Another stream of the steelband creation and performance was joined by the so-called “White Boys” or “College Boys” bands and players who emerged as early as the 1940s.
Dixieland, Dixie Stars, Silver Stars and Tropitone were among the early bands. Ernest Ferreira, Curtis Pierre, the Pouchet Brothers–Junior and Edgar, and Lawford Dupres, the last named, all of 86 years, still “beating pan”, is the one telling his story and that of the panmen, the bands of the era and the contribution they made to the growth, development and acceptance of the steelband.
He was assuredly a College Boy (St Mary’s) but classification as a “White Boy” is another thing: “My father was brown skin and my mother was fair,” Dupres says. In addition to skin colour and texture of hair, “middleclassness” had to do with wealth and property ownership.
“My father never owned a home; we always rented, and we lived in a variety of places,” Dupres says. Belmont, where he was born, Woodbrook, San Juan, Mt Lambert, Abercromby Street, even Mayaro.
“The sound and a melody which could be played on the early tenor attracted me. My first involvement came through a lady who ironed for the family. She had a boyfriend who worked on the American Base. When he visited her, we would take walks in the Mc Donald Street area; the rhythm and the iron section, no melody,” says Dupres. Read More
Rakhal-Fraser, T. (n.d.). Lawford Dupres ... A “College Boy” behind social acceptance of pan. Www.guardian.co.tt. Retrieved October 2, 2023, from https://www.guardian.co.tt/article/lawford-dupres--a-college-boy-behind-social-acceptance-of-pan-6.2.1815469.21dc2ee237
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