Lord Creator

Lord Creator (born Kentrick Patrick, circa 1940, San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago) is a calypso and ska artist.

Career

He started as a calypso singer under the stage name Lord Creator, and moved to Jamaica in the late 1950s. There he recorded his first hit, "Evening News", in 1959 with Fitz Vaughan Bryan's big band. In 1962, he recorded "Independent Jamaica", which became the official song marking Jamaica’s independence from the British Empire on 6 August 1962. That song was also the first record on Chris Blackwell’s newly founded Island Records label in the United Kingdom (Island 001). In 1963, "Don't Stay Out Late", produced by Vincent Chin, became a huge hit in Jamaica.

In 1964, he had a further hit with "Big Bamboo", produced by Coxsone Dodd with Tommy McCook on saxophone. After "Little Princess" in 1964, he recorded a calypso album, "Jamaica Time", on Studio One. It included calypso classics like "Jamaica Farewell" and "Yellowbird", as well as a cover of Bob Dylan's "Blowing in the Wind". His next album, "Big Bamboo", was recorded at Dynamic Studios sometime after 1969, when the studio was established by Byron Lee. Carlton Lee is listed as the producer.

Creator’s biggest hit was "Kingston Town", a tune he recorded for producer Clancy Eccles in 1970Fact|date=April 2008. After that, Lord Creator virtually disappeared from the Jamaican music scene, although in 1976, he still recorded "Big Pussy Sally", a no-holding-back, free-spirited song which was done on the same tape as reggae diva Fay Bennett's equally lewd and light-hearted "Big Cocky Wally" for legendary producer Lee 'Scratch' Perry in the Black Ark studio. Both songs were released on two separate Island Records singles in the UK, both on the back side accompanied by two different and ferocious Upsetter dubs. In 1978 Creator returned to the Black Ark to re-record his 1969 song, "Such is Life" there, this time in a seminal Upsetter mix. In 1989, the British band UB40 recorded a cover version of "Kingston Town".

There is a story that after this, Eccles saw Creator, who had become homeless and destitute, on a Kingston street. When Eccles called out to him, Creator fled thinking Eccles had come to collect $30 he owed him. Eccles chased him down and told him UB40 had recorded "Kingston Town" and that Creator had earned substantial royalties. Creator also did a slightly faster version of this song, where the word 'Kingston' is replaced by 'Babylon'. With the money he earned in royalties, Creator revitalized his life and career. He appeared in oldies shows in Jamaica, and even toured Japan.

References

External links

* [http://www.johnnyspencer.info/imagetexts12/dontstayoutlateLC.htm "Don't Stay Out Late" article]
* [http://www.johnnyspencer.info/imagetexts13/kingstontownLC.htm "Kingston Town" article]
* [http://scholar.library.miami.edu/anthurium/volume_3/issue_2/funk-inthebattle.htm In the Battle for Emergent Independence: Calypsos of Decolonization, by Ray Funk]