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Who is Walter Gavitt Ferguson?

December 18, 2017 at 4:17 pm, No comments

Calypso legend Walter Ferguson, ca. 1990

Who is Walter Gavitt Ferguson?

Walter Gavitt Ferguson (born May 7th 1919) hailing from Costa Rica is a humble soul and a living legend, a Calypsonian of mythical proportions. Rooted like an old tree on the caribbean shore, he has never left his home town to look for fame, instead fame did come to look for him. Throughout eight decades, rumours of his musical gifts have attracted people from near and far, contesting Calypsonians, fans, tourists, musicologists, musicians, pilgrims and the President of the Republic. They once even moved a recording studio to his house as he refused to go to the city. 

What's so special about his tapes?

Many years before he recorded his classic albums "Babylon" and "Dr. Bombodee", Ferguson used to sell hundreds of self-recorded audio cassettes to strangers, travelers and music lovers from all around the globe. He never kept a copy for himself and with age started to forget many old compositions that might be preserved on some of these unique tapes. Our international "Tape Hunt" is dedicated to locate any surviving tapes and rescue the forgotten songs and his musical legacy. 




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Wa' apin, man? What happened? 



Recovered treasures

In 2017, nine original tapes were located in Canada: 

In 2018, six original tapes were found in Costa Rica: 

In March 2019, five original tapes were recovered in the USA:

In May 2019, unreleased parts from Don Walter's "Folkways" album were donated to the Tape Hunt:

In January 2020, another five original tapes were found in Costa Rica:

In October 2020, the biggest catch containing 45 original tapes was unearthed in Costa Rica:

In September 2021, another original tape was found in the USA: 


Available music albums

Currently Vol. 1 & 2 of the "Legendary Tape Recordings" are available - containing 30 previously unreleased Calypso treasures rescued by the Tape Hunt. 

Also available: Benefit album "Keep The Cabin Above The Wata" with Tape Hunt versions of his favourite calypsos. 

Enjoy it on Spotify or Apple music

 

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