Indeed, the Angel Harps Steel Orchestra; the
Wharf Band; the Harps; the Sweetest Band in the Land; whatever name you choose to use, has
a long and interesting history. But where do we begin the story that is the legend of the
Harps?
The
Early Years - The Sixties
The history of Angel Harps Steel Orchestra
dates way back to 1965 when the members of the "Teensville Steel Orchestra" led
by Charles Moses, Arthur Coard, and Walter 'Dictator' Thomas, joined together with the
"Troubadours Steel Orchestra" which was led by George
Croney and included the Boyke brothers Lester & Cosley and Anthony 'Tony
Poo'
Mitchell. Thus the Harps that we know today was born and George Croney is credited with
naming the newborn orchestra as the Angel Harps. George Croney, who had spent some time in
Trinidad was the new band's leader and arranger. Another Steelband from the community, the
Harp Tones under Maudsley Parkes later joined forces with the Harps.
At first, the group practiced in the area
known as the "Cocoa" adjacent to Mr. Hico's residence before moving into the
"Coals Market" on the Carenage in the late sixties. The Carenage Fish Market now
sits on the spot that was used as the pan tent. It is also around that time that the
steelband slowly started gaining acceptance in society; certainly there was much less
harrassment from the Police and a lot of young faces began showing up at the pan tent to
listen to the band.
But just like any infant, and like most other
fledgling steelbands, the group soon ran into its own dose of troubles. George Croney
migrated to the USA and Lester Boyke became the new leader. With George Croney's departure
the band had not lost only it's leader, but also its arranger and tuner. George Croney was
all of that and more, an extremely talented pan player. What happened then has happened
again and again through the history of the Harps; someone stepped up and filled the void
resulting from Croney's departure, well almost. Lester Boyke now became both the leader
and arranger for the Harps. For a tuner though, the band turned to Wilfred
"Harro" Harris, a young tuner from Mt. Moritz who would later go on to make a
name for himself in the pan tuning business. Just around that time too, some of the tuning
or 'touching up' of the pans was done by "Brother Broff".
Within a couple years, the Harps gained
prominence as a very talented Steel Orchestra. This prominence was further enhanced by
another first by Angel Harps; when in 1968, the Harps became the first Grenadian steelband
to have pans prepared by a tuner from Trinidad. It was more luck than anything, but such
are the opportunities that when taken, create history. One Sunday, in the summer of 68,
while some of the band members were playing around in the pan house, a quiet unassuming
young man appeared in the pan tent.
He introduced himself to Lester as 'Gay' and
asked whether he could be allowed to tune one of the drums that was sitting in the pan
yard. Lester Boyke was very reluctant since this guy was a just passing stranger but
nonetheless told him to go ahead. As it turned out, Lloyd Gay was a top tuner from
Trinidad vacationing in Grenada and had done work for some of the top bands in Trinidad
including Guinness Cavaliers from San Fernando. Gay's work earned him the job as Angel
Harps new tuner thus beginning a revolution in sound of Grenada pan.
With a new, quality sound in place, the band
now began a search for an arranger with a 'formal' knowledge of music. Up to that time,
neither George Croney nor Lester Boyke, the band's former and present arrangers, had any
formal musical training. They were just two naturally gifted and talented pannists and
musicians simply stepping up to become musical arrangers. This transformation from pannist
to arranger continues even today and is at the root of the development of the art form in
Grenada. The vast majority of pan arrangers in Grenada today have come through the same
process without having had the benefit of a formal musical education.
The search for an accomplished arranger led
Lester Boyke, in 1969, to approach a young musician from the community by the name of
Ronald 'Mitchie' Bain and seek his assistance. Mitchie promptly accepted the offer and
started working with the Harps in September of 1969 in preparation for the Pan Festival
held in December that year. The test piece was 'The Holy City' and the selected pieces
were the 'Gold and Silver Waltz' and a popular calypso.
