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Bob Andy's 'Songbook' gets acoustic treatment

Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer


Legendary entertainer 'Bob Andy', born Keith Anderson, sings for his audience.

After Bob Andy sang the last line of Everything is Mine, his opening song on Sunday's closing session at the 2008 Calabash International Literary Festival, he cried out "Revenge!"

"Revenge against the commercial, electronic music deh. Yu know how long I man waan do something like this," Andy asked, adding that in the commercialised mainstream forum he will not shine because "it no cater fe de grace I man travel with".

With Seretse Small, Steven Golding and Wayne Armond on guitar and Ibo Cooper on keyboard, Andy closed the festival at Jakes in Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth, with a blend of philosophical talk and philosophical, poetic song,

"One of those constraints about the commercial shows is that every time I open my mouth to talk, dem sey me fe shut up an' sing, as if me can sey everything in the song," Andy said, to amusement, as the guitars played before he started Check It Out, in which he sang "come see these legal crooks/who learn their tricks by the books".

Andy, all in white, had taken the microphone off the stand by this point and was dancing, his voice going deep as he sang "the trick is to keep all those hungry bellies empty".

First in jamaica

Andy performed Friends, which he had never done in Jamaica before, but said that when he performed it in Japan in 1985, 4,500 people danced to it in the rain and "when I hear them sing it, I cry."

And as he did at other points in the acoustic set, Andy went from falsetto on "you don't need to bother, but there is something we can do" to deep tones on "we can start this world over, start the magic over again." He sang a request to Seretse Small to play a guitar solo again, which he duly did.

The hands clapped for Games People Play and My Time got a very warm response, Andy saying, "I'm in the courts because of these same songs that I write in Leroy Sibbles' kitchen when me did hungry an' man whe dead an' gone sey a him write an' publish them" before he requested a solo from Armond, which he got.

On Desperate Lover Andy asked "a which tune dat?" and, on being told, said "den Ibo no fe play a organ intro?". It was done and Andy duly sang "How do you feel when your baby's gone?".

And after he had gone too high and loud, Andy said "yu see dem song deh? From me learn to sing, me fin' sey a shout me did a shout".

He was not finished with the legal matters, though, saying "dem have me tie up inna court fe seven years 'cause a man sey a no my song." And he added that "Marcia Griffiths came from the US and went into the mediation room and said Mr Anderson wrote those songs and they gave them back to me".

"I gwine sing this song in me little boy voice," he said and restarted Desperate Lover.

Audience singalong

A few flecks of rain fell on 'Fire Burning', which was given a restart as the large audience reacted, Cooper taking a solo. There was a song for the women, he informed all You've Got To Feel It and he honoured Delroy Wilson with Dancing Mood before he closed with I've Got To Go Back Home to a dancing, singing audience.

He was asked to return, though, to do I Don't Want To See You Cry, sung by Ken Boothe and he closed with a song he wrote for Delroy Wilson.

And throughout his acoustic set, Bob Andy addressed a number of issues asking "yu tink politician love politics like me?" and stating "I don't want to live my life virtually, I want to live my life real". He said, "The peace business is not a profitable business, because the nations on the security council, one-third to a half of their GDP comes from arms" and asserted about God, "I am one of him satellite."

And, as Andy said during his performance, "A bird flies because it takes itself lightly."


Amputee Claire Reid, 57, from Denham Town, Kingston, balances on her foot during a dance on stage at the Calabash International Literary Festival, held at Jake's Hotel and Cottages in Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth on Sunday. Miss Reid pushed her way to the front of the stage in a wheelchair to show off her dancing skills. - Noel Thompson

 
May 29, 2008
 

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