Fred Mitchell, better known as “Mighty Composer,” was born in Cedros, and was the oldest of the talented and well known Mitchell family we remember growing up in Marabella.
As youths , the family group the Singing Mitchells sang backup for The Mighty Sparrow’s recording company until he joined the Young Brigade as a calypsonian in 1964 , while his brothers went on to form a combo group.
Composer was lyrical, musical and humorous.
His first hit was “Supposin'” , recorded in 1963, which well received by calypso fans, increasing his profile as a rising calypso star.
He followed up with this hit from 1964, a story about the “Weak Man” who couldn’t even raise his “hand”, took too much of the local bush remedies and suffered some unpleasant side effects!
And subsequent hits included a number of imaginative and humorous calypsos, like this one where he explains how the inane and incoherent terms of endearment used by some parents with infants can lead to delinquency in later years!
Here’s the Composer singing a couple of his hits live, one advising young women how to keep their men in his place.
And here he tells us about the significance of “Police Names”, and their effect on law enforcement..
Fred Mitchell , The Mighty Composer died in December 2018 at the Mount Hope Medical Complex in Trinidad where he had been hospitalized with a heart condition and other health issues.
He was 83.
May he Rest In Peace.
G R JOSEPH 