Lord Kitchener

The grand master of Calypso.

Timeline of Lord Kithener's Life:

• 1922 - Born in Arima, Trinidad and Tobago as Aldwyn Roberts.
• 1936 - Became an orphan at the age of 14. Dropped out of school and became a full-time musician.
• 1938-42 - Won the Arima borough council's calypso competition five times.
• 1943 - Moved to Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Joined the Roving Brigade. Was given the name, Lord Kitchener, by fellow calypsonian, Growling Tiger. Was known familarly as, "Kitch".
• 1946 - Won his very first official Road March title with the catchy calypso, "Jump in the Line".
• 1947-8 - Toured Jamaica for six months with Lord Beginner (Egbert Moore) and Lord Woodbine (Harold Phillips).
• 1948 - Took passage on the Empire Windrush to England. Performed the specially-written song "London Is the Place for Me" on arrival.
• 1950-9 - Helped calypso achieve international success by building a large following in the United Kingdom, opening a nightclub in Manchester, and performing in the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
• 1962 - Returned to Trinidad. Began to dominate local calypso competitions with another influential calypsonian, the Mighty Sparrow.
• 1963-76 - Won the Road March title 10 times.
• 1975 - Won his only Calypso King title with "Tribute to Spree Simon".
• 1977 - Saw the potential of the soca phenomena of the late 70's. Recorded his most commercially successful song, "Sugar Bum Bum". Continued recording and producing albums, while nuturing younger and upcoming talent.
• 1999 - Delivered his final album, "Vintage Kitch". Retired after being diagnosed with bone marrow cancer.
• 2000 - Died at the age of 77 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Buried in Arima, Trinidad and Tobago.

Please also check out this 30-miniute BBC documentary - Kitch! or Lord Kitchener's biography

Information sourced from Wikipedia. Collated by calebjwales. Posted on 2020-Dec-28. Last Updated in January 2021.