With some of the top players at the time like
Cosley Boyke, Walter 'Dictator' Thomas, Clevoy 'Depo' Depradine on tenors, Winston
'Magga'
Cummings and 'Jet' Flavigny on cellos, David 'Nesta Boy' Alexander on double seconds, and
Willard "Kalarki" Boyke on double tenor, the Harps captured first place in both
the Band and Solo categories of the competition. Cosley Boyke and 'Dictator' placed first
and second respectively in the ping-pong Solo competition. Needless to say, the Harps
swept all before them.
In January 1970, as preparations for Panorama
began (Grenada's carnival was at that time held on the two days before the Lenten Season),
the Harps decided to thread where no other band had gone before. Inspired by the Police
Band playing a classical march, Lester decided that the band would attempt the march, but
in calypso tempo. After approaching Mitchie with his decision, the young arranger brought
"Sons of the Brave" fused with "Picadilly".
With all the players of the triumphant 1969
team in place, the Harps added 'Ming' on Rhythm, (basically a set of cymbals with a crash
- drum-sets were unheard of in those days) and 'Pinky' Chase on Steel, the Harps crashed
Queens Park and swept away all before them.
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The
Seventies - a new era.
1970 saw the departure of Mitchie. He
migrated to the United States to further his musical career with the US Army leaving the
way open for James Clarkson, a member of the Royal Grenada Police Force Band, to become
the band's formal arranger.
This was indeed a new era. With the musical
talents of James "Wakax" Clarkson, the new sound of the instruments and the
outstanding talent of the pannists the Harps went about setting the standard for pan as
the decade of the seventies began. The Harps were indeed, the band. Not one sports event
took place without the Harps at Queens Park. The boys were in high demand. To play in the
Harps you had to be able to play, you had to be good. Clarkson recalls that one of
the things that stand out vividly in his mind from that era was the skill and discipline
of the players.
He recalls this story; the band was
practicing a number of classical pieces in December 1972 for some concert performances
with the Royal Grenada Police Force Band. A few days before the first of the scheduled
concerts was to take place, Clarkson discovered a major problem. The Harps instruments
were not tuned in Concert C but instead tuned in C#. This meant that the Police Band, were
practicing in Concert C, and the Harps were playing in a different key, a half tone above.
After relating the problem to the players, Clarkson still expresses wonder at the shock he
got the next day when he went to the panyard and the guys told him 'don't worry, we fixed
it up'. They had spent the entire previous night working out the music in the new keys.
Entry into the Harps was a difficult thing
for any young boy at this time. With the Harps being the only functioning steelband from
the community the conditions were ripe for the formation of another steelband. It was in
this period that the Panasonic Steel Orchestra came into being. Given birth by people like
Gordon "Monarchy" Bain, Trevor "Father" Emmanuel, the band rose to
prominence in George Street, next to the lime factory and within a stone’s throw of
the Coals Market, where the Harps were located.
In 1972, the impossible happened. The
upstart Panasonic, appearing in their first and only Panorama competition beat all and
sundry, Harps included, to run away with the Championship. The Harps that year blamed
their inconsistent rhythm section for the loss. The very next year, with the migration of
a number of the original members of the Harps, the members of Panasonic merged with the
Harps.
In 1973, under the musical directorship of
Clarkson, the band produced its first recording "Brighter out of Darkness"
recorded in Barbados, won the National Panorama competiton, and then lost Clarkson when he
left to study music abroad.
With Clarkson’s departure, a young
prodigy by the name of Michael "Boose" Cyrus took over the arranging
responsibilities for the band. Michael had started playing pan at a very tender age and
was the first to start the CokeBox Brigade (small players who have to stand on a Coca Cola
crate to reach the pan). For a brief period prior to this people like Arthur Coard and
Jeffrey Japal did a bit of arranging for the band.
The band also moved into Tanteen, to the
location it occupies to this day vacating the Coals Market for construction of the
Carenage Fish Market which stands on the spot today.
The captaincy of the band also changed around
in the decade of the seventies mainly due to migration of band members. Lester gave way to
Speck Mecks who gave way to Cosley Boyke; to Arthur Coard, Clevoy 'Depo' Depradine,
Colville "Kamau" Mc Barnette, and Wilbur "Williby" Thomas.
