That revelation
was made by discographer
Elizabeth Watson, who is also
the librarian at the University
of the West Indies (UWI), Cave
Hill, during a panel discussion
on the topic Dr Bird And Me, a
tribute to the Mighty Sparrow at
the Village Gate, Waterford, on
Tuesday night.
Watson told the
modest crowd that she was doing
a thesis on the work of Jackie
Opel and she was forced to
purchase one of his 45s from a
seller in Germany and there were
a number of collectors in Japan
who were in possession of Opel’s
work.
“We are
quickly approaching the 50th
anniversary of Jackie Opel’s
death and if his family or
someone in Barbados does not
re-register his work then those
persons in other countries can
go and register the work and
claim royalties from the work,”
Watson said.
Watson
supported the information put
forward by chairman of COSCAP
Foundation and former Government
minister Glyne Murray that a
seller in New York had offered
the Government a large
collection of Opel’s work for
US$60 000. Watson indicated that
she had visited the seller’s
warehouse and she had made
copies of the work for archival
and research purposes at UWI.
“Unfortunately, we cannot
digitalise or copy what we have
as the original owner in New
York is the legitimate owner of
the property,” Watson said.
That
discussion evolved from Watson
praising the business acumen of
Sparrow, who through his
millennium series had retained
the right to reproduce his work
although he had previously sold
his classics.
“Sparrow has
reproduced many of his classics,
he has modernised their tunes
and he can now sell and claim
royalties from the reproduced
products making them accessible
to the public although he lost
the rights to the originals,”
Watson explained.
The audience
was given greater insight into
the man Sparrow by Watson,
Murray and other panellists,
Mike Sealy, the Mighty Gabby and
Rudy Boyce who at times in the
past lived and worked with
Sparrow.
Gabby, Boyce
and Sealy also spoke of
Sparrow’s passion for detail and
perfection in his dress,
presentations and music. Former
chairman of the National
Cultural Foundation Anthony
Waldrond and Watson spoke about
Sparrow’s linguistic techniques,
his use of satire, pun, humour
and sarcasm while telling a tale
and painting a historical canvas
which is so absent in many of
today’s offering as calypso.
“Jean And
Dinah is a historical piece of a
young man with an eye for the
ladies that he had no access to
because he had no money and the
presence of the Americans at the
army base made the task even
more difficult. That was a song
about prostitution and yet there
was nothing vulgar or crude in
Sparrow’s presentation,” said
Watson.
Waldrond noted
for his lyrical pieces done for
John King and Red Plastic Bag,
admitted to studying Sparrow who
was the epitome of what a
singer, performer and
calypsonian ought to be.
Gabby
described meeting and performing
with Sparrow as tantamount to
idolising Sir Gary, Michael
Jordan or Pele and then getting
the opportunity to be in the
same sport and same team as
those greats.
Murray summed
up the discussion by stating
that Sparrow, just like Sir Gary
arrived when the Caribbean was
made up of a number of colonies
and he changed calypso, just
like Sir Gary changed cricket
and the Caribbean scene was
never the same again.
Some of the
other calypsonians who attended
the discussion put on by Roy
Byer were Observer, Kid Site,
Viper and Serenader. Before the
start of the discussion, Byer
showed footage of Sparrow
performing many of his classics
at Kensington Oval in 1989.
