"Over the holiday we lost our friend Irving Burgie. In addition to being a real philanthropist (endowing schools in Jamaica, Barbados and scholarships at two U.S. colleges), in addition to being a true leader in the civil rights movement, in addition to being a kind and generous friend, he made the world better with the songs he'd written: "Jamaica Farewell", "Angelina", "Day-O" and others."
The Father of Modern Calypso features the music of Irving Burgie a.k.a Lord Burgess. The native New Yorker served in the U.S. Army in World War II and during his service learned to play guitar. After college he began performing on the 1950s folk circuit (along with Tom Paxton, Dave van Ronk, The Kingston Trio and others). After being introduced to Harry Belafonte by a RCA Records executive, eight of Burgie's songs were recorded for Belefonte's groundbreaking 1956 album Calypso - the first LP to sell one million copies.