In 1978, under the captaincy of
"Kamau" McBarnette, the band produced its second recording "As
Prescribed" at the KH Studios in Port of Spain. The musical arrangers on this album
were Michael Cyrus, Trevor Emmanuel and Keith Rougier.
1978 also saw the Band's return to the
Panorama Championships after a four-year absence, having last appeared in the competition
in 1973 when they were winners. The Harps placed second to Guinness City Symphony led by
Kenneth ‘Teloti’ Hodd but it was an impressive debut for young arranger Michael
"Boose" Cyrus whose two arrangements of Kitchener's Pan in the 21st Century and
Sparrow's Doo Doo Yay Me (Natasha), signalled the emergence of a very talented young man
with a far way to go. However, with the Revolution taking the Island by storm in March
1979 and the subsequent lean years that followed for the band, prevented the Harps from
competing in Panorama until 1983.
The Peoples Revolution of 1979 saw the band
begin another struggle in its existence when quite a number of players left to become
members of the new Revolutionary Government and Armed Forces. The band also toured Cuba as
part of the Grenada contingent for Carifesta Cuba 1979. And the migration of leading
players to North America continued. It was in that period that the captaincy of the band
went to Wilbur "Williby" Thomas, a younger brother of Walter
"Dictator" Thomas.
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The
Eighties, climbing higher
The beginning of the 1980's saw the Harps
struggling to remain in existence, as its membership depleted to a mere nucleus. The band
now depended solely on the ‘Tourist Boat’ engagements to survive financially.
The sponsorship secured from Phoenix Cigarettes in 1977 lasted only until 1979 and the
band was once again unsponsored as the decade of the 80's beckoned.
To provide some form of motivation to the
remaining members and to establish some sort of purpose the band produced their third
record album, "We Kinda Zess". The musical arrangements were done by Michael
"Boose" Cyrus and was recorded at the Grenville Studios of Don Charles.
In 1984, the band changed leadership. Michael
Cyrus became the new Captain with Leroy "Malu" Stephen as the Vice Captain. The
fact that Angel Harps existed in 1984 was due mainly to the untiring and unceasing efforts
of the previous Captain, Wilbur Thomas who sought and succeeded in maintaining continuity
during the period 1979-1984. With this change in captaincy, came a complete change in the
leadership structure of the band. Up until now the leadership of the band had consisted of
a Captain and Vice Captain.
1984 saw the introduction of Manager, Carlyle
Roberts, and Secretary/Treasurer David Seales, as well as Team members representing the
various sections of the orchestra. The Management Team was made up of 8 persons instead of
two. This marked one of and probably the most successful periods (decade) for the
steelband. Between 1984-1993, the Harps simply returned to where they belonged, right at
the top.
Two things that contributed significantly in
the Harps return to prime time happened that year; James Clarkson, who had been out of the
State for a long period, returned to Grenada. Orlando Thomas and Ulric Fraser, soon to
depart for North America, re-introduced the Junior/Learners Programme.
In Clarkson, the Harps regained their
musically qualified composer, arranger and musician who would take the Harps' Music to new
heights, establishing a sound of harmony with a heavy jazz influence, that is today unique
to the Harps in Grenada. By 1990, the orchestra could produce a band of 80 plus members to
play at Panorama, many of them having come through the Junior and Learners programme.
The Harps returned to competition in 1983,
placing second in the 1983 Panorama Championships with "Rebecca" arranged by
Michael Cyrus. It was the first time that the band had entered Panorama with the
requirement of playing one tune. The practice of having to play two tunes for Panorama had
ended a few years before.
The next year, 1984, the Harps were back in
Champions row playing "Tourist Elsie" arranged by Michael Cyrus and James
Clarkson. Later that year, in conjunction with Regan Nedd and the choir "A Group of
Us", the band produced the highly successful "An Evening with Handel". This
was a classical concert mixing steel and voices, which was staged over two nights at the
St. Joseph's Convent in St. George's. The response was so tremendous that the band
repeated the show in 1986 and this led to the recording of the band's fourth musical
album, Serenade, in early 1987.
