Calypsonian Lord Creator (Kentrick Patrick) has died at the age of 87. He had been unwell for some time, according to his wife, Nesseline.
His name is probably less familiar to calypso fans than to lovers of ska and rocksteady in Jamaica, where he had several hits.
Lord Creator was born in San Fernando, Trinidad, on 21 August 1935 (some reports say 1940). He was writing in his teens but his first recordings, both with Fitz Vaughan Bryan’s big band, were The Cockhead, in 1958, and his 1959 hit Evening News, about a child selling newspapers he couldn’t read.
By this time he had already moved to Jamaica, which was where his musical career took off. He achieved great acclaim with Independent Jamaica as British rule came to an end on 6 August 1962. The song had another claim to fame: it was the first single issued by Chris Blackwell’s Island Records. In the same year he joined with Byron Lee and the Dragonaires to record Jamaica Jump Up, which was included on the soundtrack of the 1963 James Bond film Dr. No.
Lord Creator was on a roll now, as Jamaicans queued to hear his smooth, honeyed tones on his next releases, Don’t Stay Out Late (1963), Little Princess and a very nice Coxsone Dodd-produced version of Big Bamboo (both 1964). Studio One released Creator’s calypso album Jamaica Time, which featured Jamaica Farewell, Yellowbird and, less predictably, a cover of Bob Dylan’s Blowing in the Wind. Another album, Big Bamboo, was recorded at Byron Lee’s Dynamic Studios, produced by Carlton Lee.
It was in 1970 that Lord Creator’s fame peaked, with the release of what one critic called “perhaps the finest sentimental reggae record ever released”, Kingston Town, produced by Clancy Eccles. This was the high water mark of Lord Creator’s musical career – and it was a shortlived one. Bang Bang Lulu and the rudely entertaining Wreck a Pum Pum came out in 1970, but apart from a sole single, Life, in 1977, Lord Creator vanished from the music scene for two decades. His style had fallen out of fashion and his financial and personal life sank just as rapidly. Eventually, Clancy Eccles was able to raise enough money to return Creator to his family in Trinidad.
Happily, the tale has a twist. In 1989, British band UB40 picked up Kingston Town and ran with it. The royalties from UB40’s platinum-selling cover flowed in, buoying up Creator’s finances and reviving his career to the point that he returned to Jamaica, performed at live shows and even toured Japan.
On National Heroes Day 2022 Lord Creator was awarded the Order of Distinction (Officer Class) for his “contribution to the development of Jamaican music and community service”. Referring to Independent Jamaica, culture minister Olivia Grange said: “We consider it an honour that the Trinidad-born Lord Creator adopted Jamaica, where he made what was his biggest hit.”
Grange added: “His music will live on and Jamaicans will forever thank him for immortalising in song what is our greatest celebration to date, our independence. Rest in peace Lord Creator.”
