasse, who unbeknownst to almost everyone, was still alive and living in Kingston. Alerth was able to provide Dan with information for his research (including the correct spelling of his name: "Alerth", not "Alert" as commonly thought). Dan put him in touch with Ivan Chin, and the two had their first conversation in 47 years. Ivan reports both were overjoyed to speak to one another again. Ivan was able to provide the CDs he produced of Alerth's music to several of his children, who had never heard these recordings. (It was one of these children that linked Dan to Alerth.) In their conversation, Ivan learned that Alerth had, "eleven children, all University graduated".  

In August of 2005, Ivan found enough tracks for a fifth CD! For details see the CD 5 section of this page. Here are some comments from Ivan about this 5th CD, and the reaction to the first 4 CDs:

All the stereo recordings on this CD were experimental. Stereo had just arrived in Jamaica, and at that time we were still recording for 78 records. I bought a Grundig Reel To Reel Stereo Recorder which I used for these stereo recordings.

If you listen carefully to some of these stereo recordings, you may get the feeling that you are looking at these men
moving around on stage during the recording sessions, as you hear the instruments moving around. You may also get the feeling that you were sitting at 48 Church St. looking and listening to the band while the stereo recordings were taking place.

These were very unusual experimental recordings, they were the first stereo recordings of calypsos as we entered the LP period. The stereo recordings on this CD were the last recordings I did with the Chin's Calypso Sextet Band. You now have the beginning and the end of the Chin's Calypso period. We had a little break up session as I said good by to all members of the band and especially Williams and Bedasse. It was a sad time for everyone, because the band was breaking up, there was no work for the band as a complete unit, SKA had just come in and calypso was going out.

Please preserve these recordings for as long as you can, as it may be very difficult to find composers as good as Williams and Bedasse, they were in a class by themselves. Bedasse was the man who put the band together and directed the men, he also composed the melody for each songs with them.

Williams was a very intelligent man and manager of the band, he was also a great talented composer. It will be very difficult to replace them, Williams was a very stabilizing influence for the band. The end of the calypso recordings was June 1957. These CDs will represent all the work done by this group of very talented dedicated men. Sometimes when I listen to these CDs, it is hard to believe that those songs were originally recorded with a recorder that used a metal needle to cut groves into 10 inch disc.

OVER THE YEARS, Chin's Calypsos were enjoyed by many people in Jamaica and other countries, now many younger people are getting to like them. Here are a few comments I have just received:

I almost suffered cardiac arrest when I was informed by my friend, of the existence of four Chin's Calypso CDs, I sent off for them right away, and have played them countless times during the past three weeks.

I still can't believe that I own four such historically important and priceless cultural artifacts. Chin's Calypso Sextet are my favorite Mento Artists.

The musicianship is always first class, and as for those wonderful lyrics! I was told that Mr Bedasse, like yourself, is still in robust health.

I understand that Mr williams passed away a few years ago, I wonder if the incomparable Mr Bedasse would mind if I sought him out the next time I am in Kingston.

Mr Chin you should feel very proud of yourself for playing a prominent part in the creation of such wonderful music, and for making it available to all Jamaican music fanatics, such as myself.

I'm overjoyed to hear that you're still going strong, and thank you immensely for e-mailing me. It's a great honour to be contacted by such an historically important figure in the history of Jamaican music.

First let me say what a great pleasure it is for me to have contact with you, the 5 CD set is without a question one of my favourite collections of music ever.

Not until I discovered the MENTO MUSIC SITE had I ever heard any of Alerth Bedasse's vocals, man he is one slick vocalist. I can only imagine hanging out with those cool Jamaican cats, tearing it up after hours at your shop, that must have been really something.

Listening to the recordings gives me a great feeling of being right there 50+ years ago, I love my red shoes and rough rider but my absolute favourite up to this point is calypso pepperpot.

On that note let me once again express my sincerest gratitude to you for still having the passion to re-release the coolest music I've ever had the pleasure of listening to, CHIN'S CALYPSO SEXTET.

Williams died a few years ago in Montego Bay. Bedasse is 77 years old, alive and well, still living in Kingston. I am also very well at 81, living in Toronto Canada.

- Ivan S Chin, December 2005

In mid-2005, Red Bwoy interviewed both Ivan Chin and Alerth Bedasse for an article to be published in the November 2005 issue of Air Jamaica's in-flight magazine, "Sky Writings".  This article can be read below.

