“I feel we have a spiritual relationship as she crossed so many boundaries. She did so much so young and I’m sure that one day my song will be played in front of Carole King and she will cry.”
By Ian Woolley
Eddy Grant is a true survivor in every sense of the word…
Plaisance 2017 (credit Amanda Richards)
Born in Guyana, before moving to England, I asked him what he remembered from that early childhood.
“It was a little village with wide open spaces and we had a lot of fun. Everybody cared for each other and everybody looked after each other. I was brought up on Calypso music and so when I came to England and I started writing my own songs we created social change at the time. At a time when we were copying American music.”
Along with John Hall, Pat Lloyd and brothers Derv and Lincoln Gordon, Eddy’s band were the first successful multi-racial band and at the beginning of their career opened for the likes of Solomon Burke, Bo Diddly and Wilson Pickett.
Eddy elaborated “in some ways those guys were the teachers of modern pop music because even the Beatles learned from Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Motown’s Dozier & Holland, and Little Richard of course. Plus Chuck Berry at the top end of it all and us boys from north London were playing with these gods of rock and roll, rhythm and blues and of course soul music. I remember we were playing one of the premier black clubs in London called the All-Star Club and were opening for Solomon Burke.”
“We were so good and entertaining that Solomon couldn’t come on for a long time because people were screaming ‘the equals the equals’. He remembered that over forty years later when he was playing at Glastonbury and we were on the same bill. I went over to pay my respects to him and when I walked through the door he said ‘oh no not again’ and then he said, “you see that guy…he gave me a lot of trouble years ago.”
Their chart-topping single Baby Come Back (which was written by him) was originally the B side and it didn’t immediately get the attention the song deserved.
Was he surprised when it eventually topped the charts in 1968?
“I knew it was the strong song when I played a demo at a school and they liked it. When guys like Emperor Rosko were playing that song and then others around Europe started playing it and so it was only a matter of time that it got to number one”.
In those early days, Grant worked with bands like Pyramids and Prince Buster. What special memories did he have of them?
“Prince Buster is responsible for a lot in reggae music. He was there from the early days of ska. I remember him coming over with his guitarist Lyn Tate in around 1965 to do a tour. Everything you hear in reggae music today from a guitar is Lyn Tate”.
Other hits followed, with two top ten hits Viva Bobby Jo and then in 1970 Black Skinned Blue Eyed Boys. That same year was a major turning point in Grant’s life and one he won’t ever forget. Whilst driving back from an award ceremony in Germany, a freak storm caused the band’s car to flip over at high speed and Eddy was thrown out of the car onto a barbed wire fence. Lucky to escape with his life, at the time it was feared he would lose a leg.
“Thankfully the skill of the German doctors and surgeons saved my leg but I still bear the scars today from the barbed wire that I landed on. At the time I had just got married and my wife and family had to look after me”. On New Year’s Eve 1970 he suffered a heart attack at the age of just 23.
Eddy explained “All through my life I’ve never drank, smoked or taken drugs and so I could never understand why my heart was giving me such a problem when I had this. I went back to Guyana and my mother and grandmother looked after me and nursed me back to health. So when I eventually got back to my old self once more after having some considerable time out, I knew then that the touring for me had to stop and leaving the band was the right thing for me to do. That was when I started to open my own studio which I did in 1974.”
“We were so lucky that in Derv Gordon, we had one of the best live singers in England and I wrote songs for him even after I left the band. By not being in the band, I had more time to do this.”
Now Eddy has finally moved back home to Guyana, and his love for his country has never been more prominent. Guyana’s Cheddi Jagan International Airport unveiled a mural of him welcoming visitors to the country. In February, he was named a recipient of the Cacique’s ‘Crown of Honour’, a prestigious award in his hometown.
Eddy explained “we have always had demerara sugar but now we have Texas tea. Yes, vast deposits of oil have been found beneath our country and the future’s very bright for our island. As anybody who visits us will see..it’s Eldorado.”
Now with his recent album called Plaisance which is named after Eddy’s Guyanian home, the debut single from that album called Is Carole King Here? So what has the singer-songwriter meant to him personally?
“I feel we have a spiritual relationship as she crossed so many boundaries. She did so much so young and I’m sure that one day my song will be played in front of Carole King and she will cry.”
“Artists don’t do that for other artists but my tribute to her is 100% wholesome.”
And with the latest single Now We’re All Together getting lots of airplay on you tube and the radio, seems Eddy is back over the airwaves again. To order the album, or to find out more about Eddy Grant, go to www.eddygrant.com