Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents information about Walter Ferguson and showcases two Afro-Costa Rican Calypso songs by Walter Ferguson: "Cabin In The Wata" and "Callalo".
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Walter Ferguson for his musical legacy. Thanks also to the transcribers of these lyrics and thanks to the publisher of these sound files on YouTube.
Hat tip to Hever Orias Sarmiento for sharing information with me about Walter Ferguson.
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INFORMATION ABOUT WALTER FERGUSON
From
"Although Walter Ferguson Gavitt was born in Panama, in his childhood his parents decided to try their luck and moved to Costa Rica. From then on his life and his talents as a musician are intrinsically tied to Costa Rica’s rich culture.
Walter Ferguson was born in 1919 in Guabito, Panama, but his family soon moved to Costa Rica and he grew up in Jamaica Town, a district of Puerto Limon. His parents lived in Cahuita, and with time he managed to reunite with them and to claim his own space. His father, Melsha, who was a cook in the luxury hotels of Panama City, traded in his cooking pots for a machete and banana seedlings that he planted in Cahuita, attracted by the concessions to supply to the United Fruit Company.
He spent his childhood between cacao plants, almonds tree and fantastic stories of pirates and ghost ships that the area’s folklore is saturated with. Ferguson developed special skill in the use of the slingshot with his left hand, a fact which, on more than one occasion, saved him from being bitten by serpents. “People think that I’m protected by witchcraft because I never miss,” he said reminiscing about his early years.
[...]
His musical trajectory begins with a lute that his brother gave him. He then learned to play and master the clarinet. He later played in his first musical group called “Miserable,” known for its varied Caribbean repertoire like guaracha, rumba and bolero and in which he shared many experiences with Calypsonians like Ollé and Rají.
[...]
Ferguson considers himself to be the man of a thousand stories. Through his ironic and powerful Calypsonian expressivity we’ve gotten to know Anancy, Tacuma, Kiaky Brown and by all means to Doctor Bombodee.
Walter Ferguson’s lyrics reflect his characteristic humor, irony and, without a doubt, his great sincerity and oftentimes had a great deal to do with the challenges of being the King of the Calypso. His voice is gentle and his lyrical style is up-front-honest to the core and this is what enthralls his listeners.
Walter, in Panama, has become something of cult for those who enjoy his honest proposal. It is Calypso pure and simple, with a quality of production that we deserve ourselves and that really honors a personage who would almost be forgotten in his native Cahuita, Costa Rica. Ferguson has always emphasized in his interviews that Lord Cobra, Lord Panama and Lord Kontiki were always targets of admiration for him. But, it was with Wilfred Berry, Lord Cobra, that he always wanted to sing. His desire, however, never crystallized.
He explained in an interview that one night he borrowed a guitar to try it out “to see if it was any good.” He was singing “despacito,” when a fellow worker challenged him to face Lord Cobra, very famous in Panama. “He had a very brilliant voice, very beautiful. I do not know where he got that name,” he said about Lord Cobra. In spite of all the hype, however, the duel never took place, as, usually, when Ferguson was in Panama, Lord Cobra was performing in Costa Rica and vice versa.
Much of the information for this article was taken from an article by Rainer Tuñon Cantillo in TragaluzPanama.
