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The Duke of Iron


The Duke of Iron (born Cecil Anderson, 1906 – 1968) was a calypsonian, nightclub and concert entertainer, and recording artist from the 1930s through the 1960s. He was renowned for his bawdy humor, crisp diction, and confident vocal mannerisms. His clarity in pronouncing English lyrics helped him achieve tremendous popularity with American audiences.

Anderson was a native of Trinidad, and moved with his family to New York in 1923. In the 1930s he was a featured vocalist with the Caribbean-styled big band Felix & His Krazy Kats. He performed at a conference of folklorists in Canada during the 1930s, for which he was billed as "An Authentic Interpreter of the Kaiso.".

Anderson became a headliner on the New York club scene, which included a ten-month stint at the Village Vanguard in the 1940s. He also participated in the legendary 1946 Calypso At Midnight concerts produced by Alan Lomax at New York's Town Hall auditorium. In the latter part of the decade he often performed at the Caribbean Club on Seventh Avenue, New York, along with Wilmoth Houdini (billed as "King Houdini").

During the 1950s and 1960s, he performed at Carnegie Hall, the Apollo Theater in Harlem, and at many leading nightclubs, such as the Village Gate, the Jamaican Room and the Calypso Room. He appeared in the film Calypso Joe (Allied Artists Pictures, 1957) with Angie Dickinson. He regularly returned to Trinidad to keep up with current trends in calypso, and performed and recorded many annual Carnival hits.


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