robert mitchum calypso! julen azpitarte
Robert Mitchum (USA, 1917-1997) was widely known as the laconic anti-hero in Hollywood noir films as portrayed in some of the murky and passionate films he starred in: Out Of The Past (1947), Angel Face (1952), The Night Of The Hunter (1959) and Cape Fear (1962). As well as all of that, he was also involved, in the company of actress Lila Leeds, in a notorious drugs bust in 1957 when he was stopped by the police and found to be in the possession of marihuana. Asked what his profession was he humorously replied: “Ex-actor.” The incident enhanced his tough guy image even more.
Besides being a hard-partying drug user, he was also a music lover. In fact, in his early days
he was a member of a theatre group where he wrote many songs and monologues to his sister which he would perform in nightclubs. Mitchum was a good singer – he sings in quite a few of his films. Proof of this is the album Calypso Is Like So that he recorded for Capitol Records in 1957. The record has just been released as an LP by both Bear Family and Rumble record companies; two different versions with the same cover.
The album originated in a film by director Robert Parrish. Seemingly, while making the film Fire Down Below (1957) in Tobago and Trinidad – others do say it was while filming John Huston’s Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison –, he discovered the steamy local rhythms and he spent the long gaps between film-shoots learning and singing local Calypso songs. Fellow actors Jack Lemmon and Rita Hayworth noted his penchant for the music and suggested he do it professionally. On return to the US he went to Capitol’s recording studios and recorded the record. Bear in mind that at that time actor and singer Harry Belafonte had released the record Calypso and calypso music was constantly being played at all the fashionable clubs and dancehalls.
Calypso Is Like So..., is a very danceable and entertaining record particularly because Mitchum mixes his own accent with a lilting Caribbean one. With the help of musicians and songwriters, he ditched guitars for banjos and used metal percussion to drive the record along. The arrangements are stellar and he produced a fine record. Listen to From A Logical Point Of View where he proudly suggests “better marry a woman uglier than you” as he knocks back glass after glass of rum. 10 years later he would record country-sounding That Man, Robert Mitchum, Sings....
Besides being a hard-partying drug user, he was also a music lover. In fact, in his early days
he was a member of a theatre group where he wrote many songs and monologues to his sister which he would perform in nightclubs. Mitchum was a good singer – he sings in quite a few of his films. Proof of this is the album Calypso Is Like So that he recorded for Capitol Records in 1957. The record has just been released as an LP by both Bear Family and Rumble record companies; two different versions with the same cover.
The album originated in a film by director Robert Parrish. Seemingly, while making the film Fire Down Below (1957) in Tobago and Trinidad – others do say it was while filming John Huston’s Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison –, he discovered the steamy local rhythms and he spent the long gaps between film-shoots learning and singing local Calypso songs. Fellow actors Jack Lemmon and Rita Hayworth noted his penchant for the music and suggested he do it professionally. On return to the US he went to Capitol’s recording studios and recorded the record. Bear in mind that at that time actor and singer Harry Belafonte had released the record Calypso and calypso music was constantly being played at all the fashionable clubs and dancehalls.
Calypso Is Like So..., is a very danceable and entertaining record particularly because Mitchum mixes his own accent with a lilting Caribbean one. With the help of musicians and songwriters, he ditched guitars for banjos and used metal percussion to drive the record along. The arrangements are stellar and he produced a fine record. Listen to From A Logical Point Of View where he proudly suggests “better marry a woman uglier than you” as he knocks back glass after glass of rum. 10 years later he would record country-sounding That Man, Robert Mitchum, Sings....
