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'{{short description|American musician}} {{Infobox musical artist | honorific_prefix = | name = Irving Burgie | honorific_suffix = | image = | caption = | background = solo_singer | birth_name = Irving Louis Burgie | alias = Lord Burgess<br>Irving Burgess | birth_date = {{Birth date|1924|7|28}} | birth_place = [[Brooklyn, New York]], U.S. | origin = | death_date = {{Death date and age|2019|11|29|1924|7|28}} | death_place = [[Queens]], [[New York City]], U.S. | genre = [[Folk music]], [[calypso (music)|calypso]] | occupation = Singer, songwriter | instrument = | years_active = | label = | associated_acts = [[Harry Belafonte]] }} '''Irving Louis Burgie''' (July 28, 1924 – November 29, 2019), sometimes known professionally as '''Lord Burgess''',<ref>{{cite news|last=Nesmith|first=Nathaniel|title=Irving Burgie, Who Wrote Calypso Hits for Harry Belafonte, Dies at 95|date=December 1, 2019|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/01/arts/music/irving-burgie-dead.html|accessdate=December 3, 2019}}</ref> was an American musician and songwriter, regarded as one of the greatest composers of [[Caribbean music]].<ref name=hall>[https://www.songhall.org/profile/Irving_Burgie "Irving Burgie", ''Songwriters Hall of Fame'']. Retrieved 2 December 2019</ref> He composed 34 songs for [[Harry Belafonte]], including eight of the 11 songs on the Belafonte album ''[[Calypso (album)|Calypso]]'' (1956), the first album of any kind to sell one million copies.<ref name=amg/> Burgie also wrote the lyrics of the [[National Anthem of Barbados]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-19063605|title=Olympics 2012: The secrets behind national anthems|date=August 2, 2012|website=Bbc.co.uk}}</ref> To date, songs penned by Irving Burgie have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide.{{cn|date=December 2019}} ==Biography==wassgoofie was born in [[Brooklyn, New York]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Irving Burgie obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/dec/02/irving-burgie-obituary |accessdate=2 December 2019 |newspaper=The Guardian |first=Peter |last=Mason |date=2 December 2019}}</ref> His mother was from [[Barbados]] and his father was from [[Virginia]]. He joined the [[US Army]] in [[World War II]], and served in [[Burma]], [[China]] and [[India]], where he started playing guitar and singing. After the war, he studied at the [[Juilliard Scgggggg, and met Harry Belafonte in 1950.<ref name=amg>[https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lord-burgess-mn0000278106 Biography by Bruce Eder], ''Allmusic.com''. Retrieved December 1, 2019.</ref><ref name=kalish/> Using the name Lord Burgess, he began singing and playing guitar in New York City clubs, developing a repertoire based around songs from the [[Caribbean]] he had learnt as a child or collected in visits to the area.<ref name=amg/> After performing as Lord Burgess in the [[Village Vanguard]] in 1954, and releasing an album, ''Lord Burgess' Calypso Serenaders'' (aka ''Folk Songs of Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad'') on [[Stinson Records]],<ref name=amg/> a mutual friend, [[William Attaway]], suggested that Burgie write songs for Belafonte.<ref name=kalish/> Burgie and Attaway wrote a version of the lyrics for the "[[Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)]]" for the ''[[Colgate Comedy Hour]]'', and it was then recorded by Belafonte for [[RCA Victor]]. This is the recording that is by far the best known to listeners today, as it reached number five on the ''Billboard'' charts in 1957 and later became his [[signature song]]. Burgie and Attaway composed eight of the songs on Belafonte's 1956 album ''[[Calypso (album)|Calypso]]'', including "Day-O"' and "[[Jamaica Farewell]]". "Day-O" was a traditional Jamaican song that was sung by dock workers who worked throughout the night loading bananas onto ships. Belafonte's version used lyrics adapted by Burgie and Attaway, though Belafonte is also credited. Burgie later described "Day-O" as "a song about struggle, about black people in a colonized life doing the most grueling work", saying "a lot of my work is based on songs and ditties that I've heard in the Caribbean".