The Merrymen, sometimes written as The MerryMen, are a popular calypso

Calypso music

Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...

 band from Barbados

Barbados

Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...

.

The Merrymen's career spans five decades, from the early 1960s to the 2000s. And still around and performing as of 2011.
At their height they were popular not just throughout the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

, but they had also managed to reach the number one spot on the charts of several Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an countries.

Their trademark sound is an upbeat form of calypso, reminiscent of what was popular in the Caribbean in the late 60's and early 70's, that samples liberally from latin

Latin American music

Latin American music, found within Central and South America, is a series of musical styles and genres that mixes influences from Spanish, African and indigenous sources, that has recently become very famous in the US.-Argentina:...

, funk

Funk

Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...

, tuk

Tuk band

A tuk band is a kind of Barbadian musical ensemble, which plays tuk music. They consist of a double-headed bass drum, triangle, flute and a snare drum; the traditional fiddle has most recently been replaced by the pennywhistle...

 and spouge

Spouge

Spouge On earlier album labels the word appears as spooge. A Music form of Barbados created by Dalton Bishop who performed as Jackie Opel in the 1960s. It is differentiated from Reggae by having a more even and repetitive backbeat...

 musical styles.
Lead singer Emile Straker's whistling

Whistling

Human whistling is the production of sound by means of carefully controlling a stream of air flowing through a small hole. Whistling can be achieved by creating a small opening with one's lips and then blowing or sucking air through the hole...

 is one of the most distinctive components of their sound, and often serves as the primary focus of the musical interludes in their songs.
They have produced several memorable covers

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 in this style, including versions of "Island in the Sun" (originally by Harry Belafonte

Harry Belafonte

Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...

), "Jamaica Farewell

Jamaica Farewell

"Jamaica Farewell" is a calypso about the beauties of the West Indian Islands.The lyrics for the song were written by Lord Burgess . Lord Burgess was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1926. His mother was from Barbados and his father was from Virginia. The song first appeared on Harry Belafonte's...

", "Hot Hot Hot" and "Mary's Boy Child

Mary's Boy Child

"Mary's Boy Child" is a 1956 Christmas song, written by Jester Hairston. With its religious content, it is also widely performed as a Christmas carol....

".Their biggest hit was in any case "Big Bamboo"

In addition to their characteristic sound, they are also known for the distinctive costume

Costume

The term costume can refer to wardrobe and dress in general, or to the distinctive style of dress of a particular people, class, or period. Costume may also refer to the artistic arrangement of accessories in a picture, statue, poem, or play, appropriate to the time, place, or other circumstances...

s they wear while performing and on their album and promotional photographs.
The costumes are inspired by troubadour

Troubadour

A troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages . Since the word "troubadour" is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz....

 costumes from the High Middle Ages

High Middle Ages

The High Middle Ages was the period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....

, a nod to one of the inspirations for their name (which may also refer to 14th century outlaw

Outlaw

In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...

s, or Robin Hood

Robin Hood

Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....

's band of "Merry Men").

For many years they played regular shows aboard the Jolly Roger cruise in Barbados, but now have a much more limited appearance schedule, performing at the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary in an after hours dinner show. In 2010 they played a charity concert in Niagara-on-the-lake Ontario, Canada, There was an audience of nearly 3000 people. Also they played in September of 2011 at a casino in Quebec called the casino du Lac Leamy in from of a sold out crowd of 310 people. In Novermber they made a specail appearance on the CBC Festival Stage, also in November the group confirmed they would be returning to the Jolly Roger Pirate Ship, from January to March they will be playing dinner shows from 5pm to 9pm on a fun-packed sail up the west coast of Barbados.

History

They played their first show in 1962 at the Drift Wood Cellar Bar, one of the many bars along "The Gap"

Saint Lawrence Gap

Saint Lawrence Gap, Christ Church is one of the best known neighborhoods in the country of Barbados. Sometimes just called "The Gap", Saint Lawrence Gap is located on the southern coast of Barbados along the islands' Highway 7...

, reportedly getting only the equivalent of Bds$36 (US$

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

18) for their performance.

Their first album, Carribean Treasure Chest was released in 1962.

Personnel

• Emile Straker - Lead Vocal, Guitar

• Robin Hunte - Tenor Guitar, Electric Mandolin

• Willie Kerr - Lead Guitar or stephen fields: guitar vocal

• Chris Gibbs - Bass Guitar

• Peter Roett - Drums & Percussion or Robert Foster 1966 - 1976

Discography

• Introducing the Merrymen

• Land of the Sea and Sun

• Fun in the Sun

• Just for You

• You Sweeten Me

• The Merrymen Go From Dusk 'til Dawn

• Sing and Swing With the Merrymen

• Merry Christmas

• Beautiful Barbados

• Colour It Calypso

• Caribbean Treasure Chest

• Standing Room Only

• The More the Merrier

• Sun Living

• Don't Stop the Carnival

• Caribeat

• Merry Moods

• Calypso and Island Songs

• Barbados Memories

• At the Caribbean Pepperpot

• Sugar-Jam

• Jolly Roger Jump-up

• Come to my Island

• No Big Thing

• The Best of the Merrymen

• Party Animal

• Sweet Fuh Days

• Greatest Hits Vol.1

• Islands

• Yellow Bird