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Interviews at Mighty Terror's Funeral
TriniSoca.com Reporters
Event Date: March 19, 2007
 | | | Mighty Terror | |
On March 14, 2007, Mr. Fitzgerald Cornelius 'Mighty Terror' Henry, popularly known as 'The Golden Voice' died at the age of eighty-six after a prolonged battle with cancer. Funeral services for Mr. Henry were held on the 19th March, 2007, at the Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral in Port of Spain thence to the St. James Crematorium where his body was cremated.
TriniSoca.com interviewed some of Trinidad and Tobago's renowned Calypsonians, Mas people and musicians who were gathered at Mr. Henry's funeral to commemorate his many achievements and contributions to the art form. These are their testimonies:
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Joseph 'Charlie Tempo' Charlemagne
 | | | Joseph Charlemagne | |
Since Terror returned from England he sang Calypsos that were appreciated. I have been following Calypso from since 1980 with Sparrow's Young Brigade. As a man, I always honour a great Calypsonian. Terror was a great Calypsonian. He was known as the man with the golden voice and we have lost him. It is a sad occasion today, but when the time comes, man must go. I appreciate all the Calypsonians and people who attended his funeral service this morning.
Kenroy 'Black Prince' Smith
 | | | Kenroy Smith | |
There is only one word to describe Terror's music and that is 'great'. He did a lot of good music. I am a Terror fan. Outside of Calypso, Terror and I have been friends. I visited him at home and so on. We used to hang out and crack some jokes by the barber shop on Nelson Street. He was a cool musical genius. Some of his songs I liked were "Pan Talent", "Last Year's Happiness" and "Callaloo Tonic". He had quite a number of songs. As a matter of fact, I have a tape I play regularly with "Chinese Children Calling Me Daddy". I have been following Terror since in the Jukebox days. It is sad to know he is gone, but then again, all of us got to go.
Christopher 'Tobago Black Messiah' Daniel
 | | | Christopher Daniel | |
I have known Terror from since the time he came back from England. He used to be by a barber shop on Duke Street. What inspired me most with him was when he brought out the song "Pan Talent". He was saying something about the Steelband Movement which was really interesting. It was about how the pan came into being. That really touched me and from then on I looked at him as my icon. He was very inspiring to me. As a matter of fact, my CD which I was to bring out this year was dedicated to him. The name of the CD was "Black Messiah: The Moment of Truth". As he was sick I wanted some of the proceeds to go toward paying his medical bills and so on. Now that he is gone it is a great loss to Steelband fraternity. I extend my condolences to his family.
Samuel 'Brigo' Abraham
 | | | Samuel Abraham | |
Terror was a Calypsonian I admired as my mentor. He sang "Chinese Children Calling Me Daddy", "Ah Had a Little Monkey", "Calaloo Tonic" and some other tunes I cannot recall right now. Those were my songs I picked out because I am a humorist. Anything with humour, I know it is for laughter. I had 'Terror' very high up as an artiste that is real and not artificial. We are not sure to get another 'Terror'. Calypso is a story told to educate and inform. It is news and some people say it is the poor man's newspaper. A Calypsonian tells you what is happening behind your back so that you would know what era we are in and where we should put a square peg to deal with the young and the elderly. We are supposed to respect people like 'Mighty Terror', 'Lord Melody', 'Lord Kitchener', 'Mighty Spoiler', 'Mighty Cypher', 'Lord Cristo' and all these older Calypsonians who paved the foundation so that today you could have Soca, which is a child of Calypso. May 'Terror' rest in peace. I know his spirit will be around to deal with the art form.
Hollis 'Chalkdust' Liverpool
 | | | Hollis Liverpool | |
The 'Mighty Terror' was my friend. He was a guy whenever you meet him in the Calypso arena he always had a joke to give you. It was either some joke about what is happening in the world of Calypsonians. For example, when 'Crazy' won the Calypso King Competition, he was very angry because 'Crazy' wore a pajama pants and beat him and he wore a suit.
On the other hand, what I remember about him was his use of the minor key in terms of making melodies. He had a wonderful way of marrying the major key and the minor key which is very difficult to do. He was a master of that. Besides that, he lived for Calypso. His whole life, clothes, hands, everything was centered around the Calypso art form. Whatever he was doing, wherever he was going, whatever he was contemplating always had Calypso in it and that was the greatest about the man. It was because of him people like me and other younger persons latched on to the art form. Some of his songs I liked were "Pan Talent", "Steelband Jamboree" and " Calaloo Tonic". When he came back here in 1965, I remember him singing "Calaloo Tonic" and "Keeping Calypso Clean". Those were some of his most outstanding songs. We hope as the Bishop said, that with the passing of Terror, our boys would be a little closer to one other. We also hope they would keep the Calypso more popular, more jocular and keep it clean, as Terror said.
