Pan history 211: Good day and good-bye, Mr Darway

March 17, 2004

In my February 18 column on "pan," I sought to establish certain basic stages in the process of steelband evolution. Nowhere in that piece did I dispute that Alexander Ragtime Band was the first all-metal or all-"pan" band that appeared on the streets of Port-of-Spain. That is and has always been an accepted fact.

Yet amusingly, Mr Darway rushes to print in his usual erratic style, fighting up, wasting time and energy, arguing about something that was never in dispute. And he did so to such an extent that his piece was headlined "Ragtime, first band to use metal pans."

One can only wish that in future Mr Darway takes his time to read and understand what he reads. The key thesis statement of my piece that links the issues which I sought to address can be found in the following quotation:

"...If we do not comprehend that there has to be scientific distinction made between 'pan' as discarded container or utensils on which rhythm can be carried, and 'pan' as a highly specialised, crafted group of instruments, then we would be at a lost to comprehend this particular historical process of development..."

Darway fits the bill of all those who prove unable to make the scientific distinction: that there is "pan" and there is "pan."

George Goddard, whose work Mr Darway cites, makes the point that Alexander Ragtime Band, which incidentally Goddard insists emerged in 1940 and not 1938 as widely held, supplied "rhythm only" while the revellers chanted calypsoes such as "Mathilda," "After Johnny Drink Mih Rum," etc and that "...the day of the soloist was to come much later" (my emphasis).

My position is that the emergence of the "ping-pong" made the distinction between "pan" as crafted musical, melodic instrument and "pan" that always existed, according to Goddard's quoting of Roaring Lion and Prince Batson, both of whom maintain that even children used their empty water containers, pans, particularly on Good Fridays, to beat out their special "bobolee beat," and, of course , as I said before, all the tamboo-bamboo band members were known to pick up discarded pans, dustbins and hub-caps, etc whenever their bamboo disintegrated.

In the coming book, Men and Metal - The Hour Now Come - The History of All Stars, the details of the emergence of the soloist pan, "the ping-pong," will be revealed. In fact the exact year, day and time when the first steel orchestra, playing melodies comprising of a "four-note ping pong and a tune-boom," appeared on the streets of Port-of-Spain will be revealed.

And interestingly, it was not, repeat, not, a Carnival day. In so doing all the so-called "accident-theories" of the likes of Totee Wilson, Mussel Rat, Fisheye, Spree, etc will be debunked forever.

Darway also quotes Andrew "Pan" de Labastide as having sold to Spree Simon the pan that made Spree Simon famous, a fact that Darway says is supported by people such as John Slater, McKellar Sandiford, Fisheye Olliviere, Zigilee and others. But Darway does not quote Andrew "Pan" de Labastide fully. Listen to what de Labastide actually said when he gave that interview which is carried in the TNT Mirror of Friday March 6, 1987:

"...It was a five-note pan, and it cost Spree a shilling. In fact it became the talk of all the camps in those days. I think Spree added another note, making it six, later on. But that was in 1946...

"I started out by looking at Neville Jules down in Hell Yard. I used to look at what Jules was doing and do the same thing. Finally, I started fooling around with steeldrums like Jules.

"Although we were rivals as far as pan-side was concerned, we became good friends while working on pan-tuning..."

Is it Darway's dislike for any accolades to Jules and Hell Yard that makes him deliberately curtail de Labastide's statement to suit his own arguments? And it gets even more outrageous. Darway claims that "Joseph Rosemin, former tuner of Cordettes, said that the tuned boom and second pan was a creation of Sonny Roach of Sun Valley..."

Of course that was Darway's attempt to refute the claim in my piece that Neville Jules' tuned boom and grundigs and cuatro pans were original forerunners of the bass and the inside pans.

Despite the fact that Darway has been known in the past to support the claim that Ellie Mannette created everything, all "seven voices" of pan, suddenly today he credits Sonny Roach for something. At least he seems to be improving.

Recently Darway and Anthony Williams appeared on Channel 6's Morning Edition and Williams informed the population that when they were preparing for the TASPO tour of England they went to see what Neville Jules had accomplished with bass-pans.

Obviously it was Neville's reputation that demanded such a necessity. Darway sat silent at Anthony Williams' side while Williams made this most revealing statement. Now Darway has the audacity to ask the following question:

"...When TASPO was formed, great panmen like Ellie Mannette, Spree Simon, Dudley Smith, Patsy Haynes and Sterling Betancourt were members, where was Neville Jules?..."

It is such pronouncements that serve to further generate the myths, misinformation and blatant lies about pan evolution. Darway should know better.

I spoke to Lennox Pierre, before he died, on this matter and he confirmed that numerous overtures were made to get Jules on that TASPO tour but all the approaches were rejected.

In the coming book, History of All Stars, Neville's reasons will be revealed. But again Darway in his questioning of Jules' absence, as if to suggest one's absence from TASPO indicates lack of importance to pan history, shows that he continues to miss very salient distinctions: all the names he mentions in that question, save one, Ellie Mannette, were really noted "virtuoso players" as opposed to being notable pioneering pan inventors such as Jules, Ellie and Williams.

Such distinctions are crucial if we are to ever unravel and negotiate the maze that is the history of pan development. At this point, Sir Darway, not another word is required to be said. Good day and good-bye! parents?