Irving Louis Burgie (July 28, 1924 – November 29, 2019), sometimes known professionally as Lord Burgess, was an American musician and songwriter, regarded as one of the greatest composers of

Caribbean music Caribbean music genres are very diverse. They are each synthesis of African, European, Asian and Indigenous influences, largely created by descendants of African enslaved people (see Afro-Caribbean music), along with contributions from other c ...

."Irving Burgie", ''Songwriters Hall of Fame''
Retrieved 2 December 2019 He composed 34 songs for

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte ( ; born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte ...

, including eight of the 11 songs on the Belafonte album '' Calypso'' (1956), the first album of any kind to sell one million copies. Burgie also wrote the lyrics of the

National Anthem of Barbados "In Plenty and In Time of Need" is the national anthem of the country of Barbados. It was written by Irving Burgie and was composed by C. Van Roland Edwards. As one part of the West Indies Federation from 1958 to 1962, Barbados' anthem was suppo ...

. To date, songs penned by Irving Burgie have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide.

Biography

Burgie was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. His mother was from

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

and his father was from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. Burgie joined the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and served in

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, where he started playing guitar and singing. After the war, he studied at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

, and met

in 1950.Biography by Bruce Eder
''Allmusic.com''. Retrieved December 1, 2019. Using the name Lord Burgess, he began singing and playing guitar in New York City clubs, developing a repertoire based around songs from the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

that he had learned as a child or collected in visits to the area. After he performed as Lord Burgess in the

Village Vanguard The Village Vanguard is a jazz club at Seventh Avenue South in Greenwich Village, New York City. The club was opened on February 22, 1935, by Max Gordon. Originally, the club presented folk music and beat poetry, but it became primarily a jaz ...

in 1954, and released an album, ''Lord Burgess' Calypso Serenaders'' (aka ''Folk Songs of Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad'') on

Stinson Records Stinson Records was an American record label formed by Herbert Harris and Irving Prosky in 1939, initially to market, in the US, recordings made in the Soviet Union. Between the 1940s and 1960s, it mainly issued recordings of American folk and b ...

, a mutual friend, William Attaway, suggested that Burgie write songs for Belafonte. Burgie and Attaway wrote a version of the lyrics for the "

Day-O (The Banana Boat Song) "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" is a traditional Jamaican folk song. The song has mento influences, but it is commonly classified as an example of the better known calypso music. It is a call and response work song, from the point of view ...

" for the ''

Colgate Comedy Hour ''The Colgate Comedy Hour'' is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show featured many notable comedians and entertainers of the era as guest stars. Many of the scripts of the series ...

'', and it was then recorded by Belafonte for

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

. This is the recording that is by far the best known to listeners today, as it reached number five on the ''Billboard'' charts in 1957 and later became his

signature song A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...

. Burgie and Attaway composed eight of the songs on Belafonte's 1956 album '' Calypso'', including "Day-O"' and "

Jamaica Farewell "Jamaica Farewell" is a Jamaican-style folk song (mento). The lyrics for the song were written by Lord Burgess ( Irving Burgie), an American-born, half- Barbadian songwriter. It is about the beauties of the West Indian Islands. Harry Belafont ...

". "Day-O" was a traditional Jamaican song that was sung by dock workers who worked throughout the night loading bananas onto ships. Belafonte's version used lyrics adapted by Burgie and Attaway, though Belafonte is also credited. Burgie later described "Day-O" as "a song about struggle, about black people in a colonized life doing the most grueling work", saying "a lot of my work is based on songs and ditties that I've heard in the Caribbean". The song "Jamaica Farewell" was later recorded by

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (December 25, 1946 – September 1, 2023) was an American singer-songwriter, author, and businessman. He was known for his tropical rock sound and persona, which often portrayed a lifestyle described as "island escapis ...

Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Billboard Hot 100, top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation (song), Anticipatio ...

, and others. Belafonte recorded other songs written by Burgie, including " Island in the Sun", one of ten Burgie compositions on his 1957 album '' Belafonte Sings of the Caribbean''. Burgie also wrote eight of the twelve tracks on Belafonte's 1961 album '' Jump Up Calypso'', and also wrote "Can't Cross Over", and co-wrote "Goin' Down Jordan", on Belafonte's 1977 album '' Turn the World Around''. Burgie set up his own publishing company. By the late 1950s, he was able to live comfortably off the

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset or ...

he received, and in 1960 he funded a magazine in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

, ''The Urbanite''. He also helped finance

civil rights activists Civil may refer to: *Civility, orderly behavior and politeness *Civic virtue, the cultivation of habits important for the success of a society *Civil (journalism) ''The Colorado Sun'' is an online news outlet based in Denver, Colorado. It lau ...

. He wrote the music and lyrics for the 1963

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

musical ''Ballad for Bimshire'' and also co-wrote the book with

Loften Mitchell James Loften Mitchell (April 15, 1919 – May 14, 2001) was an American playwright and theatre historian who was part of the black American theatre movement of the 1960s. Life and career Mitchell was born in Columbus, North Carolina, to an Af ...

. The show opened at the Mayfair Theater on October 15 and ran for 74 performances. Burgie also wrote the lyrics for the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

, "

In Plenty and In Time of Need "In Plenty and In Time of Need" is the national anthem of the country of Barbados. It was written by Irving Burgie and was composed by C. Van Roland Edwards. As one part of the West Indies Federation from 1958 to 1962, Barbados' anthem was suppos ...

", adopted in 1966 at the time of the island's independence. Burgie performed rarely after his initial success, but did appear in the early 1980s at venues including

Gerde's Folk City Gerdes Folk City, sometimes spelled Gerde's Folk City, was a music venue in the West Village of Manhattan in New York City. Initially opened by owner Mike Porco as a restaurant called Gerdes, it eventually began to present occasional incidental m ...

. In 1996, the album ''Island in the Sun: The Songs of Irving Burgie'' was released, followed by ''The Father of Modern Calypso'' in 2003. He was inducted into the

Songwriters Hall of Fame The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work represent and maintain the heri ...

in 2007. His life story was recorded in the book ''Day-O!!! The Autobiography of Irving Burgie'' (2007). Burgie died on November 29, 2019, at the age of 95, from heart failure, at his home in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, New York.Jon Kalish
"Irving Burgie, Songwriter Who Helped Bring Calypso To America, Dies At 95"
''NPR'', November 30, 2019. His death was announced by Barbados' Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley at the nation’s Independence Day Parade.

Discography

*''Lord Burgess' Calypso Serenaders - Folk Songs of Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad'' (Stinson SLP 62, 1954) *''Ballad For Bimshire. A New Musical of Barbados'' (

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

AM 48002, 1963) *''Lord Burgess and his Sun Islanders - Calypso Go Go'' ( Buddah BDS 5005, 1967) *''Lord Burgess Rides Again'' (Cherry Lane CLR-1-1984, 1984) *''Island in the Sun: The Songs of Irving Burgie'' (Angel 52222, 1996) *''The Father Of Modern Calypso'' (VLT-15170, 2003)Irving Burgie – ''The Father of Modern Calypso'' album page
Valley Entertainment.

References

External links

Irving Burgie
at the Internet Off Broadway Database * * as Irving Burgess * as Irving Burgie {{DEFAULTSORT:Burgess, Lord American people of Barbadian descent 1924 births 2019 deaths American expatriates in China American expatriates in India American expatriates in Myanmar Juilliard School alumni Military personnel from New York City Musicians from Brooklyn National anthem writers Songwriters from New York (state) United States Army personnel of World War II Writers from Brooklyn