(Trinidad Express) Music pioneer and arranger of the Lord Kitchener hit “Sugar Bum Bum” Herbert Ed Watson has died.
His son Roger Watson, who now resides in the United States, told the Express he woke up Sunday morning to the news the man dubbed Dr Soca and The King of Soca, had passed away at his Abbe Poujade Street, Carenage home. He was 93.
Born in Clifton Hill, Ed Watson made a name for himself and calypso/soca music around the world with his self-titled Brass Circle. His son recalled yesterday that he was never too busy for his children.
“The man behind the music was a great father and people will hear at the celebration of his life just how many people he impacted behind the scenes. Even myself find out today about some of the things he did. A real community man, a real family man,” he recalled.
Watson said he and sisters Kathy Ann, Desiree and Arlene painfully witnessed their father’s mental decline in recent years from dementia. The music pioneer has two other sons Christopher Thomas and Shadwell Griffith.
“It’s hard, but we saw he was on the decline with the dementia, and we were aware at some point that he would move on. He spared no ends to take care of us. So we were privileged to take care of dad as he was ailing into his final years,” Watson said.
He acknowledged there is little to no information on the legendary work of his father online. He is aiming to change that and has already started the Ed Watson and the Brass Circle Facebook and YouTube accounts where he is uploading audio and video of the band to better tell their story to new audiences.
“One of the things I asked him to do when I was leaving the country was to get a good young manager to get his items together and preserve it. Unfortunately, he did not,” Watson lamented.
