Obit: Irving Burgie (Day-O!) 1924-2019

Subject: Obit: Irving Burgie (Day-O!) 1924-2019
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 01 Dec 19 - 05:48 PM

From the BBC website:

US composer Irving Burgie, who helped to popularise Caribbean music with hit songs like Day-O, has died aged 95.

His death was confirmed by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, who called for a moment of silence for the man who wrote its national anthem.

Mr Burgie is best known for helping singer Harry Belafonte bring calypso music to the mainstream.

The 1950s song Day-O went on to be used in films, adverts and even as a wake-up call for astronauts in space.

The calypso hit, also known as The Banana Boat Song, featured in the popular film Beetlejuice and has been sampled by rapper Lil Wayne and singer Jason Derulo.

US media reports say Mr Burgie died on Friday as a result of complications from heart failure.
His website says his songs have sold more than 100 million records worldwide.

Mr Burgie wrote eight of the 11 songs on Harry Belafonte's 1956 album Calypso, which was the first album in the US to sell more than a million copies.

During his career, the composer worked with artists including Jimmy Buffett, Chuck Berry and Sam Cooke.

His other well-known songs include Island in the Sun, Jamaica Farewell and Mary's Boy Child, which he co-wrote.

Brooklyn-born Mr Burgie did not begin pursuing a career in music until he returned from serving in an all-black US Army battalion in World War Two.

He then used the benefits he received as a war veteran to fund his studies at New York's prestigious Juilliard performing arts school and went on to launch a career as a singer and guitarist before moving into writing songs for others.

Subject: RE: Obit: Irving Burgie (Day-O!) 1924-2019
From: GUEST,Felipa
Date: 02 Dec 19 - 08:04 AM

Sky News
https://news.sky.com/story/irving-burgie-composer-who-co-wrote-harry-belafonte-hit-day-o-dies-aged-95-11875878

Irving Burgie: Composer who co-wrote Harry Belafonte hit Day-O dies aged 95

Irving Burgie also penned the lyrics to the national anthem of his home nation Barbados, called In Plenty and In Time of Need.
Irving Burgie, who co-wrote the Harry Belafonte hit Day-O (The Banana Boat Song) and helped to popularise Caribbean music in the 1950s, has died aged 95.

Burgie also penned the lyrics to the national anthem of his home nation Barbados, called In Plenty And In Time of Need.

He has been called one of the greatest composers of Caribbean music.

His death was announced by the Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley at the country's independence day parade.
Burgie's songs, which also included calypso tracks Island in the Sun and Jamaica Farewell, have sold over 100 million records worldwide.

Artists who recorded his tracks included Jimmy Buffett, Brian Wilson, Carly Simon, Chuck Berry and Sam Cooke.

Burgie along with William Attaway wrote the lyrics for the 1956 version of Day-O which was sung by Belafonte, known as the King of Calypso.

It was among eight of the 11 songs written by Burgie that featured on Belafonte's Calypso album - the first in history to sell more than one million copies in the US.

Day-O is thought to be based on a Jamaican folk song sung by dock workers during night shifts.
The track was featured in the film Beetlejuice and the Broadway musical of the same name.

It has been sampled by rapper Lil' Wayne and singer Jason Derulo, and was the wake-up call for astronauts on two Space Shuttle missions in the 1990s.

Burgie served in an all-black US army battalion in World War Two and used military benefits to pay for his music studies.

He studied at the Juilliard School of Music, University of Arizona and University of Southern California.

He then became a folk singer using the stage name Lord Burgess.

Subject: RE: Obit: Irving Burgie (Day-O!) 1924-2019
From: fat B****rd
Date: 02 Dec 19 - 12:49 PM

My sister had The Banana Boat Song by The Tarriers on a 78 RPM. There was a chant of "Hill and Gully Rider" also used briefly in the 1956 film of Moby Dick. I must say the Stan Freberg version still cracks me up.
A notable man in many ways! RIP Mr. Burgie

Subject: RE: Obit: Irving Burgie (Day-O!) 1924-2019
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Dec 19 - 06:07 PM

He also wrote Mary's Boy Child, Island In The Sun, Cocoanut Woman and Jamaica Farewell, among others. Gentle, light, often wistful, often sentimental, never cloying. Good man!

Subject: RE: Obit: Irving Burgie (Day-O!) 1924-2019
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Dec 19 - 06:09 PM

Dammit, should have read Gerry's opening post more carefully!

Subject: RE: Obit: Irving Burgie (Day-O!) 1924-2019
From: keberoxu
Date: 02 Dec 19 - 08:20 PM

My first acquaintance with the banana boat song
was a television cartoon which spoofed the thing.
But left it pretty much intact while spoofing it.
A durable piece of work, that song.
You could mess with it all kinds of ways
and it would bounce right back.