About Me
Chins Calypso Sextet is one of the most prolific and most fondly remembered mento acts of the golden age. Chin's was consistently a strictly rural mento band, with lead singer Alerth Bedasse's mento voice and an instrumental line up of bamboo instruments, banjo, acoustic guitar and rumba box. The band was named for producer Ivan Chin and rather than for any of its musicians.Through a Ritmo LP and a Valmark CD, three fine Chin's tracks have been available throughout the decades, since their release in the mid to late 1950s. And there have been a good number of covers of popular Chin's tracks by major reggae artists. Yet biographical information available on this seminal mento group was nil. One exception was the reference Roots Knotty Roots, which listed 32 tracks (under half of the actual output, as later documented by Dan Neely). These sources revealed that Chin's recorded mostly originals, along with some folk and quadrille tracks. The subject matter was far more varied than the humorous, risqué tales of the three tracks that remained in print.In 2001 came the CD release, Boogu Yagga Gal, which included 10 Chins' tracks (including the one that gave the collection its name) and excellent liner notes, where the Chin's story began to be told. Two 2003 compilations "Rookumbine", and "Jamaica Mento - Authentic Recording" included Chin's tracks, but they were already released on Boogu Yagga Gal, and no information was included.After the heyday of Chins, Bedasse would also record at least four tracks in the 1960s under his own name or as Count Alert. Two of these tracks, with Alert backed by Lyn Taitt & The Baba Brooks Band, sporting a more urban style, are available on a Jet Set and on a Trojan compilation. Bedasse also recorded two tracks with The Trenton Spence Orchestra, but I have not heard these recordings.
Ivan Chin, 1956Alerth Bedasse, 1956Everart Williams, 1956Courtesy of Dan Neely, from his excellent liner notes for the CD series.
As you will read in Ivan Chin's comments below, the other key band member in Chin's Calypso Sextet was Everart Williams. He was the lyricist for all of Chin's original songs. He also was Harold Richardson and The Ticklers' lyricist, assuring his place, along with Count Lasher, as mento's finest song writer. Other popular mentos that Williams wrote include "Old Man's Drive", "Cutting Wood", "Dry Weather House" and "Monkey Talk" amongst others. Many of his songs tell a story so rich in color and detail that listening gives you a sense of time and place. If you like reggae songs that tell richly described stories, such as "Sweet and Dandy" by Toots and the Maytals, or "Jackpot" and "Long Shot Kick The Bucket" by The Pioneers, then Williams' well observed and colorful lyrics assure you enjoy many Chins songs as well.In a rare printed interview from the mid-1950s, Everart provide some history of his writing. This was in response to government criticism to risqué mento songs.I am indeed sorry is my song is causing any trouble, but why blame me alone? When I started writing these songs, I used to write very high-class calypsos -- calypsos entitled "Mother You Break My Heart", "I'll Tell God", etc., and all together I did not sell 200 copies.Then I started out with "Satan's Wife", "We May Hear After Six", and there I started to make headway. Obviously, that was what the public wanted. I later proceeded to make very, very clean calypsos for Stanley Motta, [see the Harold Richardson page for examples of the fine "clean" songs Williams wrote for The Ticklers -Mike] which sold fairly well, but I didn't make a hit until I wrote "Night Food".The response to this record was very great, as thousands upon thousands of the record were sold both here and abroad. I am a poor man and work for a living. That is my way of making a living and I thought that I was giving real entertainment to the public -- because they accepted it -- but it seams that I was mistaken.But I am going to write different calypsos now and hope the public will think them very clean; but since it is my living I hope they will buy them as well as they do the ones some say are not so good.I am very very sorry to have to be such a bad fellow, to drag the Minister's children in the mud with my songs, but I am going to do better. I now make songs for Chin's Radio Service, and on his advice, I am preparing to make records even for children's birthnight parties and other similar functions.I hope the public will but them and keep me from writing another "Night Food Recipe". But even now, I am wondering what is there in "Night Food Recipe" to spoil an innocent child? Anyway, I must be ignorant, and I bow to superior intelligence.In July 2004, the vault was unexpectedly thrown open as the first (called "CD 2") of a series of what was to be four, then grew to 5 CDs was released. The 5 CDs collect 80 tracks of Chin's Calypso Sextet recordings. Such a collection is remarkable for several reasons:First, although a handful of Chin's tracks have appeared on the compilations described above, most have never been compiled, and many of the original 78s are incredibly rare, even by mento standards. Most of these tracks have not been available since their initial release on 78 RPM singles in the 1950s. Ivan told me that many of these singles were limited to just one pressing of 400 copies, making them ultra scarce, even by mento standards. Some of these recordings were never pressed to vinyl at all, being released for the first time in any form almost 50 years after they were recorded.
Second, its Ivan Chin himself behind this reissue, personally handling all aspects of this project and provided the original masters for this collection. Ivan even provides his personal recollections, seen below, that shed more light on this seminal golden age mento and label act than has been available before.As if this wasn't enough, each volume contains a copy of liner notes written Dan Neely assuring unequaled research and an informative package. Dan was instrumental in coaxing Ivan to release this material. These notes even contain the only known period photos of Bedasse, Williams and Ivan. (These appear above, with permission.) Comments from Dan about this set follow those from Ivan Chin, below. Theses comments are not to be confused with his notes. (Additionally, Dan has posted on his website a comprehensive Chin's s discography.)These CDs, though made by Ivan Chin, are being marketed by CD Baby (who also released the two Golden Aires CDs described on the Can I Buy Mento? page). Buyers should be prepared for a homemade feel to these releases. After all, as you will read below, Ivan put them together by himself! They feature a slim-line jewel box with home printed labels, a CD-R, liner notes on folded 8" x 10" paper and sound quality that can be difficult for some tracks in particular. But these are small prices to pay for a collection of such rare and excellent recordings.The four CDs collects most of the 84 released Chin's tracks, plus some that were never released. There is not a bad song in the bunch and the music, vocals and lyrical content are nicely varied. This is hard-core rural mento. The melodies are strong and catchy and the playing is excellent, as almost all the tracks have little jams between banjo, bamboo sax and/or flute. The rhythm in many songs, to my ears shows mento's quadrille heritage.If you had a million dollars, a staff of a thousand and one hundred years to turn the world upside down in search of the original 78 RPM singles, you still could not acquire half this this collection of historic Jamaican recordings that Ivan Chin is releasing on five inexpensive CDs.To commemorate the release of this collection of CDs, Ivan Chin has provided the following recollections, giving us great insight into one of the most important acts in the history of Jamaican music.Recollections from Ivan Chin, 2004 (revised 2/20/05):
All Chin's Calypso/Mento records were recorded by me, in my store, Chin's Radio Service at 48 Church Street Kingston Jamaica in the 50s. The floor was concrete and the ceiling Gypsum. There were no (sound) acoustic rooms.
We rehearsed and recorded in a section of the store at nights, after the store was closed.I discovered Everart Williams and Alert Bedasse in 1955 after they recorded Night Food, I invited them along with their small Quintet to record exclusively for me. I then changed the name from Calypso Quintet to Chin's Calypso Sextet.My recording machine used a cutting needle to cut groves into 78 RPM 10 inch vinyl resin discs. at that time 45s and LPs were not yet invented. The microphones I used were the large old ribbon types, RCA and Shure, they were very good, in those days there were no cassette, reel to reel, or eight track recorders, ceramic or crystal microphones, available in Jamaica. We were just leaving the gramophone behind, to play a 78 record in those early days on a Gramophone, you had to wind it up with a crank handle, then put a heavy metal head with a steel needle, which you put into it, on to the record.
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