The challenge word this week on another illustration blog is "island".
The song
"Zombie Jamboree" began life as
"Jumbie Jamberee", a calypso song written by Winston O'Conner. Winston performed under the name Lord Intruder in the early 1950s. In 1953, Lord Intruder released the song as the B-side to his recording of
"Disaster With Police". The
Kingston Trio recorded it for their 1959 album
"Hungry i". Since then, it has been recorded and performed by
Harry Belafonte (on four different albums),
Bob Marley and The Wailers ,
Harry Nilsson and many others. In the early 1980s, a new,
a capella version of the song was arranged by Rockapella's
Sean Altman — an arrangement that has since been used by virtually every
a capella group on the planet.
In Rockapella's live performances, bass singer
Barry Carl would introduce the song this way...
"This next song is about an
island —
yesssssss...Not one of those little islands where you take your winter vacation or spring break —
no, no no... This song is about a
big
cold
smelly
broke
island
This island called...
MANHATTAN!
