Irving Burgie
is the composer of some 34 songs for the singer Harry Belafonte
including eight of the eleven songs on the Belafonte album Calypso, which was #1 on the
Billboard charts for thirty-two weeks and became the first
album of any kind to sell one million copies (1956-57). He also
wrote songs for the Kingston Trio in their hey-day.
Burgie's songs have sold over one hundred million records world-wide,
and his music has been performed by artists everywhere, including
Mantovani, Julio Iglesias, Miriam Makeba, and The Royal Philharmonic
Orchestra.
Burgie's autobiography is set amid a wider social tapestry that
depicts the plight, joys and foibles of one black family in pre-World
War II Brooklyn. After the war, he went to school under the G.I.
Bill and a few years later he made a meteoric rise to the top
echelons of the music business as the songwriter who composed
the songs "Day-O," "Jamaica Farewell," and
"Island in the Sun." His memoir is an inspiring and
novel account of one of the most significant eras in American
history. |
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"The man behind the 1956 calypso explosion."
- Pete Seeger. "The songs
and music are unforgettable and, after you read this, Irving
Burgie will be too." - Whoopi Goldberg.
"He wrote brilliant music and lyrical
words that found their way into the hearts of people all over
the world." - Maya Angelou.
"Such is the heritage of Irving Burgie who, along with Harry
Belafonte, provided the prelude to Jamaican reggae in the 'globalization'
of African-Caribbean popular music." - Rex
Nettleford. "Irving Burgie's
autobiography immediately draws the reader into a life that captures
the imagination and holds the interest." - Sidney
Poitier. "A wonderful journey of struggle
and triumph." - Abbey Lincoln "Irving
not only opened the world of calypso music and made it accessible
to the public; he was also tremendously successful at transforming
folk influenced music into pop culture." - Karen Sherry
(Senior Vice President, ASCAP)
PAPERBACK: 234 Pages, 50 photographs. |