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SHOWCASE EXAMPLES
Example #1: Callaloo [Walter Ferguson]
Heredia por Media Calle, Published on Jan 31, 2011
CALLALOO
EVERYBODY GOT ITS OWN OPINION
SOME MAY BE RIGHT, AND SOME MAY BE WRONG
BUT CALALOO, EVERYBODY LOVES CALALOO
A BLESSING FROM ABOVE
YOU EAT IT IN THE MORNING, AND YOU EAT IT IN THE DAY
YOU EAT IT IN WHEN YOU FEEL THAT YOU WILL BREAK AWAY
CALALOO, EVERYBODY LOVES CALALOO
A BLESSING FROM ABOVE
YOU EAT IT IN THE MORNING, AND YOU EAT IT IN THE NIGHT
YOU EAT IT WHEN YOU FEEL THAT YOU WILL LOSE YOUR SIGHT
CALALOO, EVERYBODY LOVES CALALOO
A BLESSING FROM ABOVE
I KNEW A WOMAN SHE NAME WAS SUE
SHE WOKE UP ONE MORNING ALL BLACK AND BLUE
SHE CALL TO HER SISTER HER NAME WAS LU
BEG HER TO COOK HER SOME CALALOO
CALALOO, EVERYBODY LOVES CALALOO
A BLESSING FROM ABOVE
GOOD FOR YOUR BELLY AND GOOD FOR YOUR SIGHT
TIGHTEN EVERY JOINT THAT IS GETTING SLACK
BUT CALALOO, EVERYBODY LOVES CALALOO
A BLESSING FROM ABOVE
-snip-
Here's information about "calaloo" from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callaloo
..."Callaloo recipes
A Jamaican breakfast including callaloo (bottom right)
Callaloo in Trinidad & Tobago and other eastern Caribbean countries is generally made with okra and dasheen or water spinach Ipomoea aquatica. There are many variations of callaloo which may include coconut milk, crab, conch, Caribbean lobster, meats, pumpkin, chili peppers, and other seasonings such as chopped onions and garlic. The ingredients are added and simmered down to a somewhat stewlike consistency. When done, callaloo is dark green in colour and is served as a side dish which may be used as a gravy for other food.
Callaloo is widely known throughout the Caribbean and has a distinctively Caribbean origin, created by enslaved Africans using ideas of the indigenous people along with both African (okra) and indigenous (Xanthosoma) plants. (See Palaver sauce for the West African dish.) African Americans invented a version of the original West African dish known as collard greens. Trinidadians have embraced this dish from their ancestors and over time have added ingredients such as coconut milk to modify its flavour. Callaloo is mostly served as a side dish, for Trinidadians, Bajans, and Grenadians it usually accompanies rice, macaroni pie, and a meat of choice. In Guyana it is made in various ways without okra."...
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Example #2: Cabin in the wata [Walter Ferguson]
Heredia por Media Calle, Published on Feb 3, 2011
Canción costarricense "Cabin in the wata" de Walter "Gavitt" Ferguson. Video acompañado de paisajes del Caribe Sur de Costa Rica.
-snip-
Lyrics: Cabin In The Wata
(Walter Ferguson)
THIS MODERN GENERATION
EVERY DAY THE PEOPLE GETTIN' SMARTER
THEY MADE ME TO UNDERSTAND
BATO BUILT A CABIN IN THE WATER
CABIN IN THE WATER
MISTER BATO WAS THE AUTHOR
I KNEW HE WAS A DIVER
BUT I NEVER KNEW
THE FELLOW WAS A BUILDER
THE MISTRESS OF THE NATIONAL PARK
BATO TOLD HER IT WAS A RUMOR
SHE DECIDE TO TAKE A WALK...
LO AND BEHOLD! A CABIN IN THE WATER
THE BUILDING WAS QUITE ERECT
IMAGINE IT WAS STANDIN' IN THE SEA
THE LADY CALL HIM AN ARCHITECT
BUT YOU HAVE TO PULL IT DOWN
INMEDIATELY!
THEY CAME INTO BIG DISPUTE
BATO TOLD HER:
-"ME BORN COSTA RICA"
-"YOU COULD HAVE BORN IN ETIOPIA
ME NO WANT NO CABIN IN THE WATER"
KIAKY BROWN WAS TELLIN' ME
ABOUT THE CABIN IN THE WATER
BATO BUILT SOMETHING IN THE SEA
MUST BE BUILT IT
WITH THE DEVIL AND HIS DAUGHTER
From https://www.justsomelyrics.com/342066/walter-ferguson-cabin-in-the-wata-lyrics.html
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