Granville Straker


Granville Straker is a Saint Vincent-born American music businessman and record producer specializing in calypso music. He is known for his Brooklyn, New York-based record label Straker's Records, which he founded in 1971, as well as his production work for many of the artists signed to it. According to Mark Romano of AllMusic, Straker's Records "...defined major calypso and soca artists starting in the early '70s."

Biography

Straker first moved to Brooklyn from Trinidad in 1959. In 1971, he founded the calypso-centered record label Straker's Records. Around the same time, in response to the growing popularity of Caribbean music in Brooklyn, he set up several record stores in the area. Among the artists who released albums on Straker's Records were Shadow, Chalkdust, Calypso Rose, and Lord Melody. He was also active as a talent scout and concert promoter, and he frequently traveled to Trinidad to look for new calypso musicians. In 1978, Frankie McIntosh began working for Straker as his musical director. In this capacity, McIntosh led the studio band and worked as an arranger for many of Straker's artists. As of 1999, he was still running his record store, Straker's Records & Stereo, from the same location in Brooklyn since it was founded twenty-seven years earlier.