Ronnie Butler is arguably one of the most loved and prolific Bahamian singer-songwriters. His career has spanned more than five decades and many people refer to this maestro of calypso, Goombay and rake n' scrape music as "The Godfather" of Bahamian music.
Butler, 78, has penned songs that decades later people still clamor to hear him perform. And he is known for creating his style of Bahamian music -- a rhythm that he developed based on Latin rhythms he heard on the radio during the 1970s. He also adopted a salsa and samba style of bass that emphasized the weak beats and fused it with the Goombay rhythms to create a new style of Bahamian music. As he did in his heyday, Butler still holds a crowd transfixed when he takes to the stage to perform even though he's wheelchair bound.
Among Butler's popular hit singles are "Burma Road", "Going Back to the Island" and "Pretty Brown Eyes". His single "Married Man" was featured in Tyler Perry's "Why Did I Get Married Too?" which was shot in The Bahamas. And who can forget the single "Age Ain't Nuttin but a Number", or "Crow Calypso", "Lookin Pretty an Smilin", "Bahama Rock", "Look What You Do" or the tongue-in-cheek "Big Bamboo". And that's just a sampling of the music he's produced.
Butler started out in the entertainment industry at age 16. He played maracas with a group called the Alexander Trio at the Carlton House Hotel (which used to be located at East Street north, opposite the police station). The other members played the bongo and the guitar. Today he has been recognized many times over for his accomplishments in the music arena. His latest honoring will come at the end of the month when he is named a Caribbean Muzik Festival (CMF) Living Legend, an award that is given in recognition of a person's lifetime accomplishments in the field of entertainment.
Butler is among a group of six named Living Legends for the 2015 Bahamas version of the festival, along with Trinidad and Tobago's Calypso Rose McCartha Sandy-Lewis, Cuban singer and dancer Omara Portuondo: South African Hugh Masekela; Jamaican Jimmy Cliff, and Barbados' Emile Straker.
The award will be given to Butler and the honorees during the October 28-31 event at which 28 acts have been booked to perform at the event that has been dubbed as uniting the world with music --Soweto Gospel Choir, Peruchin Jazz Band, Boukman Eksperyans, Spice & Company, Third World, The Tingum Dem Orchestra, Lady Saw, Alison Hinds, Etana, Shinehead, Chaka Demus & Pliers, Admiral Bailey, Kes The Band, Visage, Ras Iley, John King & FWI All Stars, K.B., D. Mac, Ira Storr and The Spank Band, Spred the Dub Band, Skool Band, Ziggy Rankin, Geno D., Causion, Ancient Man, Funky D., Tony Greene and Elon Moxey.
Butler will be the third Bahamian to receive a CMF Living Legend Award behind Freddie Munnings and Tony "Exuma" McKay.
It's another in a long list of accolades that has been heaped upon him, and which he all holds in the same regard.
"I don't look at any one award above the others. I have been given awards from schools and organizations and radio stations, and I don't regard one over the other. I cherish them all, no matter how big or how small," said Butler.
From his early beginnings when he worked construction from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and then played music from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., Butler had no idea that he had the talent that could raise his status to that of "legend". And that music he wrote and recorded early on would be popular decades later -- that people would request he sing them whenever he performs.
"I never thought this far ahead," said Butler. "I wrote "Burma Road" in 1965, and didn't record it until 1969. But from then to now, if you count the years, there's no way I could believe that 40-odd years later the song would still be popular in the country."
And the music maestro says he really could not pinpoint a time or place when he realized he had talent.
"As a youngster, most of us, especially here in The Bahamas were used to being dragged to church -- whether we wanted to go or not, so we started singing in church. And I always liked singing, and when I started with that trio, I didn't realize I was going to be singing at this point or as a profession, but I always liked it, so when I started playing with that Trio, it was "Mary Anne" and "Brown Skin Gal". I sang those songs with the guys who I was working with, and it developed from there."
The much-loved Butler has never had any formal training. His talent was natural.
"I never went to any kind of music lesson or voice lessons. I played a number of instruments, and played them well enough to be the bandleader of my bands -- "Ronnie and the Ramblers" [which became a household name for almost two decades] and "Ronnie Butler and Fire" [which enjoyed an eight-year run].
While people have him pegged as far as his musical genre(s) -- his CMF bio says he is proficient in calypso and funk, as he is in rake n' scrape and Junkanoo -- but Butler does not own up to any of music genres. In fact he says he has coined his own name, and that it will be known in short order with the release of a book he's penning. He did not give a release date.
"In that book everything will be dealt with pertaining to that. I have my own name [for my music] that will be public in the not too distant future," he said.
Ironically of the many songs he's written totaling some 15 albums, "Burma Road" is the song that has Butler's heart, because he said he lived that song.
"I know what it is to leave Nassau to go to the island on the mailboat ... back to the islands kind of thing. I know what it is to eat guinea corn hominy and lard ... I know what it is to eat pumpkin and hominy ... I know what it is to eat peas soup and dough ... I know what it is to wear car tire for shoes. I lived what you hear me talking about in 'Burma Road.'"
No matter what the name he came up with for his music, Butler's contribution has definitely left an indelible mark on the Bahamian music industry. And when people look back at what he's done, it's his wish that the youth are informed.
