The calypso king of the world wept in Barbados Wednesday as he was regaled on his arrival.
Entering the island three days before his grand show at the Gymnasium tomorrow night, Sparrow met longtime friend and local nine-time kaiso king Gabby, along with Minister of Culture Stephen Lashley and calypso tent manager Eleanor Rice at the Grantley Adams International Airport, and was overcome with emotion.
As Rice recalled backing him as a vocalist and being serenaded by him on guitar in another airport, she said it was most fitting that after the Birdie’s recovery from a stroke that he should be honoured in this, the 40th year of Crop Over.
Tears trickled down Sparrow’s cheeks as she related getting his contact information from a friend who had gone to Trinidad Carnival: “I was sitting in the car and I said ‘let me call right now’ and when I did he answered.”
Minister Lashley also noted that Barbadians had been praying for the man hailed worldwide as the greatest calypsonian ever.
Said Lashley: “His presence here is certainly an act of the Almighty. We know that the Mighty Sparrow was in a precarious medical situation, and I can tell him that all of Barbados was praying for his recovery. His being able to come to Barbados and perform for us is something that I believe we’ve been holding our breath for.”
Lashley added that the opportunity for Sparrow to grace the local stage coincides with his desire for integration of Caribbean music and interaction with pioneers of the region’s rich musical exploration.
It was Gabby, however, who first brought an aura of deep emotion to the welcome of Sparrow in the airport’s Grace Adams Suite, as he embraced the bard and excitedly shouted “Spee” but then was at a loss for words in trying to express how glad he was to have the Birdie back on his feet again.
“This man has done so much for calypso and for me personally . . . I sat down in his house . . . he and Margaret cooked for me and looked after me, and he took me everywhere,” Gabby said, noting the unsurpassed grace and brilliance of his mentor.
“We who are close to him call him Spee and when I saw Spee just now, it was emotional. There’s nothing wrong with his voice; he still has the most brilliant voice in calypso, and I appeal to all people to come out and give him the support that he so truly deserves,” Gabby added.
Sparrow, the husband of a Barbadian and father of four, said he was overjoyed to be back here after so many years and was equally delighted to know that his iconic 1967 song, Education, is still rendered in local schools today.
“In my day there was no TV to distract me so I just had to follow the teachings and enjoy what I saw in the books and like it more than food . . . . I am so happy to know that song didn’t fall on deaf ears but that people understood, recognised and loved it, and could smile and dance to it if they wanted to,” Sparrow told journalists.
The “serenader supreme” who in his words, “made ladies daydream and young girls scream”, also introduced his arranger and trumpeter Errol Ince and promised to treat Bajans to the best of his hits, including Jean And Dinah.
Of his recovery, he laughed and jokingly admitted to a bit of memory loss, and went on to describe modern soca as being based on only “one chord” which many seemed to enjoy nonetheless.
“In my days you couldn’t come with that! Am I saying that they’re wrong? If I was getting the response they get from their supporters, I might have done the same thing,” he stated.
Tomorrow’s show, hosted by Rice and the All Stars calypso tent, will be held under the patronage of Central Bank Governor Dr Delisle Worrell and his wife Monica Drayton-Worrell.