The best Calypso records are local, low-fi productions straight from Jamaica, the Bahamas, Trinidad, or other Caribbean islands.
Talk about home made! Check out Lord Antics: this album cover is made from plain green paper, folded and held together with masking tape. Instead of cover slicks, the cover picture and track list are glued on. Not just the cover, but the vinyl itself is pretty crappy, like most of the original records from the legendary Dynamic Sounds studio in Kingston, JA.
Lord Antics actually plays in the country Mento style. Believe it or not, this record is from 1970... I had always figured if for 1960 or so! Included here are versions of several "dirty Calypso" classics:
Lord Antics & the Lyons Band: "Sixty Nine"
Lord Antics & the Lyons Band: "Big Bamboo"
Lord Antics & the Lyons Band: "Sell The Pussy"
And one of his own:
Lord Antics & the Lyons Band: "Fork She Garden"
Here's another, far more polished version by Lord Creator from Trinidad:
Lord Creator: "Big Bamboo"
...and another standard:
Lord Creator: "Bang Bang Lulu"
And finally, a version of "Sell The Pussy" by Junior Jennings And the Humble And the Meek from the Caymans:
Junior Jennings: "Sell the Pussy"
With the obvious entendre of "big bamboo", I've always thought it quite amusing that the Houston Astros' Minute Maid Park has a faux-tiki bar called "Larry's Big Bamboo". I hadn't realized that this bar was named after a cool-sounding joint in Florida, which burned down recently.
