Who is The Mighty Sparrow?
Slinger Francisco was born in the village of Grand Roy, Grenada. He moved to Trinidad at an early age. He began singing calypso in the early 1950’s adapting the calypso nickname Mighty Sparrow. He earned his under whelming nickname (most calypso singers dealt in more self-aggrandizing names such as Executor and Lion) by virtue of his stage performances, which involved him moving around rapidly while most other singers were stationary. Sparrow was rewarded with the Calypso Crown of 1956 for his song “Jean And Dinah”, which protested about the fallout from Americans who had left Trinidad’s military bases. At the same time he lent his support to Eric Williams’ People’s National Movement, writing many calypso songs in praise of the nationalist leader. His anthem “Cricket Lovely Cricket” was a particularly painful reminder to UK cricket fans after the humiliating drubbing West Indian star batsman Garfield Sobers gave to the English team in the early 50s. In politics, however, he subsequentl
