Creole serious about humourPublished: Sun, 2011-04-03 22:59
Michelle Loubon
http://www.guardian.co.tt/michelle-loubon/2011/04/02/creole-serious-about-humour
C2k11 Humorous Monarch Wilfred Barker, fondly known as Young Creole, copped the title with Shave Me Barber Man at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain, on Terrific Thursday.“There’s a brown girl in the ring. Tra-la-la-la-la. Show me your motion.” It’s one of the popular sing-songs schoolchildren enjoy. Veteran kaisonian Wilfred Barker, 74, boasted he, too, could “show his motion.” This time, the venue wasn’t a school’s courtyard. Recreating the atmosphere of a barber shop, Barker emerged victorious in the finals of the Humorous competition at Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain, on Carnival Thursday. Fondly known as Young Creole, Barker sang Shave Me Barber Man. His closest rivals were Mr Mac and Daz.
Among those celebrating were his Kaiso Karavan family, his mother Dorothy Walcott, 92, and his nephew soca artiste Keith Sutherland (Ajala). As though it were yesterday, Barker said: “I only timing dem and the music start. If you see your boy walk out in style. In high heels. I had the grand stand upside down. I show them the motion. “I start to sing and and shave the hair off ah meh two knees. I lift up my foot and I make up a kind of dance. The crowd went wild,” added Barker. No stranger to the stage, Barker knew it was no easy task to get people to laugh. Barker relied upon a triad—costuming, props and the element of surprise. He also thanked Brazil resident Judy Betancourt for her input into his showmanship.
The Bogey ManThe action unfolded by the “pole in the hole.” It steadied the barber shop sign etched in silver letters. Barker said: “My barber wore a white coat. Shaving cream and machine. The girl who was supporting me wore a skirt. Hair can’t grow out of pants. She wore a skirt.” Coupled with his high heels, Barker donned a wig and earrings. Making a couyon mouth, he said: “They don’t know what I have below yet. Is then they see the short mini skirt and then the top I had on. I start to sing Shave Me Barber Man. They were in awe at how I could dance in those shoes. If you see that potion of motion. Barker even remembered when he belted out Bogey Man at the Kaiso Karavan. Again, he used the simple but effective prop of an umbrella casing. His creativity extended beyond melody and lyrics.
He said: “I took the casing from the umbrella. I squeezed up some gazette paper. I make it look it big, nice and hard.... If you see the big slice on my leg. “When I split my coat, people thought it was the real ting. Dey used to be running when I open up my coat on stage. Here comes the Bogey Man.” Barker noted an intense nexus must exist between his song and its presentation. “If I am singing about a mango tree, they must be sure to see me performing a julie mango tree.” On a more serious note, Barker said he preferred the genre of humour. Barker said: “I leave politics to Aloes and Cro Cro. When people sit down to hear me, they must fall off the chair or run to the loo. You can’t sit down there comfortably when I singing. I does have you shake up. Humour is not easy. I not easy. It does come from inside my mind and belly.”
Barker’s beginningsQuizzed on his sobriquet Young Creole, Barker said: “I copied the name from Young Killa. I met him with Spoiler and Popo. Killa was a nice fella.” Although he was a painter by trade, Barker clung to his love of the art form. “I never gave my painting. I does climb real heights...scaffolding. I have no fear of falling. I don’t study about age. I first held a paintbrush in 1961. My father (Carlton Barker) showed me some skills I had to develop.” Growing up, Barker’s prized possession was a mouth organ. He said: “I started to sing when I heard Kitch (Aldwyn Roberts) darling come go to bed/I have a fine comb to scratch your head. I loved that song and I played it on my mouth organ.” In the ’50s, he continued paying keen attention to Roberts’ Road Marches. Then Sparrow (Slinger Francisco) came in and changed the whole atmosphere.
During that period, he frequented a club in Nelson Street—owned by Spike. “I would go there and practise my calypso.” The first recording was Doh Jealous Dem. It was a hit in October 1961. “It went right through for the Christmas season. I sang it at the L-shaped Ice House on Abercromby Street.” Before the advent of technology, he depended upon Watap’s impeccable memory. Barker said: “He played a mean sax. Just hum your chorus and he would sing it out. I never get nobody else, so again we rehearsed with music sheets.” On the heels of that gem were You Can’t Bribe the Voting Machine and School Girls.
Barker gets recorded Due to the proliferation of studios, recording is as easy as Michael Jackson’s ABC. But recording was one of the milestones in Barker’s career—thanks to K Christopher. He said: “In 1960, I sang under the Big Bamboo tent with Skipper Waldorf in Park Street. It was owned by Syrians (Fakoory and Tai Wong). K Christopher came in the tent (1961) and heard me singing at Edward Street. “He recorded me a little lower down Nelson Street. Art De Couteaux was the music writer. At that time, it was about $600.” Barker said: “It was a small round record...a 45. They put on about five tunes. I still have some of the more sentimental songs like Brook Benton...Sitting On The Dock of the Bay.” He felt like a king since his music was being played on the juke box. Barker said: “It was playing on the juke box. You could put in a 25-cent piece and get three tunes..even songs like Nat King Cole.” People were buying his song like hot hops. “You could buy a leaflet with the calypso name and learn the words. It could have four verses. If you liked it you could go to Charlotte Street and pay ten cents.”
Savannah in 1962 Another milestone in Barker’s career was making it to the Big Yard. He said: “Sparrow took the crown from Dougla. Nap Hepburn, Lord Cristo and I was fourth with Doh Jealous Dem. The semifinal was at the Naparima Bowl...graveyard of calypso. Anytime you pass a calypso show in the semifinal, you would be a giant. You escape crookstick.” He remembered getting the princely sum of $400. “It was a lot of money in those days.” He gave his grandmother Martha Smart $100. She purchased a singer hand machine. He met the likes of Spoiler, Radio, Tiger, Small Island Pride and Invader. To date, Barker taps into his impeccable memory and shares interesting vignettes about their decorum and debonair dressing. “I have Power, Sparrow and Surpriser left,” he mused.
