Biography of Pe'lay
That year he placed 3rd in the competition and then went on to win the title
four consecutive times from 1969-1972, and then again in 1978. In 1971 he
became the first St. Lucian calypsonian/singer to record his music with two
45rpm records. In 1972 he represented St. Lucia at the Calypso Monarch of
the Caribbean competition which was held in Antigua and placed 3rd in that
competition.
In 1973 he felt the need for St. Lucians and generally West Indians to have
their own traditional songs at Christmas in place of the North American and
European songs. After listening to Nap Hepburn's Christmas Classic
"Listen Mama" he decided to write his first Christmas calypso
"Merry Christmas" (St. Lucian Style). This song became the
platform for the launching of many other Christmas songs. Today Pe'lay is
considered the pioneer of local Christmas songs in St. Lucia. Merry
Christmas (St. Lucian Style) was first recorded in 1975 by the Tru-Tones
Orchestra, and it was the popularity of that song and the encouragement of his
manager (Raymond "Clibb" Charles) that made him concentrate on writing
more Christmas songs. In November 1973 Pe'lay got into an auto accident
which left him a paraplegic, and he was residing in New York. In 1977,
after what he describes as relatively easy, he released his first full length
album of Christmas songs containing calypso, spouge, reggae, and
Creole.
The two major St. Lucian standards of this album (1) Merry Christmas (St. Lucian
Style) and (2) Ce Tradicion Nwel, helped to establish Pe'lay as a household name
in St. Lucia at Christmas, and gained him his country's Silver Piton Medal
(SLPM) in 1986.
Pe'lay has won the Calypso Monarch title 5 times, the Road March title
twice, and has won the Soca Monarch once. From 1966-2001 he has written
close to 200 calypsos and in June 2001 published a book containing 100 of those
calypsos. From these, 66 have been recorded by him on 17 records, tapes and
cds, and about 20 or more by other artistes.
In 1997 he decided to put his Christmas album on CD, and since he had no
parang melodies on the album, five new songs were added to give it the complete
Caribbean flavour.
In 1999 he again wrote eight (8) new Christmas songs for Lady Leen, making her the
first female calypsonian in St. Lucia to have a complete CD of Christmas songs
with the variety of Creole, Calypso, Parang, Reggae and sentimental rhythms.
For Christmas 2001, he again wrote a single for the Lord Jackson, taking his
tally of Christmas songs up to 23. By the way, on his Christmas CD, there
is a bonus song entitled "Happy New Year". Again making him the first
calypsonian here to write a song about the New Year's tradition. Pe'lay
says that there is a major reason for writing songs for both seasons, because
after Christmas we go into the New Year festivities and so he would really like
to encourage others to explore this avenue, and the same goes for festivals such
as "Jouney Kweol", etc.
Through his long career, Pe'lay has performed in many of the Caribbean
islands, in London UK, in New York and Connecticut, USA, and as far away as Malaysia,
Kenya and Taiwan.
He is extremely happy that he started the ball rolling for the composing and
singing of local Christmas songs. Each year now new releases are being
produced and he hopes that this trend will be passed on to the next generation.
Among his numerous awards, he has been inducted into St. Lucia's Music Hall
of Fame; the St. Lucia Calypsonians' Hall of Fame; was voted St. Lucian
Calypsonian of the 20th Century, and in January 2002 was awarded a plaque by the
National Action Cultural Committee of Trinidad & Tobago for his contribution
to the development of calypso and the arts in St. Lucia and the Caribbean.
Apart from being St. Lucia's leading song writer and composer, he is also the
artiste who has the most recorded works in St. Lucia.
Pe'lay started his musical career with the Turks Carnival Band as a panist
in the Steel Orchestra. He then moved on to playing with the Big Six
Orchestra and then to calypso. He continues to play his mas each year and
of course is still a force to be reckoned with in the calypso arena. In
his illustrious career as a calypsonian, he has failed to make it to the finals
of the calypso competition just twice out of the 24 times he has competed.
He has been a writer and composer for many of St. Lucia's calypsonians (both
young and old), and lately is into production, and has produced 3 CD's for two
of those artistes, which along with all his latest songs are recorded under his
label "Pe'lay Music".
He is presently he Treasurer of the St. Lucia Calypsonians' Association, he
Treasurer of the National Council of and for Persons with Disabilities, and the
Financial Director of the Hewanorra Musical Society.
Pe'lay was born in Vieux Fort on January 4, 1944. He is married and has
two daughters and one granddaughter.
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