"I am one of these people who believe that to know where you're going you should know where you came from. And until these things ... where we came from are put in the schools, and made mandatory for the kids to read so they can learn and know what it was like back then to now ... until that happens, we're going to keep moving in the direction of other people's culture. We have lost so much of our culture today it isn't funny. And as time goes by, we're losing more and more," he said.
Being named a CMF Living Legend he said makes him feel good to know that people like and care about him, but as far as he's concerned he's a legend in his own mind.
"I never let it get to my head, because I'm Ronnie, and I'm right down here on the ground where everybody else is. I never felt I was king this or king that, and I think that too has a lot to do with why Bahamians love me, because I don't act like I'm above them. I'm right down with them. I go to Potter's Cay, and if the guy who is half drunk wants to talk -- I talk. That's me, and I would never change."
The one thing he would like people to know about him it's that he's a "good person". He may be wheelchair-bound today, but when he performs, Butler does so wanting people to leave his concert knowing he did it his way.
"I do what I do, and I love what I do. I loved it 60 years ago, and I love it today," said Butler who said man was promised three score and 10 but he's making the most when he performs of the "eight years of gravy" he's had tacked on to that promise.
"I think I love it more today ... actually I know I love it more today," said Butler.
And as long as he can do what he loves he intends to keep on performing. His biggest arena to date he believes was the recent Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival performance.
Living Legends awardees
Calypso Rose McCartha Sandy-Lewis: An iconic cultural figure in her native Trinidad and Tobago, where she is revered as one of the greatest Calypso singers ever, and a key figure in bringing the music of the Caribbean to the world. She has shared the stage with the likes of Miriam Makeba, Tito Puente, Mahalia Jackson, Michael Jackson, Roberta Flack and Bob Marley.
Omara Portuondo: A Cuban singer and dancer whose career has spanned over half a century. She joined the dance group of the Cabaret Tropicana in 1950. She also danced in the Mulatas de Fuego in the theater Radiocentro and other dance groups. She joined the singing group Cuarteto d'Aida. The group had considerable success touring the United States, performing with Nat King Cole and the Tropicana and recording an album for RCA Victor. She has played at Carnegie hall with the Buena Vista Troupe.
Hugh Masekela: In 1960 Hugh Masekela left the brutal apartheid of his birthplace, South Africa, to become a trumpeter in New York. He carried with him the rhythms, languages, memories, social consciousness and spirit of South Africa, and took it to the world. His 1968 "Grazing in the Grass" introduced the world to the best of South African townships jive. During his years of exile, he became a forthright symbol of the anti-apartheid movement. He returned to live in South Africa in 1990, the year Nelson Mandela was released from prison.
Jimmy Cliff: The Jamaican first came to world attention with the groundbreaking 1972 film "The Harder They Come" in which he played the starring role, which was followed by "You Can Get It If You Really Want It", "Many Rivers to Cross" and "Sitting in Limbo", songs that are still going strong in a career that has spanned almost 50 years. He has worked with a who's who of rock legends including the Rolling Stones, Elvis Costello and Annie Lennox. Cliff's songs have been covered by the likes of Willie Nelson, Bruce Springsteen, Cher, New Order and Fiona Apple.
Ronnie Butler: Arguably, the best-loved and probably the most prolific Bahamian singer-songwriter, he is proficient in calypso and funk, as he is in The Bahamas' own rake n' scrape and Junkanoo music. Butler's accomplishments to date includes more than 15 albums, and his many hits include Bahama Rock, and Crow Calypso.
Emile Straker: The founder and lead singer of Barbados' famous group, the Merrymen, a group whose career spans five decades from the early 1960s. At their height, they were popular not just in the Caribbean, but had attained the number one spot on music charts in several European countries. Their trademark sound is an upbeat form of calypso that samples liberally from Latin, funk, tuk and spouge musical styles. The Merrymen performed for British royalty on three occasions, as well as for former American president Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan during their 1982 visit to Barbados. They have shared the stage with Rich Little, Tom Jones, and Dusty Springfield. They also performed in the halftime show at the 1979 Super Bowl in Miami.
Caribbean Muzik Festival performers
Soweto Gospel Choir
Peruchin Jazz Band
Boukman Eksperyans
Spice & Company
Third World
The Tingum Dem Orchestra
Lady Saw
Alison Hinds
Etana
Shinehead
Chaka Demus & Pliers
Admiral Bailey
Kes The Band
Visage
Ras Iley
John King & FWI All Stars
K.B.
D. Mac
Ira Storr and The Spank Band
Spred the Dub Band
Skool Band
Ziggy Rankin
Geno D.
Causion
Ancient Man
Funky D.
Tony Greene
Elon Moxey
Caribbean Muzik Festival schedule
Wednesday, October 28
CMF Jam Session: Hosted at Ibiza Bahama Beach Club
Thursday, October 29
Admission: $25 general admission advance purchase, $35 at the gate, $75 VIP both in advance and at the gate
Street party and Bacchanal: A salute to South African and the people of the world with a welcome street party
Admission: Free
Friday, October 30
Dancehall Night: Dubbed an ole' skool uprisin'
Admission: $30 general admission advance purchase, $45 at the gate, $80 VIP advance purchase, $100 at the gate
Saturday, October 31
Live in Concert: Presents the superstars of Caribbean music
Admission: $45 general admission advance purchase, $60 at the gate, $100 VIP advance purchase, $125 at the gate
VIP pass holders will have access to a private designated area and free drinks.
Quality stamp redemption towards ticket prices ends Tuesday, October 27.
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