Sunday 15 July 2007

*Mr Robinson and Lock Joint* (Mighty Sparrow)

You know how some song titles in your record collection might stick in your mind for some very good reason?. Remembered mostly by perhaps where you were and who you were with or some similar occasion when you decided you loved the tune and just had to buy that record.

Since becoming a Sparrow fan 40 years ago I have always been in the position of really needing to find some "missing" Sparrow tune or other, not that I knew in those early days just how many titles I was missing. The 60s/70s being the pre computer age and with very sparse calypso hard print references available either, did make researching the subject difficult to study from here in the U.K.. The collecting of any Mighty Sparrow information as well as the actual records did become a bit of an obsession with me, certainly harmless but one which I seem to be over now. That`s not to say I`m not still interested in the subject, there are still a few Sparrow titles that are a mystery to me. They are listed in my Mighty Sparrow AZ catalogue as titles requiring further information. (Perhaps a later post for that).


So to *Mr Robinson and Lock Joint*. My wife Theresa and I were in Trinidad on holiday in 1979 and staying with our niece in Petit Valley, Diego Martin. One day she walked us up the road saying she would show us Sparrow`s Hideaway. All a surprise to me as I had no idea Sparrow`s Hideaway and home was just 1/4 mile from us. As luck would have it the great man just happened to be standing right there at the entrance talking to some local youths. Seeing us, me at least looking the tourist, he beckoned us in off the road for a chat. Of course I had to bring up the calypso subject and mentioned that I`d heard of the title *Mr Robinson and Lock Joint* and not only had I not got the record but that I had never ever heard it being played. The intriguing title had puzzled me for years and I was most anxious to learn the story behind this calypso and somewhat foolishly asked Sparrow if he could remember it. Well, I should have know better.....of course he did!.

At this point Sparrow put his arm around us and proceeded with an impromptu rendition right there and then on his doorstep. It was in this unique setting that I learnt about those Robinson/Lock Joint events that had inspired Sparrow to compose his 1964 calypso. Is it any wonder that this title in particular remains an outstanding memory for us?



THE OUTCAST - NATIONAL NLP 4199
*Mr Robinson and Lock Joint*

Port of Spain got sewerage scheme
Well it`s now here clean (Repeat)
Lock Joint are picking up all the waste
From your place
And that`s the case
I think it is a job of class,
The only dirty place now is the Labasse

Let me tell you!

Chorus
I believe in sanitation, it is a good thing
But Mr Robinson and Lock Joint
Only pulling and tugging
You see you got to buy food,
You got to eat good
Before Lock Joint get something
But the taxman so fierce,
The food getting scarce
Them pipe go live on wind.


The big big pipes that does carry plenty load
Down Mucurapo road
Well the only impression that I got
St James people does eat a lot
Diego Martin ain`t making fun
With some good size one,
Just like in town
But Belmont and Laventille
Have the smallest switch pipe I ever see

Whey you talking?

The people they got in Belmont also Laventille
Can`t supply Lock Joint with nothing
In a quantity
You see they got to buy food,
They got to eat good
Before Lock Joint get something
But the taxman so fierce
The food getting scarce
Them pipe going to live on wind.


All through the city is big hole
Motor car lost control
Man you bumping up
Like your riding on a camel
Dust block up your nostril
In New York you know about
Instant coffee instant tea
For when you`re in a hurry
But its down here the case is blood
Every instant you inhale its instant mud.

Have you ever seen a cowboy
Lassoing cattle
Kerchief round his nose through the dust
That was some people
If you ain`t sneezing
It`s then you stifling
You fighting to stay healthy
Lock Joint is good for us
But please keep down the dust
Them pipes going to stay empty

Dungarees and khaki is the thing
That is all people wearing
Executives and men who out on strike
Toute monde dress alike
When the wind blows for miles around
All through town
Every building down
You working hard
You getting it complete
But to know if it working we got to eat

Whey you talking?

I believe in sanitation, it is a good thing
Mr Robinson and Lock Joint
Only pulling and tugging
You see you got to buy food
You got to eat good
Before Lock Joint get something
But the taxman so fierce
The food getting scarce
Them pipe going to live on wind.

Sparrow`s 581 different titles are listed :-
http://www.grenadamusic.demon.co.uk/


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