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From Season 1 (1969). This film, in its more familiar abridged version, has been known under the title "Steel Drum Rhythm", where steelpan player Victor Brady talks about the rhythmic aspect of nature and human activities, and plays some happy tunes to the sounds of sawing, pile driving, and a horse pulling a carriage. What a beautiful surprise to find a fuller version of this film that brought delight to my childhood.
Information about Victor Brady as shared by @George Brady :
The man playing the steel drum in this video is Victor Brady. At that time (1969) he was a popular musician based in New York City (hailing from St. Croix, USVI) and would continue to be a popular draw from the 1960s to the late 1980s. He gained early fame in Greenwich Village’s Cafe Wha? where he headlined above other up-and-comers like Bob Dylan, Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby, Jimi Hendrix, and many others whom he helped to get their shot on a big stage.
Brady is a major proponent of the steel drum art form, having toured Europe, Asia, Africa, the U.S. and the Caribbean for many years, lecturing at the Smithsonian, performing and advocating for the exposure and recognition of this ingenious instrument from Trinidad. He would eventually reappear on Sesame Street around 1980 in another feature segment, demonstrating a much more evolved version of this instrument; an evolution to which he contributed substantially. Unfortunately, much of his important story has not (yet) been spotlighted in the internet era, but tidbits of information can be found on him via Google search and newspaper archives.
This particular clip, which was all filmed in New York (Central Park, Coney Island/Long Island), was a significant achievement in 1969, as it was a very early attempt by Sesame Street in its first season to not only feature a black man with natural hair during a pivotal time in the US, but also to highlight Caribbean culture on a broad and educational stage.
#CelebrateSteelpan #SesameStreet #classicsesamestreet