In 1985, the Harps notched their second
Championship in as many years when they won the Panorama competition playing "Pan in
Danger" arranged by James Clarkson. This was to be the last time that the Harps
appeared in Panorama playing a "foreign" (in this case, a Trinidad) calypso. In
1986, "Cant stop the Angels" a James Clarkson composition and arrangement with
lyrics by Carlyle Roberts saw the Harps begin what is now their normal panorama
presentation, their own tune.
If ever there was a 'thing' about a name,
then there was something with "Cant Stop the Angels". Looking to register their
third consecutive panorama championship, the 'unstoppable' Harps ran into a brick wall.
They finished last (6th), the judges and most of the audience at Queens Park claiming not
to have heard the band but instead a "lot of noise". The microphone for the PA
system had been left on at the back of the band, highlighting the rythym section and
drowning out the sound of the band until someone turned it off in the last two minutes of
the presentation. Sabotage, the fans cried... but this only served to strengthen the
resolve of the Harps for 1987. Certainly for those members performing that night, the
sound from within the band was as good as the best practice session and the general
feeling was the band had performed well enough to win. This is also the year that the
Harps' music took on a distinctly jazzy flavour.
After the debacle of 1986, the band engaged a
new tuner, "Herman Guppy "Brown". The Harps returned to Panorama with a
bang winning in style with "Who Mad" composed and arranged by James Clarkson,
with lyrics by Carlyle Roberts and sung by Llewellyn "Baila" Archibald, all
members of the Harps. 1987 also saw the beginning of another change in the Harps, their
instruments having been in tuned in C# was now changed to Concert C resulting in a 'softer
sweeter' tone for the band. 1988 and 1989 saw the Harps finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively
in Panorama before once again grabbing the Championship in 1990 with ‘Soca
Jump’.
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The Nineties - off with a bang and finishing the
century with a flourish..
The decade of the 90's began with the Harps
returning to Championship form with a winning performance of Soca Jump, composed by James
Clarkson and lyrics and vocals by Ajamu. This was followed up in 1991 with "Pan in
Tokyo" again composed and arranged by Clarkson with lyrics and vocals by the Ajamu.
Looking for the elusive three consecutive wins in 1992, the band placed second with
"Indian Bell Ringer" before bouncing back in 1993 with "Tenor Madness"
again composed by Clarkson and with lyrics by Ajamu.
Something significant to the future success
of the Harps happened in 1991. It was the formation of the Junior Band. The Learners
Programme which was introduced in 1984 usually had good responses with several players
graduating to the senior band every year. Usually though, the age group would be mainly
teenagers and youths. Then behold in 1991, so many kids responded to the Learners
Programme that they were enough to form a complete band on their own. What was more, the
majority of them were between the ages of 7 and 12 years old. What was also encouraging
about this was the amount of support that parents were giving their children to come out
and play pan. It was the beginning of a change both in Angel Harps and in steelband in
general where the majority of players would soon be the youths.
The junior band was initially developed by
Roger "Jarzie" Depradine but he soon left for the USA early in 1992. The
responsibility of teaching and developing the young players now fell to Carlyle Roberts.
In 1992, playing in the first ever Junior Panorama competition, NCB performed creditably
to place second behind the experienced Clarks Court Pan Lovers. The tune played that year
was a Carlyle Roberts composition and arrangement of "We Panorama". In 1993,
they won the semi-finals, the first time that a semi-finals had been held, by a big margin
but had to settle for second place in the finals again to Pan Lovers. Angel Harps Juniors
played an Edwin "Eggies" Thompson composition "Shake It" arranged by
Carlyle Roberts, while Pan Lovers played "Indian Bell Ringer" a tune composed by
James Clarkson which he arranged for the senior band that year. The Junior Band though,
was developing all the while, getting better and better - they were playing together
during the year, getting tunes and making appearances with the senior band at open air
concert engagements. By 1993, the first of those junior players would start graduating
into the senior band.
