Joe B. Perera who died a few months ago at the age of 80 will be remembered as a pioneer of calypso music in Sri Lanka.
This genre of music which was popular a few decades ago seems to have died a natural death after the birth of modern technology and easy access to computer know-how to make music. The social media tools like Youtube and Facebook are rendering an invaluable service, functioning as archives to remember us of our past and preserve history for the benefit of the future generations.
Joe was a highly talented singer who started his career much before popular groups like Dharmarathne Brothers and Moonstones made their presence felt.
He coined the name of his first band Mee Messo (Honey Bees), with his native town Meegamuwa in mind. Meegamuwa which was earlier known as Mee-Gomuwa (roughly meaning grove of bees’ honey) is popularly known as Negombo. It is a tourist beach haven about half an hour’s drive from Colombo, just past the main Katunayake Airport. It was also the birthplace of talented musicians and singers. Versatile music makers and singers like Neville Fernando, Claude Soysa and Aelian Soysa began their careers in the same era.
Joe joins Los Muchachos
Backed by Mee Messo, Joe sang some of his earlier hits like Adare Karala, Mala Giravi, Sanda Gamana (Moonlanding), Siripa Gamana (Trip to Adam’s Peak), Nil Manel, and Gayani which was dedicated to his daughter. He sang Sudu Mal (White Flowers) as a tribute to his wife whose name is Florence, which in Latin means ‘blossoming’.
Joe later joined Los Muchachos handling the vocals and the acoustic guitar and sang some of his greatest hits. Among dozens of songs, Yakada Thalanna remains his most popular melody with perhaps the highest number of cover versions. It is a melody that can still evoke the nostalgia of the glorious 60s.
The catchy tune and simple lyrics about a village blacksmith and his daily travails to earn a living begins with a couplet of a ‘seepada’, a genre of native poems which the village farmers used to sing to wade off loneliness when they protect their crops from marauding wild animals in the nights. The melody became a hit almost overnight.
Los Muchachos is also known for many other hits like Sobhamana Guvan Sevika (Beautiful Air Hostess), Sinaha Vela Ingi Pala (Smiling Coyly) and as I know it was the only Sri Lankan musical group to use a harp. Joe also sang cover versions of Spanish favourites and a number we still remember is his rendition of the very popular Chiquita Linda. (The video of Sobhamana Guvan Sevika is posted in the right column here)
Calypso which is inspired by Spanish music is dominated by acoustic guitars, rhumba shakers and bongo or congo drums. Though it has a foreign flavour it is not something totally alien to the island because Portuguese-style Baila music brought to the country by Mozambique soldiers about 600 years ago is very much a part of Sinhala mainstream music.
Difference between classical and Calypso music
Prof. Sunil Ariyaratne who wrote a well-researched book on Baila Kapirigna in the early 80s argued that Baila should be integrated into mainstream Sinhala music because this genre of music has been in the island for about six centuries.
The main difference between classical musicians and Calypso/baila singers is that the high-brow musicians tend to express their feelings and moods in esoteric lyrics which the common man had a hard time understanding, while the light-hearted songs sung in almost colloquial Sinhala like Joe did, generated mass appeal.
As a budding singer Joe started his career by rendering cover versions of popular melodies sung by Sunil Shantha and H.R. Jothipala on amateur radio programmes.
Mee Messo held its debut performance at Negomba Ave Maria Convent. The band consisted of his two brothers, John and Reggie, Stanley Silva, Shirley Fernando and Gamini Fernando, son of film actor Hugo Fernando. The band released its first EP under Philips label.
Joe who had his education at St Anne’s College and Maris Stella College said on numerous occasions that Rev. Fr. Merceline Jayakody, scholar, linguist and lyricist who composed many Sinhala songs, had been an enormous help in his music. Before venturing into music Joe had a brief career as a stage artiste acting in popular plays of the 60s along with actors like Tony Ranasinghe and Wikrema Bogoda.
Joe’s first audio cassette titled Maname Gee was released in 1985. Its music was directed by late veteran saxophonist Stanley Peiris and the first CD was released under Torana Label in 1997. The music for Joe’s Mee Messo hits was arranged by Alien Soysa.
Popularly known as Joe Aiya (Joe Brother), he worked for Bank of Ceylon as an internal auditor and after his retirement appeared on many stage shows and television programmes and prior to his death he was ailing for sometime.
Amateurs who appear on dime-a-dozen reality shows sing his songs and become Super Stars while genuine artistes like Joe remain in the sidelines without receiving any royalties for their creations.
A recent development in Sri Lanka is that the wives of H.R. Jothipala and Clarence Wijewardene are fighting back by claiming royalties from the singers who copy their husbands’ music and get rich. We are not sure how this type of action will work in a country like Sri Lanka where there no effective laws to cover an important area like intellectual property. But, at least it might draw the attention of the authorities to do something about such injustices.
