An integral part of the life of someone involved in the arts is the recognition or attention that comes from the public reacting to the particular area of the artist’s work. Indeed, that response is ultimately the main barometer one can use to determine how the artist is embraced by the society he/she inhabits. Of course, a big factor in the span of the artist’s appeal frequently has to do with his/her involvement with the popular forms of the day, so that someone starting out in music, for example, is likely to achieve success more quickly by concentrating on those popular forms and for the ground-breaking or highly innovative artist, working outside those accepted forms can make for some very lean times.
The creative process, in general, is a somewhat mysterious thing – different artists will give you different explanations, but from the various means of communication we have, particularly in recent times, the creator soon knows if he/she is on the right track; the feedback is usually precise and indeed, for the performing artist, it is virtually immediate. An example of this for me was an early experience in music, after I had migrated to Toronto, where I entered the CBC-TV Cross Canada Songwriting Competition with a mushy love ballad entitled OVER YOU. I can’t give you any high-flown explanation of the why behind that decision. No one encouraged it or advised it or helped with it. It was just something I did on a whim, I suppose – a West Dem country boy, sorting out my life outside and “tryin a ting”. As it turned out, there were 1,800 other writers, also “tryin a ting”, and I suspect if I had known that I would have backed out, but I sent off my cassette recording for the judges, and three weeks later I learned OVER YOU was one of the 10 final songs chosen. Two weeks after that, on a chilly Sunday afternoon, I stood on the stage of an auditorium in Toronto as the winner of the competition. It brings me to tears writing about it. I don’t remember much detail about the day – I was in a mild state of shock.
I mention that early episode – this was in mid-1967 – as (a) the first accolade that came to me from music and (b) something that arrived out of the blue; I had sent the song off and had almost completely forgotten about it. I haven’t talked much about this incident before, but I mention it now because the surprise part of it landed on me again recently, 52 years later, with the Lifetime Achievement Award given to me in recent days by the Guyana Caribbean Association of New York in their annual awards presentation. The difference, this time, is that I knew the GCA Award was coming – Professor Vibert Cam-bridge, boss man of the organisation, had email-ed me with the news; the surprise, however, was to come in the following days after news of the award spread and it came from comments on Facebook, references in the media, some propelled by Francis Farrier, email messages, and even phone calls. The reactions came from all over the map, and in the Caribbean from St. Maarten down to Grenada and all points in between. The Lifetime Achievement award is the most prestigious the GCA delivers, and I do not exaggerate when I say I was overwhelmed by the response from the public. Previous commitments prevented me from going to New York to accept it but I sent a video of thanks in which I took time to thank the various musicians over the years – Glen Sorzano, Kelvin Ceballo, Joe Brown, Clive Rosteing, Brian Anderson, Terry Dyal, Jeff Japal, Harry Cupid, Richard Terry, as well as our Tradewinds representatives Vic Fernandes, Barbados; the late Bobby Clarke, St. Lucia; Peter Michael, Antigua; the late Bob Dubourcq, St. Maarten; Ellis Chow Lin On, Trinidad; Stilly Fraser, St. Vincent, Raymond “Chinny” Lee-Own, Toronto; and the late Freddy Abdool, Guyana.
Part of the impulse in writing this piece is to repeat my thanks to the GCA and to my long-time compay Vibert Cambridge, but also to convey my heartfelt appreciation to the flood of persons, stretching from Toronto to our South Savannah, who took time to send congrats or “howdy” or “well done” or similar sentiments. The response to the award bowled me over. I was both elevated and humbled by it, and several of the notes left me in tears. A man in Grand Cayman, for instance, who clearly knows my work, sent me a message of thanks that I will keep and turn back to the next time life has me feeling low; that has been the measure of this experience. I will also remember the comment from journalist Francis Farrier about the reaction in New York at the Lifetime Achievement award presentation when he reported: “The applause at the end may have been heard way across the Caribbean Sea.”
Thanks to God for putting in me whatever was put to do what I do, and my heart goes out to all these Caribbean people I have come to know over the years, from the Virgin Islands to the bottom of Guyana. You have made me a part of your life – the GCA Award is actually vivid evidence of that – and you are in my heart forever. From the man in Giftland Mall hugging me up for a selfie and almost breaking my foot, to the young woman in Grenada who pulled down her blouse for my signature, to the man in Parika who could barely get the words out speaking to me, thank you. You have no idea how much you have filled up my life.
Thanks GCA.
