Pelham Goddard and Roots will be celebrating their 40th anniversary as a musical aggregation with a presentation at Under the Trees at The Normandie in St Ann's tomorrow. Themed Our Carnival Story, the function is named after an 80s hit from an album that also included selections that included Jungle Fever and Calabash, two of the band's popular numbers vocalised by David Rudder.
The event, produced by JVMP (Junior, Vonrick, Malcolm, Pelham) Promotions in collaboration with The Normandie, will be a nostalgic trip down memory lane of music composed by Goddard who has been an instrumental presence on the evolution of West Indian music for four decades, and has made a lasting impact as a songwriter, arranger and producer.
In addition to the host band delivering a range of songs from its extensive, 40-year-old repertoire, the function will be served with performances by David Rudder, 3Canal, and Roger George (who will render the songs of Chris "Tambu" Herbert). Admission fee is $400 per person.
The band's history reveals that with sponsorship in July 1977 from New York-based record producer Rawlson Charles, Charlie's Roots was launched together with Peter Minshall's 1978 Carnival band Zodiac that was the start of a long relationship of music and mas between Minshall and Goddard. As well, Charlie's Roots was the first soca band to play at Madison Square Garden in New York at its Mother's Day show, and was the first local music band invited to start Carnival in Jamaica.
Goddard, often referred to as "the Road March Maestro," holds the local record for producing the most Carnival Road Marches that include No, No We Ain't Going Home; Free Up; Bahia Girl; The Hammer; This Party Is It; Bacchanal Lady; Rebecca; Ethel; Soca Baptist; More Tempo; Soca Jam; Get Something and Wave; and Bacchanal Time.
This was revealed at a media launch held at The Normandie last week Wednesday where a few of the original roots members were present.At the start of the launch, instead of the usual prayer, a gospelypso by Chris "Tambu" Herbert, an original member of the band who has now converted to Christianity, was played.
Junior Hutson in his welcome remarks promised that come January 9, at the event, patrons will experience the best music fete to come, since 40 years of the band's music will be condensed to unfold the story of Roots.Headlining the cast will be David Michael Rudder with Roger George, 3Canal, Moricia Cagan and Nigel O'Connor.
Nikki Crosby gave a brief of the band. She recalled that in 1976 a group of studio musicians known as Sensational Roots Recording Orchestra, working out of K&H Studio in Sea Lots, Port-of-Spain, and led by Pelham Goddard came together to promote soca.
With names like Anthony Voisin, Vonrick Maynard, Eldon Oliver, Clarence Ross, Lambert Philip, Keith More and others, the unit produced hits like Savage by Maestro (Cecil Hume), Drink A Rum remake by the Lord Kitchener (Aldwyn Roberts), More Tempo and The Action is Tight by calypso Rose (McArthur Lewis).
At that time one of its producers, Rawlston Charles of Charlie's Records of Brooklyn, New York, together with Ellis Chow Lin On, manager of K&H Studio decided to bring the band on the road to perform soca music live.
The band released its first album KH Carnival Music with Pelham Goddard and Charlie's Roots in 1977, and made a hit with the winning road march, More Tempo.Roots was also part of Maestro's Rampage album released that year.
After Carnival, with instruments and sound equipment purchased by Goddard and Chow Lin-on from Charlie's, NY, and the aligning to a sponsor Witco, the aggregation officially became Manhattan Charlie's Roots.
Chris "Tambu" Herbert was the first lead male vocalist while Wendy Prescott, was the first female front liner when the band was launched in July 1977.The following year it linked with Peter Minshall 1978 band Zodiac, thus forging a relationship between music and mas. Both bands created a huge impact on the road.
Manhattan Charlie's Roots was then invited to take part in Grenada and Guyana Carnival along with Kaisoca cultural shows by promoter Neil Chan, while it continued to record names like Duke, Rajah, Joe Tempo, Singing Francine and Brigo.
Goddard stated at the launch that for them it was from studio to fetes. He added that in the beginning they got licks for only playing soca but that was their mission and eventually people came around and were just waiting to hear their latest recording played in fetes.
He said: "Our band was formed to promote soca music to the rest of the world. We played only soca music whether people knew it or not." Their second album � Sunshine and You � featured Carl and Carol Jacobs, Robin Imamshah, Steve Sealy, Colin Stephens and Jude Bethel.
After playing music for Minshall's Carnival of the Sea for Carnival 1979, the band toured the Caribbean, Canada and NY, mainly to spread the gospel of soca.Then in 1980, a song for Minshall's Dance Macabre, Blue Boy's (now Superblue) Soca Baptist and Penguin's Look the Devil Dey were all produced by Charlie's Roots.
Later that year David Rudder joined the band and in 1981 made a hit with Jungle Fever, a song composed for Minshall's band of the same name. From there on there was no stopping that mas and music relationship, as Minshall composed Calabash for his next presentation of the same name, sung by Rudder, while compositions for Minshall's presentation of Callaloo and River were done by Goddard and Roots.
Goddard said: "We played non-stop in Minshall bands. From when we left the mas camp to when we reach back." Popular as he was, Tambu went on to tour the Caribbean from Guyana to Jamaica making waves.From 1980 to 1990 Roots backed all top local calypso and regional bards for carnival.
Some time in 1986, the band together with David Rudder was signed to Warner Brothers and from then, did promotional tours to England, Italy, France, Finland, Sweden, Holland, Belgium, Brussels and Germany, as well as across America and Canada repeatedly.
And during the period 1986 - 1995, Roots were involved in a number of projects. One, on the invitation of Byron Lee, they were was the first T&T band to play at Jamaica's very first carnival. And during those years too, the band also shared stage with international groups such as the Jackson 5 in 1978, Barry White, Kool and the Gang, Third World, Steel Pulse, Miami Sound Machine and KC and the Sunshine Band.
Showtime on Saturday is 7 pm.