Red Bwoy then hooked up Alerth and Ivan with Mutabaruka. Mutabaruka is best known as the the originator of the dub-poetry style of reggae, recording nine albums. (He also recorded a mento track in 2002, as described elsewhere on this site.) Mutabaruka is also the host of "The Cutting Edge" radio show on Jamaica's Irie FM. In April 2005, by phone, he interviewed Ivan (81) and Alerth (77) separately and together for two hours. Muta interspersed the conversation with select Chin's Calypso Sextet songs. He seemed tickled to be introducing this crucial band to "Jamaicans under the age of 60". At various points throughout this site, I like to point out things that are thought to have originated with ska and reggae that actually started with mento. Here is another example: Alerth and Ivan weren't on the phone together for more than a minute before Alerth complained to Ivan about the flat fee he was paid and the lack of royalties!

This was followed by an article in the October 30, 2005 edition of the The Jamaica Observer, entitled, "Mento Pioneer Alerth Bedasse and the Night Food Controversy". In it, Alerth is interviewed about Willis O. Isaacs, then the minister of Trade and Industry, who criticized the song "Night Food" in Parliament on moral grounds. The article also gives some interesting detail about the earliest days of Alerth and Everard's partnership and a recent picture of Alerth.  The article can be seen on The Jamaica Observer's web site, here.

All the songs on CD1 thru CD5 have been made available for purchase from Apple Computer's iTunes website. That means that the original recordings were made to 78 RPM records by Ivan Chin, copies of which were saved on tape, the tapes then burned to CD, and now ripped from CD into electronic files by Apple for download and play on PC or iPod, or to be re-burned on CD by the purchaser.

Mega-retailer Walmart also is selling downloadable Chin's music at $.88 per track at  http://downloads.walmart.com/swap/. Chances are that other similar services are also doing the same.

In March of 2006, after a hiatus of more than a few decades, Alerth Bedasse returned to performing at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. The Lititz Mento Band was also on the bill, but it is unclear whether they backed Alerth.

In January 2007, almost 44 years since their last meeting, Ivan Chin traveled from his home in Canada to Kingston, Jamaica and spent time with Alerth Bedasse. Ivan informed Alerth that he had copyrighted the songs and is now in working with BMI to collect royalties for him. RedBwoy took them out to eat, and photographed these elder statesmen of Jamaican music. In the third picture, Ivan and Alerth are signing photographs for Mutabaruka!

Sadly, just a few months later, on March 5, 2007 Alerth Bedasse died of a stroke. He was 79.

Dan Neely provided an obituary in the March 18 issue of The Jamaica Observer, as seen here. This article was reprinted in the 2007 annual Bob Marley issue of The Beat magazine.

In June of 2007, Ivan released Chin's CD 6, bringing the track count up to nearly 100 tracks.

Red Bwoy's Article

Suffering a fate familiar to many professional writers, the text of Red Bwoy's excellent article written for the November 2005 issue of "Sky Writings", Air Jamaica's in-flight magazine, has been edited down by about half. With permission from the writer and the publisher, here is the entire text of Red Bwoy's article, along with two photographs he took of Alerth.

"THE LEGENDARY MENTO GROUP - CHIN’S CALYPSO SEXTET", by Red Bwoy

According to Alerth Bedasse, by the end of the 1940s, he and Everard Williams had taken over from the famed “Slim and Slam” as the island’s leading composers, singers and sellers (of the words to such songs) in the capital city. Mr. Williams had been an elementary school teacher who had spent 15 years in Cuba, before returning to Jamaica shortly before they met, while Mr. Bedasse played guitar, sang and lived essentially as a vagabond in downtown Kingston from his late teens.

And that was where they met, when “Radi” needed a guitarist to accompany him in the rendition of the songs that were literally flowing from his pen, to prospective audiences for the song sheets called “tracks” sold during and after such performances. Probably because of his background, and a reputed keen wit, he had a propensity to compose lyrics that, more than almost any other lyricist of the Jamaican mento genre, typically caught the mood and culture of the times. Alerth was the musician, and ultimately band leader, who composed the music (melodies) for these songs and provided lively lead vocals with a distinctly rural flavor. 

In the late 40s / early 50s, excluding Ken Khouri’s Federal Records, Jamaica’s fledgling “recording industry” essentially comprised the largest local representatives for the then leading world manufacturers of such equipment. For example the leading imprints (i.e. producers) of the day were Motta Recording Studio (Stanley Motta), Times (Times Store) and Chin’s Calypso / Mento (Chin’s Radio Service), with smaller electronic equipment (sub-) dealers responsible for additional, mostly inconsistent production. 

So when Williams wrote a song that he thought had commercial appeal based on their live performances of it, he asked Bedasse to put a quintet together for them to record it. Their quintet in place and song rehearsed, the pair approached various producers to record and release it; however, as they tracked through downtown Kingston, one by one, the top labels all refused because they said the song was too rude and suggestive. 