Mark 'Contender' John
 | | | Mark 'Contender' John | |
I have known the 'Mighty Terror' from my coming into Calypso. The first four Calypso seasons I sang in a Calypso tent, I happened to be singing with the 'Mighty Terror'. That was back in 1972 at the Regal Calypso Tent when he sang "Pan In Tune". Following that, we sang in a number of tents and we developed a friendship.
He lived in Laventille, which we now call 'East Moorings'. As a young fellow I would always see him. I always seized the opportunity to be among the greats liking Calypso and following Calypso. I always liked tunes such as "Pan Talent". I had known 'Terror' from those times.
After Regal Calypso Tent, we sang in a number of tents together like Music Gallery, Sparrow and Kaiso House. He was always the kind of person you could talk too. We used to meet many times before the season. He would coast a song that he was coming with and I would coast mine and he would advise me.
I liked his song "Pan Talent". As a youth coming up that was one of the songs that really hooked me and had me interested in Calypso. We have lost an icon from the art form. I hope a lot of people could follow in his footsteps and continue to make the kind of Calypsos people like 'Terror' made. I hope people contribute as he contributed to the art form.
David Edwards
 | | | David Edwards | |
'Terror' was a great man. I remember when he was making the tune "Pan Talent" and he wanted a fella to put down the tune. I was at the Common Wealth Arts Festival in London and after the tour I came back down here, but not specifically for that. 'Terror' got in touch with Joey Lewis to find a panman and Joey said to him, "I have the right man for you; a man called David Edwards". I went into the Strand Cinema and I put down the tune "Pan Talent". 'Terror' was pleased with my performance and that is how I got to know him.
Prior to that, we always bounced up each other and would have a drink here and there. He used to say, "Boy you could play that pan too good".
He liked helping people. He was always a cool, quiet gentleman and he used to give a lot of jokes.
His favorite Calypsonian was 'Lord Melody' who was a great Calypsonian. A lot of people do not talk about 'Lord Melody' but I could tell you about him. He was known and talked about internationally. I played on tourist boats all in Miami and the people would only ask for Melody's tunes like "Mama Look a Boo Boo" and "Shame and Scandal". I do not think 'Melody' got what was due to him in this country. But, this is how it goes. Kisses go by favors.
I have my band which is called 'Gale Star's' and I do a lot of arranging. We may not know music but we have the intelligence with us and that is how the pan started. I have to say hats off to bands like Invaders. I was born and bred in Newtown and it's nice to know that most of the top panmen came from Invaders, even though people do not want to say that. You have fellas like Earl La Pierre, Ray Holman, Pelham Goddard and many more.
I just got honoured by Pantrinbago. We were honoured about three months ago and we had a big thing at the Crowne Plaza Hotel and the Ambassador Hotel. I must say, God bless Patrick Arnold for honouring us. They brought down all the guys who were outside. Some of us hadn't seen each other for about thirty to thirty-five years. It was a nice scene.
I have to give Chalkdust what is due to him too because he is always in my corner when I go to New York. What a lot of panmen are doing now is what I have already learned. I was not a one-pan player; I can play all the pans. When it comes to arranging, I am not afraid of that. Most of the panmen go up and down like 'snakes and ladder' with one thing over and over. They go up and down the place but they do not have any expansion. This is why I must give credit to bands like 'Catelli All Stars' who are Panorama winners. That is my band. I say that because I like how the fella put down his arrangement. You could see the lead from here where he is going and you could still hear the melodies playing because it is ringing in your ears. I am supposed to be in New York in the next two months. I have to go and do some work in Houston, Texas.
I do not think 'Super Blue' was treated good in this country either. Everybody goes through a period and everybody has a fault. But I thought these guys would have come together and give a show in aid of 'Super Blue' and the money they make, they put it as a funding so that he can go every month and every week and get something. It is through him they are making a dollar but nobody is thinking about that. Everybody is for themselves. Nobody wants to help one another and this is the problem we have in this country. I came from a barrack yard. My mother sold corn, châtaigne, pewah and tipitambu and we had to go and look for wood for her to boil those things. Whether is a Calypsonian or a panman, we are supposed to help the one who is in trouble.
Michael 'Protector' Legerton
 | | | Michael Legerton | |
The man was great. He was indeed an icon. He was someone that we would love. As I said in my statements, we love the man. His legacy will remain with us for as long as we are here in this life.
Two of his songs that stood out for me were "Pan Talent" and "Last Year's Happiness". May he rest in peace.
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The Mighty Terror is Remembered
By TriniSoca.com Reporters : March 21, 2007
Eulogy for Fitzgerald Henry aka 'Mighty Terror'
By Alvin C. Daniell : March 21, 2007
Remembering the Mighty Terror in pictures:
www.trinisoca.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=68441
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