By Dr. Richard A. Byron-Cox
Carlton Percival Hall thanks to his musical exploits, is somewhat of a national cultural treasure, having won national calypso monarch multiple times, been Road-march king, not to mention Parang maestro. “Man CP” as he is known to all and sundry, is eldest of three brothers who moons before he became this icon, played in the quartet, Minisonics. With Jules Williams on keyboards, CP played bass, John tenor pan and guitar, while baby brother Earl, mastered the drums. CP and Jules read music and so fine-tuned arrangements of songs they performed. But John to my mind was the natural. It seemed that his head, heart and soul were domains from which music incessantly flowed.
I met John when we were teenagers. I knew nothing of his musical gifts; indeed, he seemed most ordinary. Following the lead of CP and an elder sister, he became a school teacher. I, being then convinced that education was everything, was baffled that John was restless in teaching, his heart was not in it. I later realised that his path could only be music. The first time I heard him play was at the roadside in Lodge Village where they lived. He was singing and strumming his guitar. I hadn’t heard that song before and enquired about it. He informed that it was his own composition. I was surprised and impressed. Following that encounter, I noted that once school was out, John was never without his guitar. It then came home to me that for him, teaching was a tolerated exercise; a necessary means. His passion was music. Like Shadow and Ras Shorty, John was in music, because music was in John.
In 1979 La Soufriere erupted, forcing the evacuation of thousands. John penned the reggae ballad “Struggle against the Soufriere,” capturing the experience, while exposing his social conscience through words, “Buses came down from so far in the north, it really broke my heart, to see poor people suffer…” Influenced by Marley, Third World, inter alios, he went on to pen many reggae gems including, “Have a merry Christmas”, “High Society Man”, and “Temporary Living,” railing against injustice in the latter two pieces. This was a prodigious period of writing for him, resulting in a local reggae festival crown for the Hall Brothers as their trio was called.
John was an allrounder in composing, and was determined to deliver serious messages, hence his stage name “Informer”. A pan man at heart, with great appreciation for the likes of Merchant and Explainer, he created calypso masterpieces like, “We have the steel band again”, “Bring back panorama” and “I go meet you by the Iron Man.” These works were all used as test tunes for national Panorama one time or another. In 984 CP won the carnival slogan competition with, “Vincy Carnival 84, rhythm, colour and fun galore.” John set this to music; they wrote the lyrics, and boom, it won Road-march! John and CP had good singing voices, but that tune on pure pan, is at least equal to any Kitchener masterpiece. From thence, I became convinced that John Hall was something of a special gift in music.
On entering my 20s I left for university. I was not to see John and knew nothing of him for more than a decade. Sometime later, I learnt that he was with the band D-Rebels, penning songs and doing vocals. When we finally met, talking for hours, I discovered that he had long mastered the art of reading musical scores; had provided backing studio music for various Caribbean artistes; was doing gigs on cruise ships, was married and living in North America. I never saw him again.
The earth has been around the sun many times since then, but my memories of youthful days with John when he displayed something akin to Beethovenian composing talent, never left me. Last August 23rd this was all sharply and vividly revived and relived when CP informed that John had the day before departed to the great beyond. His songs will continue to inform those who love great music, have a social conscience, and cherish conscious lyrics. I here beseech CDC, the Youlou Pan Movement, and the Calypso Association to during Vincy Mass 2024, do like CP did last Christmas, and give John Hall a genuine salute of honour and thanks. He deserves no less for his tremendous contribution to this nation’s music! As the great Stalin would say, you must “Play one” for the Informer “who helped to bring our culture here today.”
* My thanks to Carlton “CP” Hall for clarifying some information for this article