Page last revised: 6/10/2012

Background The Hiltonaires were named for Kingston's Hilton Hotel, where they were the house band. Though not necessarily the best mento group ever recorded, The Hiltonaires  may have been the most prolific, recording six LPs during mento's middle period. They also toured North America, playing such cities as Miami, New Orleans, Atlanta, Dallas and Houston, as well as destinations in Canada. Nearly all of the songs on their six touristy LPs

are popular selections from the mento repertoire. Many appear on more than one Hiltonaires LP, though they are different renditions. The Hiltonaires utilized a number of lead singers across these LPs, including one un-credited lead singer mento and reggae fans already know.

As this autographed sample attests to, the musicians son the "Seven Bells" album are: Neville Chambers - banjo (and group leader) Lionel Davis - guitar Oswald Jackson - maracas and vocals Lawrence Christie - Rumba box "and is also a useful vocalist"

Big Bamboo LPs and CD

"Big Bamboo" is The Hiltonaires' most popular LP. It features classic rural instrumentation, including what sounds like a bamboo saxophone (though only a regular sax is ever pictured on an LP jacket) and sometimes augmented with a little electric guitar. In 2001, I found a CD version of this 1966 release in Manley airport in Kingston. Not surprisingly, the CD has better sound quality than my old LP. As middle period LPs go, this one is fairly easy to find inexpensively at used-record stores, on-line dealers and on eBay. But which version will you wind up with?

Here's my LP on WIRL. It
has the following 8 tracks:

1. Yellow Bird
2. My Pussin'
3. Island In The Sun
4. Mary Ann
5. Big Bamboo
6. Chinese Baby
7. Matilda
8. Shame and Scandal

Here's the CD version, on Sonic Sounds, which I found
at Manley Airport in Kingston.
 It adds 4 tracks to the above:

         1. Island Woman
         2. Jamaica Farwell
         3. Wings of a Dove
         4. Going Back To See Her

Courtesy of Steve Brentford
of the Netherlands, here is a
version of the LP on the Coxsone label. It has the 12 tracks found on the CD, but substitutes "Seven Bells" for "My Pussin'".

Again, courtesy of 
Steve Brentford,
here are two
more versions of
the "Big Bamboo" LP.
To the left is a version
on the Hilary label.
On the right is an
alternate version
on the WIRL label.
Each have the same
tracks as on the
CD, above.

(Incidentally, though very much part of the mento repertoire, "Big Bamboo" was originally a 1952 hit for Trinidadian calypso star Duke of Iron.) 

My favorite Hiltonaires song comes from (every variation of) the Big Bamboo LP. Although some of the terminology heard in "Chinese Baby" is politically incorrect by today's standards, you have to feel for the singer, who is black, as is his girl who keeps producing Chinese babies. This is a popular theme that continued into the reggae era. The Hiltonaires recorded this track more than once, as it also appears on Seven Bells and on Ska-Motion In Ska-Lip-So. But the version on Big Bamboo is my favorite rendition of my favorite Hiltonaires track. Here is a sound clip of Chinese Baby. [Click here for notes About the Audio Clips On this Site.]

Other LPs

"The Best Of The Hiltonaires", on the Coxsone label, is not a collection of tracks from their other LPs, but a new set of tracks. It includes "Nobody's Business" and "Archie", both of which were covered by Peter Tosh, as discussed on the Wailers page. Also included is a cover of Toots And The Maytals "Bam Bam", with the addition of trap drums and organ to the rural instruments. Check out the little banjo-ukulele on the front cover!

Yet again, courtesy of Steve Brentford, here are three more Hiltonaires LPs. These are a little harder to find than Big Bamboo, but as mento records go, not very difficult or expensive to acquire.
 

Hold 'Im Joe

Meet Me In Jamaica with Sunshine

Seven Bells

The cover promises "Calypso - Ska - Mento", but the music is really mento, even if a couple of tracks have electric guitar playing a ska chop and a few more have something of a calypso beat. Two singers share lead vocals duties. An email from Robert Sterle of

Neville Chambers - leader & banjo player
Lionel Davis - guitar
Oswald Jackson - maracas and vocalist
Lawrence Christie - Rumba box and also a 

"Wings Like A Dove"

        backed with

"Ethiopia"

"Obeah Wedding" (covering Mighty Sparrow's Trinidadian hit)
        backed with

"Take It Easy"

See also...

The track "Jamaica", from "Meet Me In Jamaica with Sunshine", was included in the 2004 compilation, "Trojan Jamaica Box Set". "Island In The Sun" and a version of "Chinese Baby" are included in the 2006 the CD compilation "Dip And Fall Back