<ref name=kalish/> The song "Jamaica Farewell" was later recorded by [[Jimmy Buffett]], [[Carly Simon]] and others. Belafonte recorded other songs written by Burgie, including "[[Island in the Sun (Harry Belafonte song)|Island in the Sun]]", one of ten Burgie compositions on his 1957 album ''[[Belafonte Sings of the Caribbean]]''. Burgie also wrote eight of the twelve tracks on his 1961 album ''[[Jump Up Calypso]]'', and also wrote "Can't Cross Over", and co-wrote "Goin' Down Jordan", on Belafonte's 1977 album ''[[Turn the World Around]]''. Burgie set up his own publishing company. By the late 1950s he was able to live comfortably off the [[royalties]] he received, and in 1960 he funded a magazine in [[Harlem]], ''The Urbanite''. He also helped finance [[Civil rights movement|civil rights activists]].<ref name=kalish/> He wrote the music and lyrics for the 1963 [[Off Broadway|off-Broadway]] musical ''Ballad for Bimshire'' and also co-wrote the book with [[Loften Mitchell]].<ref name=amg/> The show opened at the Mayfair Theater on October 15 and ran for 74 performances. Burgie also wrote the lyrics for the [[national anthem]] of [[Barbados]], "[[In Plenty and In Time of Need]]", adopted in 1966 at the time of the island's independence.<ref name=kalish/> Burgie performed rarely after his initial success, but did appear in the early 1980s at venues including [[Gerde's Folk City]]. In 1996, the album ''Island in the Sun: The Songs of Irving Burgie'' was released, followed by ''The Father of Modern Calypso'' in 2003.<ref name=amg/> He was inducted into the [[Songwriters Hall of Fame]] in 2007.<ref name=hall/> His life story was recorded in the book ''Day-O!!! The Autobiography of Irving Burgie'' (2007).{{cn|date=August 2019}} Burgie died on November 29, 2019, at the age of 95, from heart failure, at his home in [[Queens]].<ref name=kalish>Jon Kalish, [https://www.npr.org/2019/11/30/783874259/irving-burgie-songwriter-who-helped-bring-calypso-to-america-dies-at-95 "Irving Burgie, Songwriter Who Helped Bring Calypso To America, Dies At 95"], ''NPR'', November 30, 2019.</ref><ref name="barbadostoday">{{cite web |url=https://barbadostoday.bb/2019/11/30/irving-burgie-dies/ |title=Irving Burgie dies |author=<!-- Not stated--> |date=November 30, 2019 |website=Barbados Today |access-date=November 30, 2019}}</ref><ref name="nydailynews">{{cite web |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-obit-irving-burgie-20191130-rnbmlebucbgazgdpkhvhbpsqvi-story.html |title=Songwriter Irving Burgie, the prolific man behind 'Day-O' and other calypso hits, dead at age 95 |last=McShane |first=Larry |date=November 30, 2019 |website=New York Daily News |publisher=Tribune Publishing Company |access-date=November 30, 2019}}</ref> His death was announced by Barbados' Prime Minister [[Mia Amor Mottley]] at the nation’s Independence Day Parade.<ref name=hall/> ==Discography== *''Lord Burgess' Calypso Serenaders - Folk Songs of Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad'' (Stinson SLP 62, 1954) *''Ballad For Bimshire. A New Musical of Barbados'' ([[London Records|London]] AM 48002, 1963) *''Lord Burgess and his Sun Islanders - Calypso Go Go'' ([[Buddah Records|Buddah]] BDS 5005, 1967) *''Lord Burgess Rides Again'' (Cherry Lane CLR-1-1984, 1984) *''Island in the Sun: The Songs of Irving Burgie'' (Angel 52222, 1996) *''The Father Of Modern Calypso'' (VLT-15170, 2003)<ref>[http://www.valley-entertainment.com/the-father-of-modern-calypso-1.html Irving Burgie – ''The Father of Modern Calypso'' album page], Valley Entertainment.</ref> ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * [http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=people&first=Irving&last=Burgie&middle= Irving Burgie] at the [[Lortel Archives|Internet Off Broadway Database]] * {{Discogs artist|Lord Burgess}} * {{Discogs artist|Irving Burgess}} as Irving Burgess * {{Discogs artist|Irving Burgie}} as Irving Burgie {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Burgess, Lord}} [[Category:American people of Barbadian descent]] [[Category:1924 births]] [[Category:2019 deaths]] [[Category:Writers from Brooklyn]] [[Category:Military personnel from New York City]] [[Category:Musicians from Brooklyn]] [[Category:Juilliard School alumni]] [[Category:National anthem writers]] [[Category:American songwriters]] [[Category:American army personnel of World War II]]'