Best of The Beat on Afropop: Salute to Irving Burgie--The Best Songwriter You Never Heard Of

<p>Where would Harry Belafonte be today without “Day-O”? That iconic calypso song, which became Belafonte’s trademark, and undoubtedly contributed to his worldwide recognition, was composed by the songwriter Irving Burgie. His family was originally from Barbados; Burgie was born and raised in Brooklyn’s Caribbean community. The singer/songwriter composed eight of the songs featured on Belafonte’s 1956 debut album, <em>Calypso</em>, and 26 more on two subsequent iconic Belafonte recordings.</p> <p>This feature, by <em>Beat</em> contributor Justine Ketola, was published on the occasion of Burgie’s second solo album, <em>The Father of Modern Calypso</em>, released in 2003, his first full record of his own, with 16 songs on which he sings and plays guitar.</p> <p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/01/arts/music/irving-burgie-dead.html" target="_blank">New York Times obit</a></p> <p>He had a long and very fruitful career, and was honored with accolades from many governments and institutions. His autobiography, titled <em>Day-O!!!</em>, was published in 2007. Burgie died on Nov. 29, 2019 at the age of 95.</p> <div class="video-container"><iframe loading="lazy" width="500" height="281" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/PMwS8LpUtdU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div> <p><br></p> <div class="video-container"><iframe loading="lazy" width="500" height="281" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/lDY5oGHiXtU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div> <p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Day-O-The-Autobiography-Irving-Burgie/dp/142572504X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369361235&sr=8-1&keywords=irving+burgie" target="_blank">Day-O!!!: The Autobiography of Irving Burgie</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.irvingburgie.com/biography.php" target="_blank">Website</a></p> <p><a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/client-uploads/pdf/Beat226Burgie.pdf" target="_blank"><strong>READ OR DOWNLOAD PDF HERE<br></strong></a><a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/client-uploads/pdf/Beat226Burgie.pdf" target="_blank"></a><br><strong><a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/articles/the-beat-goes-on-intro" target="_blank">ABOUT “BEST OF THE BEAT ON AFROPOP”</a></strong></p>