As they were about to give up, someone advised them of a small producer called “Sanford” who had a little electronic shop on Beeston Street that may take the song. He did, gave them eighteen (18) pounds to pay for band and production costs, which they took and arranged recording time at Motta’s on Hanover Street. 

By coincidence, while the quintet was setting up for the recording, Stanley Motta himself came into the studio to advise his staff that word had just been received England had banned Lord Beginner’s calypso “Victory Test Match”, apparently due to its (innocuous) reference to the King! Unfazed, the recording was completed, the acetate die collected and taken to Khouri for it to be sent abroad to cut the stamper, used to press the 78 rpm records. 

The stamper was apparently received on a Friday afternoon and by the following Monday the song, “Night Food”, was literally the talk of the town, and the rest (as they say) is history! In an interview with Ken Khouri shortly before his recent passing he reportedly said that it was the fastest selling record of his time, with sales allowing him to construct the Federal studio at 220 Marcus Garvey Drive!

I really thought that I was wise
‘til a woman mek me realize
That w’out the proper knowledge I was nude
For I did not know what them called night food …

I wonder what them call this night food
I wonder if it is so good
I want a lady tell me why
This night food is so very high

Sadly, a few months after the record was released, and obviously having made a tidy sum from its heavy sales, Sanford the producer quietly closed his shop and disappeared, never to be seen again by Messrs. Williams and Bedasse. It did however place them firmly in the spotlight, resulting in Ivan Chin quickly signing them to an exclusive contract to compose and record two (2) songs every month at an agreed sum.

The quintet was increased to six and the genre’s seminal studio band, Chin’s Calypso Sextet, was born. It should be noted that the mention of “calypso” in its name (rather than the “mento” it played) was directly influenced by the Trinidadian genre’s wider name recognition, particularly within the critical tourist and overseas markets whose less than discerning ears could not differentiate between them.

According to Bedasse, the sextet consisted of him as band leader on guitar, “Cheston” on banjo, either of the duo “Will” and “Ben” on bamboo saxophone, “Peck” (who played on Night Food) and “A N Other” (who played on most of the sextet’s recordings) rumba box, “A N Other” on bamboo flute and Radi Williams on maracas / percussion. It should however be noted that this was very much a studio band that existed solely for and to record under the contract with Chin’s. Indeed, Bedasse does not remember the sextet ever playing “live” in a concert type setting.

The record sales area within Chin’s shop doubled as the recording studio and, as Chin says in his recollections that accompany his recently issued four (4) compact disc set, “All (the) records were recorded by me, in my store, Chin’s Radio Service at 48 Church Street, Kingston … the floor was concrete and the ceiling gypsum. We rehearsed and recorded … at nights after the store was closed.

My recording machine was a cutting needle to cut grooves into 78 rpm 10” vinyl resin discs … LPs were not yet invented. The microphones I used were the large old ribbon types, RCA and Shure, … there were no ceramic or crystal microphones … we were just leaving the gramophone behind, to play 78 record in those early days … you had to wind it up with a crank handle, then put a heavy metal head with a steel needle … on to the record(!).”

The first songs recorded were “Honeymoon”, “Rough Rider”, “Samson and Delilah” and “Depression”, all of which were hits. And, significantly, in addition to the Chin recordings, various top mento artists successfully recorded hits using songs written by Williams, such as the legendary “Ethiopia” by Lord Lebby, almost all of the recordings by Harold Richardson, including “Healin’ in the Balm Yard”, “Country Gal” and “Glamour Gal”, and “Dry Weather House” and “Monkey Talk” by Hubert Porter.

It is said that between 1955-57 at least eighty-four (84) recordings were made for the label under this agreement, most of which were written by the pair, performed by the sextet and with lead vocals sung by Bedasse. The two (2) quadrilles (“1&2” and “3&4”) were based around a chance meeting with Bedasse’s long time friend, from Mocho in Clarendon, and master country fiddler, “Sam”, at the MRS studio. Long considered to represent the very essence of Jamaica’s earliest recorded music history (some suggesting comparisons of importance, if not quantum, with Studio One’s subsequent catalogue), unless you were an avid collector of 78 rpm records, until recently none of these were available to the general public; however, most have now been officially reissued on five (5) compact discs.

The first of these was 2001s “Boogu Yagga Gal” on the relatively obscure UK label Heritage (available from www.ebreggae.com). It is a collection of twenty-two (22) authentic 1950s Jamaican mento recordings that include Night Food and ten (10) Chin’s recordings, with generally good sound quality (particularly for the rudimentary recording environment and equipment used) and excellent liner notes by Richard Noblett.

