That infamous steelband clash on the Coffee!
In the nineteen sixties, Southern Marines Steelband of Marabella was the classic community band; at carnival just about everyone in the community was involved and band was also supported by the local craftsmen and businessmen.
The panyard was a busy place on Sundays before carnival; after the well attended practice sessions masqueraders were being fitted for their costumes and the local shoemaker, tailor and seamstresses were busy measuring, fitting and making adjustments .
On carnival day all aspects of the community were represented in the band, from students to local badjohns , “jammettes “ to tradesmen, oilfield workers and even businessmen.
The Carnival of 1963 came shortly after the stressful international standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union over missiles installed in Cuba had brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, so of course such an event would have been portrayed at Carnival, as was the case back then, and Southern Marines presentation on Carnival Tuesday was “The Cuban Crisis“.
The band presented several aspects of the crisis including a mockup of a guided missile , Russian technicians , Cuban and American soldiers and of course Fidel Castro , who was portrayed by the local druggist who had enough of a resemblance to Castro for the role!
This was an era when there weren’t as many cars and transport was a bit more, well complicated and as a result people had more involvement and identification with their local community, and that included a fierce loyalty to the community steelband.
Playing mas with, or joining a steelband from another community was considered almost a betrayal ( as my friend Derek Greaves found out!😊)
And that’s how it was, on Tuesday 26 February, 1963, Carnival Tuesday, around 7:00pm when two of the toughest steelbands in south clashed on Coffee Street in San Fernando!
However, this post is also
about beautiful music!
I know that we’re proud of the progress that steelbands have made over the years and rightly so.
But one of the things I miss from the old days is the fact that steelbands introduced us to beautiful music we would never have discovered on our own.
It was 1963.
That year Southern Marines of Marabella had won the first South Regional steelband Panorama , which was the first such competition ever held.
On Carnival Tuesday, we played the Cuban Crisis. I played a US soldier.
Whenever I hear this music, I often recall that Carnival Tuesday night steelband clash between Southern Marines and Gondoliers on Coffee Street San Fernando.
Gondoliers was a popular and powerful steelband that also favored military style mas, and that year they presented a band derived from a WWII war movie called “Back to Bataan”.
I clearly remember we were going up Coffee Street playing our bomb tune “Handel’s “Largo” which was our best ever bomb tune and Gondoliers, a tough San Fernando band favored by the “Market Boys” were coming down and suddenly there was a clash!
Bottles were flying, pans were scattered, and people(myself included)ran for cover and safety.
Don’t really know how it started, but they were our rivals, and besides it never made sense to have big steelbands passing each other on the road in opposite directions especially at night.
Of course we do not have a recording of Southern Marine’s version , but listening to this version of the tune by the London Symphony , I’m still amazed at how accuracy and beautifully our arrangers converted it to enjoyable carnival music, capable of winning the bomb competition.
As much as we’ve gained over time, I think we’ve also lost a lot.
Do relax for a moment and enjoy this beautiful selection.
G R JOSEPH 