Francisco, Slinger "The Mighty Sparrow"

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Francisco, Slinger "The Mighty Sparrow"

July 9, 1935

Slinger Francisco, called "The Mighty Sparrow," is an internationally recognized calypsonian, one of the very few known by both his real name and his sobriquet. He has repeatedly filled some of the largest world venues, including New York City's Madison Square Garden. He is an eleven-time Trinidad and Tobago Calypso Monarch and an eight-time Trinidad and Tobago Carnival Road March Competition winner.

Sparrow was born in the small fishing village of Gran Roi, Grenada, in 1935 and migrated with his family to Trinidad when he was one. At the Newtown Boys' School in Port-of-Spain, Sparrow was head choirboy, singing baritone and tenor in Gregorian chants and classic hymns in Latin. At the age of twenty, he ventured into calypso, drawing inspiration from Lord Melody, Lord Invader (the original singer of the famed "Rum and Coca-Cola"), Lord Kitchener, and others. Sparrow taught himself to play the guitar and studied the composition styles of the reigning calypsonians of the 1950s to work out where he wanted the art form to go. Although he has admitted to working with writers and arrangers at times, he has composed a great deal of his own music. In 1954 he first performed his own work at a calypso tent on South Quay, Port-of-Spain, performing "The Parrot and the Monkey" under the sobriquet Little Sparrow. The release of "Jean and Dinah," a song protesting the behavior of the Americans stationed at Trinidad's military bases during World War II, earned him the title Calypso King at the 1956 Dimanche Gras show, the annual exhibition show for calypsonians on the night before the opening of carnival. With this, Sparrow became a star.

Sparrow's contributions to the development of the carnival festivities in Trinidad and Tobago are unprecedented. His 1957 song "Carnival Boycott" protested the Trinidad and Tobago government's failed attempts at promoting calypso and carnival. As a result of the developments set in motion by the song, the Carnival Development Committee was created in 1958, and it has gone on to support Calypsonians, steel bands, mas (the actual carnival parade itself, shortened from the word "masquerade"), and other crucial elements of the Trinidad and Tobago carnival. In 1958, for the first time, a calypsonian had a triple win in the Road March Competition: The three most popular songs played in the streets of Trinidad and Tobago during carnival Monday and Tuesday were The Mighty Sparrow's.

In the tradition of calypso, many of The Mighty Sparrow's songs are social commentary, including his 1962 "Federation," which lamented the break-up of the proposed Caribbean Federation. His musical aims have been to amuse, uplift, and poke fun at the people of the Caribbean, and his long career is a testament to his ability to keep his calypsos fresh and relevant.

See also Calypso