(Trinidad Express) Calypso King of the World the Mighty Sparrow (Slinger Francisco), ORTT, CMT, OBE, celebrated his 80th birthday on Thursday at his Petit Valley home among friends and family in an evening of song. He was truly a king for the night.
It was a pleasure listening to 60 years of selections from Sparrow’s repertoire, as the music played for the occasion came either from his voice or his pen. The home setting made for a fuller appreciation of the many moods of Sparrow.
He sat majestically as his friends and family greeted him in what was an emotional evening full of surprises. The first was a cake which depicted Sparrow’s life from Grenada to Trinidad and Tobago and beyond.
Cakemaker Yasmim Charles said she had listened to calypsoes by Sparrow for almost a week in order to come up with the concept of the cake.
The second surprise was belly-dancer Karishma Ramoutar whose performance saw her coming through the audience and doing a small dance on the Birdie himself.
The next big surprise of the evening came when his daughter, Karen, brought Sparrow to tears after she dedicated and sang the David Gates classic, “If”, to her father. It took Sparrow a few minutes to recover and get his emotions in check after the superb rendition.
Of course Sparrow had to reply and he did so in his usual style, performing “Congo Man”, “Saltfish” and his first ever number one hit, “Only a Fool”.
Unique birthday cake
Among the specially invited guests were masman Peter Minshall, Justice Malcolm Holdip, calypsonian Lord Superior (Andrew Marcano), Mervyn Telfer, Community Development Minister Winston “Gypsy” Peters, promoter Frank Martineau, Nu Pub owner Roderick Ward, wife of the late Lord Kitchener Valerie Green and a host of other calypsonians and musicians, including Errol Ince, Cro Cro, Brother Resistance, Baron, Twiggy, Chris Garcia and Duane O’Connor.
David Bereaux and Friends provided music as Black Sage, Cro Cro, Swami, Doppy and Nigel Galt sang their favourite Sparrow songs.
Sparrow stuck the unique birthday cake with his wife, Margaret, and also received a special present for the occasion.
The final surprise came when Sparrow was presented with a special birthday cake from Bakery Treatz—this one with a crown at the top and several mini portraits of the singer during his career.
The king stuck this cake with Karen, the daughter who earlier brought tears to his eyes.
