Ed Watson, a bandleader and arranger who played a key role in the development of soca music, died in his sleep yesterday at the age of 93.
His family announced his passing in a Facebook post.
Popularly known as Dr Soca and the King of Soca, Herbert Ed Watson was born on September 3, 1930, the second of four children to Roddy and Emma Watson.
He inherited his musical talents from his father, who was a also bandleader, and played the flute and clarinet. However, Watson’s formal training in music didn’t begin until he was 17 years old.
At age 24, he started a band with a guitar player, a drummer and himself on the piano. The band eventually became Ed Watson and the Brass Circle, a fixture on the calypso circuit for several decades.
The band’s lead singers over the years included Versatile, Errol Ashe and Singing Dianne, who enjoyed successful solo calypso careers, recording a series of hit songs through the 1970s and 1980s with distinctive musical arrangements by Watson.
Watson got his first break when his musical arrangement for Welcome New Lovers by Pat Boone was recorded by Major Carr, owner of Cook Caribbean Records, a recording studio located on Sackville Street, Port-of-Spain. Read More
“Dr Soca” dies. (n.d.). Www.guardian.co.tt. Retrieved July 1, 2024, from https://www.guardian.co.tt/news/dr-soca-dies-6.2.2040840.6cd516cabd
Comments