Still Giving

When I met and wrote about local Barbadian legend, Cassius Clay, late last year (click here for that article), he swore he was not doing any more free shows. His last free show at Accra Beach in November was poorly attended and he felt unappreciated.

But a new year has a way of putting a fresh face on things, so when I saw him after Christmas, he was all into his plans for a Valentine’s Day concert – another free concert. I met him outside the Main Guard, on the Garrison. He was, ironically, dropping off equipment for a show he was doing with the EGGS band for Veterans. His van was full of large speakers, keyboards, drums and other assorted instruments. He was taking them out of the van and bringing them into the venue – on his own. I offered a hand, the stuff was heavy, although the bigger speakers had wheels.

The Valentine’s concert was all about giving back he said, wanting to thank the people who helped him with his annual Christmas party for children, and to thank Bajans for coming to the aid of Haiti in their crisis. He also just wanted to entertain his friends.

I used the opportunity to ask him about the hit song he is best known for, “Sweeter Than a Sno-Cone”, and about Dragon Spouge, a spouge beat which he is credited with. Without wanting to seem too inquisitive, I also wanted to know – how does a man who does not know how to read or write, get his music recorded? “I give the lyrics to Emile Straker (one of the Merrymen and a friend of Cassius’) and he wrote it down for me. He and a few others backed me up for the recording”, he says. And Dragon spouge? “It had it’s own beat”, he says, “and there was a popular movie at that time called Enter the Dragon – you remember it?” I do. Click on the flash player on the right to listen to Sno-Cone for some echoes of that 1973 film.

He wanted to do a personal invitation for the Valentine's show to hand out to friends, so I offered to run up some simple invitations for him on the computer. Grabbing a pen and a piece of paper, I marvelled as he sat on the edge of his van and recited what he wanted me to write on the invitation, in one fluid attempt, without any hesitation or pauses.

Local Rag "Heat" carried an article on the show

By any measure, the show was a great success. Cassius and EGGS had a wide repertoire of new and old hits ranging from Ray Charles to John Legend, the theme being togetherness and love. Cassius showed his talent as a consummate performer, weaving a story line in between the songs as a lead in to each, and punctuating the act with some quite funny jokes. In the middle of the show, a guy comes on to ask Cassius to play for his love of 15 years (the detail is murky), Cassius handles him masterfully, never getting flustered, and the crowd loves it.



My video unfortunately does not do justice to the show, neither in terms of lighting or sound, but it does give you a taste of it. Although my video sound recording is poor, the sound quality right through the show was very good, provided by Cassius’ own mixing equipment, with a friend to operate it. For me, the highlight of the show was Cassius getting down on his knees, and then lying down on the stage, all the while singing. As he lies onstage, balancing using his right arm, he discreetly shifts the mic into his right hand so that he can gesture with his left, I thought it was masterful.

Poster for upcoming show

Cassius is now preparing for another show, this time at the Plantation Garden Theatre on Sunday 2nd May. This show is not free, he has had to pay for the space and he hopes also to be able to pay the performers, as for himself, he is philosophical about whether he will get anything personally from it. He's just come from the senior games (an over 50s athletics meet)last weekend, and gave away several tickets to the medallists.

At $25 a ticket, it is sure to be value for money (I have tickets for anyone who might be interested).

Raining Down

In the space of a week how things can change. This time the serious dry season really seems to have been broken in Barbados, with heavy showers over the past 2 weeks. The plants have taken their cue from this change, none more so than the Mahogany trees encircling Spice of Life.

All of a sudden the mahogany leaves and pods have begun to fall like rain.  Every gust of wind brings hundreds of leaves down, you can hear them pattering onto the galvanised roof, they enter the house through any open space and spread throughout the rooms.

The leaves collect in sheltered spaces, like outside the laundry door...

Some trees are bare already, with only the empty pods on show, others have already sprouted new leaves.

The seeds pods lie on the ground, some still unbroken.

The seeds themselves are a master of nature's engineering, designed to drift far, they rotate in the breeze supported by long 'wings'.  As a child we would throw bunches up into the air to see them 'helicopter' down...

All this in a week.