Blinky & the Roadmasters – Crucian Scratch Band Music

I picked up this treasure over the weekend at a local flea market (local being Louisville, KY). I was digging through a small collection of $2 albums when I stumbled across this disc. From the start a few features caught my eye. First, the horrible 80/90s album cover begged for a second look, which revealed a banjo-ukelele, triangle, and calabash gourd. That was enough to merit my $2. Still, I was further intrigued by the title Crucian Scratch Band Music. I surmised from a quick peek at the back-liner notes that Crucian indicated something originating from St. Croix (from which this band hails). Still, I hadn't the slightest inclination what a scratch band was, and I wasn't about to let $2 keep me from finding out. After returning to the car, I eagerly inserted the disc, and my wife and I were treated to some of the most cheerful music we've ever heard, dancing inevitably ensued. Transported for a moment to the Virgin Isles and very much wanting some coconut milk, I knew that I had an excellent find.

A little research revealed that what is referred to in the title of this disc as scratch music is normatively called quelbe (on St. Croix, where it is most prevelant) or fungi (on Tortola) and is local to the Virgin Isles. Quelbe, the official music of the VI since 2004, reaches back around 100 years and has experienced a renaissance since the early 90s. The music is a blend of the various cultural influences present on the VI, from Dutch and British dances and melodies to traditional African rhythms and instrumentation. Quelbe bands traditionally consisted of a notched gourd played with a hair pick or stick (providing the characteristic scratch sound), a cane flute lead, banjo or ukelele, a conga or conga-like drum, a triangle, and a bass instrument fashioned from a car's tail pipe called the pipe (or informally the ass pipe). Often the instruments were constructed by poor musicians from whatever materials were readily available. Modern bands typically replace the cane flute with a saxophone or two, the pipe with an electric bass, and add a guitar. One of quelbe's chief practitioners, James "Jamsie" Brewster, explains that the vocals and songs are the focal element of the genre. Quelbe songs have a strong storytelling element and generally fall into a few well-defined categories: gossip songs (functionally social indictments), protest songs, songs about historical events, daily life songs, and tongue-in-cheek naughty songs. Regardless of the subject matter, each song effuses an infectious joie de vivre. This spirit can be seen in the faces of Blinky & the Roadmasters, all smiles and laughs.

Sylvester "Blinky" McIntosh is a bastion of quelbe tradition. Born in 1934, Blinky grew up with quelbe and has been one of the primary agents responsible for its revival. St. Croix is a small island, so it's not surprising that a quick peek at the history of quelbe reveals that Blinky has done stints with nearly every significant group. He formed the Roadmasters in 1980 and after playing for several years in Frederiksted, Blinky was recognized in 1986 with a National Heritage Fellowship Award and the band travelled to Washington, D.C. to be awarded and perform. They made a second appearance in the continental U.S. during the 51st National Folk Festival in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1989. All of this attention led to the recording of Crucian Scratch Band Music on Rounder Records in 1990. Given the extreme scarcity of any quelbe recordings in the continental U.S., it is very fortunate that this disc is still available from Rounder. A documentary about quelbe and Jamsie in particular has been produced by film maker Andrea Leland, but given the VERY steep price tag, it is unlikely that I'll be able to see it any time soon. In the event that others are more proficient with a search engine than myself, I'll provide the names of some other quelbe groups I've been able to dig up (maybe together we can unearth some more albums): Stanley & the Ten Sleepless Knights, Bully & the Musical Kafooners, Wilford Pedro, Koko & the Sunshine Band, and the Lashing Dogs. I did manage to find this compilation which looks promising.

Enough talk. I've posted a couple of tracks below for your listening enjoyment. If you like them, please pick up the album from Rounder.

Album Personnel:
Sylvester "Blinky" McIntosh - alto sax, vocals
Isidor Griles - triangle (steel)
Frank Charles - banjo-ukelele
Cyprian King - electric guitar
Lloyd Thomas - conga
Steve La Croix - electric bass guitar on "Wenchman"
Anselmo Clark - guiro (squash)
Ira A. Samuel - alto sax
Milton E. Gordon - electric bass guitar

(As an intriguing side note, notice from the album cover that my copy seems to have been a gift from the 2nd alto player, Ira Samuel, to a woman named Carmen. I wonder how it came to live in Louisville. It would be interesting to know the story.)

Blinky & the Roadmasters – Crucian Scratch Band Music (Rounder Records CD 5047: 1990)

"Cigar Win the Race"

"Caroline"