Errol S. Peru

Errol S. Peru (b. May 4, 1951), the most well known and successful calypso and soca music promoter in Trinidad and Tobago, is a much sought-out manager for many calypsonians such as Gypsy (Winston Peters), Lord Relator (Willard Harris), Sugar Aloes (Michael Osuana), Cro Cro (Weston Rawlins) and many others. He worked with Lord Kitchener (Aldwyn Roberts) for over twelve years. He is also the head of The Errol Peru Artiste Management Association of Trinidad & Tobago and co-owner of the record label R.A.P.E Productions.

Overview

Errol Peru has worked with the best calypsonians to date such as Lord Kitchener, The Mighty Sparrow, Black Stalin, Shadow, Ras Shorty I, Sugar Aloes, Singing Sandra, Rikki Jai, Denyse Plummer, Chalkdust and many others. He has done significant work within the Caribbean region with Calypsonians like Arrow and Alison Hinds. He has done work with Rupee, Machel Montano, and Shurwayne Winchester.

Early aspects

Errol Peru was born in St. James, Trinidad and Tobago in 1951. He is the last of eight siblings of Ackbour and Ameena Peru née Williams. It is said Peru was born with an everlasting melody in his head. He would recite tune after tune with accompanying melodies and lyrics of every vogue calypso at the time. With an ever-loving passion for music, he would dictate verses and choruses too long and unimaginable for anyone his age to recall.

With admiration for such calypsonians as Lord Beginner, Lord Kitchener, Mighty Sparrow, Tiger, Growler and Attila the Hun, he followed their careers and every move they made within the musical arena.

He attended St. James Primary Boys' School and then moved on to The John Donaldson Technical Institute where he pursued Commercial Artistry. He was offered a job at the advertising agency McCann Erickson. It was there that Peru capitalized on the use of advertising and show business. He made numerous connections within the entertainment industry by booking musical and cultural greats for advertising campaigns and radio spots. It was through these ventures he helped build a name for himself within the musical and production fraternity. He has done campaigns with Growling Tiger and Kitchener.

Mid-career

His involvement in calypso started in 1960, when he met the late Lord Brinner with whom he conversed about calypso and its origin. During the following years he started to follow other calypsonians such as Lord Kitchener, Mighty Sparrow, Lord Shorty, Lord Melody, Chalkdust, Relator, Black Stalin, Valentino and Gypsy. It was in 1970 when he met Relator, Black Stalin and Valentino, he decided to start an association where he and a number of talented calypsonians began The People’s Calypso Court, a calypso workshop set up to assist young calypsonians in the art of writing and composing. They also produced many successful calypso concerts.

In 1979 he worked with Black Stalin, helping him secure the Calypso Monarch title of that year. With the knowledge he gained over the years working with these artists, he ventured into the managerial aspect of the business, such as promoting shows. In 1980 he became Lord Relator’s manager and saw him through successfully into the finals of the monarch competition, where he won the Monarch. During the following years, Peru produced concerts such as Nostalgia with Relator which sold out audiences at the Holiday Inn and the Spectacular Forum. He then went on to become Gypsy’s manager, assisting him in copping Calypso King of the World title in Barbados and later the Calypso Monarch title in Trinidad, plus many Extempo monarchs. Errol also produced Gypsy in his Royal Performance Concert which sold out every night at the Spectacular Forum. It must be noted also that he contributed significantly to the success of Baron’s Concert being one of the promoters at the same venue.

It was when he became Lord Kitchener’s manager in 1993 that this experience gave him a wealth of familiarity in the field of calypso. Lord Kitchener and the Roberts family revered Peru as their loyal family friend and viewed him as Kitchener's "buddy". Errol was the individual who initiated the honoring of Lord Kitchener when he arranged and executed the unveiling of the grand statue of Kitchener in Port of Spain and later in Arima.

Peru formed a committee in 1994 which was responsible for the construction of the statue of Lord Kitchener. He fondly recollected:

Peru's tribute to the King of Calypso is apposite, considering the amount of violence in the world today. "At a time when our country is filled with so much that is ugly, it is nice to know that we have Lord Kitchener to look up to as a living legend of creativity, excellence and humility." Trinidad honoured its man of street music in 1994 by putting his face on a postage stamp.

Main involvement in the Arts

Peru, who managed Kitchener for over 12 years, noted that Kitchener had won ten Road Marches and his songs have won 18 Panoramas, that to date have been unparalleled. He also pointed out that Kitchener never released a song that did not have a sense of completion to it. His songs were always smooth and without blemish. Errol also said that he calls for more respect to be given to the nation's calypsonians, composers and others involved in art and culture. Errol stated on the Community Dateline television show with Allyson Hennessy that, unlike any other calypsonian, Kitch would compose songs to forget them - because in order to come up with fresh material he needed to purge the old ones out of his system. Sometimes, said Errol, if he had recorded a song and was going to have to sing it somewhere, he would have to get the material back and play it for Kitchener so he could re-learn the words.

Through all these different ventures that Peru experienced throughout his career, he also took it upon himself to occasionally be the Executive Producer of his clients music due to the immense amount of time he would spend in the studio writing and mixing music with them.

In 1998, upon Ms. Nicole Nathaniel’s (Nickie Crosby) request, he agreed to manage her career in the entertainment business. This will include her live performances and as well as radio, TV and newspaper contracts for various products. With such a venture he decided to initiate his own calypso tent. However, the angle of the tent was pursued as a humorous calypso tent where comedy and performance skits were the focus. He enlisted such comedy greats as Sprangalang, John Agitation, Learie Joseph, Tommy Joseph, Damian Melville, and Beulah. With sold-out crowds every night during the carnival season, Yangatang was heavily patronized and deemed to be very successful and the top Tent for the carnival season. Shortly after, litigation rights arose between Peru, Nickie Crosby and Errol Fabien when ownerships issues of the tent were brought forth. A court battle ensued and the name Yangatang was restored to Peru.

Peru also worked with the Prime Minister’s Secretary in contracting artists when required for government’s cultural shows, such as visiting dignitaries including his Royal Highness, Prince Phillip on his recent visit to Trinidad. In addition to this, he also helped organize a charity dinner for underprivileged children for His Royal Highness, Prince Andrew on his private visit to Barbados in January 2000.

In addition to honoring Lord Kitchener, Peru had bestowed upon Mighty Sparrow the same veneration when in July 2001 he unveiled a full size statue of the Mighty Sparrow on The St. Ann’s Roundabout in Trinidad. Sculpted by the renowned Indian based artist and rock sculptor Madan Gopaul, the statue created a lot of controversy about the resemblance to the King of calypso as well as the location chose for the semblance. Peru sated that, “There would always be critics who would voice their opinion on the statue but you must let them be, the voice of the people is the voice of God.”

In 2007, Errol decided that there was need for a restoration project to clean up Lord Kitchener's statue. "I have been observing it over a period of time and saw that the statue needed cleaning," Peru said. "Carnival and the ICC World Cup tournament are upcoming. For those events tourists would be in the country, so we wanted the statue to look its best."

Peru is presently working with Kitchener's wife Valerie and son Kernel Roberts in restoring Rain "O" Rama Palace, the onetime residence of Lord Kitchener, and turning the building into a cultural museum reflecting Kitch's work and accolades throughout his career. He continues to be involved in the music industry where he prefers to consult and coach artists on the origins and cultural background of calypso. As he enjoys retirement now, he is commonly known as “Uncle Peru” and works a lot with upcoming artists who he guides and mentors to start them out in the industry.