This was followed by the afore-mentioned four (4) disc set, released in 2004 and simply titled “CD 1”, “CD 2”, “CD 3” and “CD 4” by Chin’s Calypso Sextet on the resurrected Chin’s imprint, these are currently only available from www.cdbaby.com and, as the accompanying “liner notes” with each disc attest, these are individually manufactured by Mr. Chin himself (read burnt on CD-R) from re-recorded masters by London’s Decca, through which they had originally been pressed. But, disregard the crude packaging (zip lock bag and internet printouts for liner notes) and slightly sub-standard audio quality, this is the REAL THING!

Representing the definitive collection of this top mento catalogue (as Ivan Chin confirmed there are no more recordings left to be reissued), it includes songs that have since become Jamaican standards such as “Monkey’s Opinion”, “Big Boy and Teacher”, “Big Sid”, “Boogu Yagga Gal”, “Peaka Pow”, “Night Food Recipe” (the follow-up to Night Food), “Red Tomato”, “Honey Bee” and “Farm Yard Cha Cha”.

If Chin’s production quality draws comparison with the late “Sir Coxsone Dodd”, then the sextet would equate to the former’s resident band, Sound Dimension, and its songwriting team of Williams and Bedasse perhaps mento’s Lennon and McCartney? Whatever, the combination was quite simply incomparable for their time.

With the demise of mento by the early 1960s, following the introduction of “orchestras” with professional instruments (rather than the homemade ones used by the sextet and other classic “rural” bands) and increasing influence of overseas music forms, the partnership of Williams and Bedasse eventually broke up.

The quintessential mento lyricist, Everard Williams, ended up writing jingles for local beverage distributors such as J. Wray and Nephew, and Guinness Stout, and apparently died several years ago in Montego Bay. His erstwhile partner, sextet band leader and a leading vocalist of this genre, Alerth Bedasse, is now 77 and a retired book keeper, having held that position with one of the island’s leading workers’ unions for 34 years.

Now in his 80s, Ivan Chin stopped recording in 1957, eventually migrating to Canada in 1974, where he successfully established and operated a radio and television repair business called Chin’s Radio Television, until his retirement there. After which he seems to have enjoyed himself fishing and bird shooting in the Caribbean.

Both he and Bedasse appear to be completely bemused by the sudden and increasing world attention being paid to their work from fifty years ago. Particularly as both seemed to have long accepted the passing of their musical popularity and had quietly progressed on with their lives.

Several pounds heavier than he looks in the picture from the Daily Gleaner of 1950s, grey and balding, Mas’ Alerth looks to be in good robust health. There always seems to be a twinkle in his eyes when he is discussing a matter close to his heart, particularly his family, being very proud of his wife and thirteen (13) children, eleven (11) of which have successfully completed university, and most of whom now live abroad.

Sitting in his office at the union (he’s had to be retained for various special assignments) watching Mas’ Alerth reading articles on “his” sextet from Michael Garnice’s fantastic genre specific website (www.mentomusic.com) for the first time, including those by Daniel Neely who is the individual probably most responsible for the current resurgence, was an absolute treat! He was ecstatic yet humbled by the apparent worldwide attention … seeing pictures of himself, “Radi” and Mr. Chin, the record labels, comments … it was obviously very moving and invigorating for him.

Bedasse immediately picked up his acoustic guitar and proceeded to play and sing verses from various songs we discussed, ending with a quick lesson for me on the four (4) standard quadrille stanzas plus the optional fifth (did you know this is a.k.a. the “Jingle Bells” rhythm?!?) and sixth!

He hasn’t stopped writing songs over the ensuing years, obviously responding to local and international events that stir his thoughts and creativity, based on the sample he showed me. They included one about 9/11 (America Won), Nelson Mandela’s visit to Jamaica (Sir, We Welcome You) and, of course, jilted love (You Walk Out On Me) as Bedasse is, if anything, an unapologetic romantic.

And, although he never mentioned or alluded to it, … in his animated state, I could see that Mas’ Alerth certainly seemed ready to “tu’n ‘im han’, sing a lickle tune and dance a jig”! Oh, but for a “Ry Cooder” to come, put together and record mento’s own Buena Vista Social Club now, before it’s too late!

Sources:       Interviews with Alerth Bedasse in Jamaica (May 2005);
                    www.mentomusic.com;
                    Recollections of Ivan Chin (2204)

Lyrics from “Night Food” used with kind permission of A. Bedasse / E. Williams (copyright control)

Colby Graham's Interview DVDs

Colby Graham's name may be familiar to you from his blog and his magazine, Vintage Boss. He is a tireless champion of early Jamaican music. To this end, he traveled to Ontario, Canada to interview Ivan Chin and back home to King