In 1994, Roberts had to leave the country
because of work commitments and the responsibility for the Junior Band now went to Andy
Chichester, a young arranger who had been previously arranging for the Anglican High
School band. That year, playing an Andy Chichester composition and arrangement, they again
placed second, this time to Grentel Commancheros.
In all, the period between 1984-1993 saw the
Harps chalk up 6 Championships, place second on two occasions, third once and last one.
Quite a run! The band also staged two successful classical concerts during this time and
recorded Serenade. The band moved from a membership of approximately 30 persons in 1984 to
over 100 in 1993, mainly as a result of the influx of the young players who had been
nurtured in the Junior Programme.
In 1994 and in 1995 the Harps placed second,
in both instances losing by one point. They also placed second again in 1996. The Junior
band though, were successful in 1995 and 1996, winning the Junior Panorama competition
with "We Coming Back" and "Back to Back" respectively, tunes composed
by Carlyle Roberts and arranged by Andy Chichester. This was indeed sweet revenge for the
young pannists as they had come second the preceeding three successive years. There was no
panorama in 1997 and the band completed a very successful tour of Barbados in 1998 for
that island’s Congaline Festival.
The three year period between 1994 and 1996
saw the Harps establish another first. It was the first time in the band’s history
that they had competed in three successive panorama competitions without a win. Panorama
1998 was therefore one of the bigger challenges facing the band. The Junior Band, having
won the last two junior panorama competitions in 1995 and 1996 were looking to repeat and
become the first Junior band to win a hattrick of panorama championships and the Senior
band were just looking to be back in Champions row. And as if the pressure was not enough,
Panorama was scheduled for the Tanteen Netball complex, in other words, right in the Harps
back yard, just about two hundred yards from the Pan Tent. And the Harps had the added
weight on their shoulders of not being beaten in their own back yard.
Playing a Carlyle Roberts composition
"Heart and Soul of Pan" arranged by Andy Chichester, the Junior Band created
history by winning the Junior Panorama Competition for the third consecutive year,
becoming the first Junior Band to achieve this distinction thus putting pressure on the
Senior band to match their achievement.
And did the senior band respond! NCB Angel
Harps entered the Netball Complex for Panorama 1998 with a reputation to defend, a mission
to achieve and a card up their sleeves. Playing on the Complex would not be the same as
playing at Queens Park. For one, the surface at the venue was pitched and was completely
surrounded by concrete walls. This would no doubt impact on the sound of the band as the
sound would rfeflect off the ground and the walls resulting in a rather noisy sound. The
Harps knew this, and this was the advantage they had going into Panorama 1998
Playing "Pan is Beautiful", a James
Clarkson composition, with lyrics by Ajamu, the Harps returned to winners row edging out
Coca Cola Pan Wizards to win the senior panorama championship thus becoming only the
second band (after Commancheros in 1994) to win both the Junior and Senior Panorama
Championships in the same year.
Panorama 1999 was held in Tanteen and saw the
Harps entering Panorama for the last time in the 20th century. And what a way
to end the century! The previous December (1998), the band learned of the death of George
Croney in the USA. For Junior Panorama 99, the band played a Carlyle Roberts composition
entitled "George", a tribute to George Croney. With arrangements again by Andy
Chichester, the Harps were runaway winners, setting another record in the process, four
consecutive Junior panorama victories.
The senior band recorded their third
back-to-back victory playing a classic James Clarkson composition and arrangement of Major
Minor Pan Talk with lyrics done by the Ajamu.
With the 20th century coming to an
end, the Harps once again reestablished themselves as the band to beat in Grenada. For a
band that is synonymous with the steelband culture, that is an institution in pan, that is
the oldest band in the land and with the most panorama championships, there was certainly
no better way to end the 20th century. And the 21st century beckons.
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This brief history was put together by C
R Roberts with contributions from David Seales, "Mitchie" Bain, and all the
other persons to whom I spoke to in trying to reconstruct the history of the Harps. I know
that there are gaps and information relating especially to the early years of the Harps
will be most appreciated.
C R Roberts, October, 1999.
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