Granville Straker, Vincentian founder of Brooklyn's Straker's Records, dies at 86
His label released hundreds of calypso and soca albums by artists including Calypso Rose, The Mighty Shadow and Black Stalin, his family said.
NEW YORK, United States. Granville Leonard Straker, the Vincentian-born music producer and founder of Brooklyn's Straker's Records, died on August 27 at the age of 86, his family announced.
Born on September 12, 1939, to Irena and Clement Straker, he became "one of the most consequential figures in the production, preservation and international distribution of calypso and Soca music," the family said.
From record shops to a label
Beginning in Brooklyn in the 1960s and expanding in the 1970s, Straker opened record shops serving the growing Caribbean community, including his landmark store at 242 Utica Avenue and another on Nostrand Avenue, with further outlets in St Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.
He founded Straker's Records in 1971. Over about three decades the label released an estimated 600 to 700 albums, more than 1,000 12-inch records and several thousand singles.
Its roster included Calypso Rose, The Mighty Shadow, Black Stalin, Chalkdust, Lord Nelson, Lord Melody, Mighty Duke, Explainer, Winston Soso, Singing Francine and Machel Montano.
The family highlighted The Mighty Shadow's "Bassman", released by the label in the 1970s, and Black Stalin's "Ah Feel to Party", which gave its name to the retrospective collection "The Best of Straker's: Ah Feel to Party".
A Brooklyn sound
In 1978 fellow Vincentian musician and arranger Frankie McIntosh joined the label as musical director, leading the studio band The Equitables and overseeing hundreds of recording sessions.
"Together, Straker and McIntosh helped shape a sophisticated Brooklyn-based calypso and Soca sound whose influence extended throughout the Caribbean and its Diaspora," the family said.
His honours included the Martin's International/Inter-Culture Award of Honor at the 2009 International Reggae and World Music Awards, and recognition in Brooklyn in 2014 for "Excellence in Worldwide Music Production over the Years."
"His Brooklyn businesses became gathering places for Caribbean immigrants seeking the music and culture of home," the family said.
Tributes
His daughter, Dr Suzanne Straker Greenidge-Hewitt, said: "My father spent his life creating opportunities for Caribbean artists and making certain that our music could be heard beyond the shores of the islands."
He was predeceased by his first wife, Jean "Patsy" Straker Jackson, who played a foundational role in the label's early development. He is survived by his wife of 24 years, Beverly Straker, his children and grandchildren.
Funeral and memorial arrangements will be announced.
