Download Free Trinidad Steel Band * Songs

Trinidad Steel Band music biography continued...

it was originally named in honor of the U.S. Marines Hymn. Eventually, the steel pan became so popular that each year the island hosted a competition in which the top bands, including the Tripoli Steel Band, squared off against one another. Hugh Borde who was born in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad in 1933, became the leader of the band in 1951, at the age of 18. In 1964, the band won the island's first Steel Band Music Festival. The following year, the Esso Oil Company decided to sponsor the band, supplying them with instruments and uniforms, and making them into a totally polished outfit. The group began to tour outside of Trinidad and for three weeks during their 1967 trek they played at Expo '67, the World's Fair in Montreal, Canada. After the tour, an album was put out on the ARC Sound label out of Toronto. It was aptly called The Esso Trinidad Steelband On Tour. One of the band's biggest breaks came during one of their performances at the Expo '67. Liberace, the world famous pianist, became fascinated with the band, offering them an opening slot in his show and taking them on tour for two years, making them an international phenomenon.



In the late 1960s, in addition to their work with Liberace, the band also performed alongside top entertainers like Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Della Reese, Dionne Warwick, and others. They also had major guest shots on television shows hosted by Ed Sullivan, Mike Douglas and David Frost. Back home in Trinidad, Borde won the prestigious Hummingbird medal Award in 1971, and saw his son take over the band, which was now called Trinidad Tripoli Steelband. Although their popularity waned somewhat, the band with all new members continued to record sporadically and perform, spreading the joy of this distinctly island music into the new millennium worldwide