{{Short description|Trinidadian calypsonian}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2019}} thumb|alt=Growling Tiger ca. 1936|Growling Tiger ca. 1936 '''Neville Marcano''' (1916–13 May 1993),<ref>[https://www.allmusic.com/artist/growling-tiger-mn0000650889 Growling Tiger biography], AllMusic.</ref> known as the '''Growling Tiger''', was a Trinidadian calypsonian.
==Biography== Born in Diego Martin, Trinidad, Tiger was originally a boxer who won the Trinidad flyweight championship in 1929.<ref name="Thompson">Thompson, Dave (2002), ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, {{ISBN|0-87930-655-6}}, pp. 5, 59.</ref> He was active in calypso from his teens and began singing professionally in 1934.<ref name="Thompson" /> He was a member of the old brigade of calypso singers, which included Lord Beginner, Attila The Hun, the Roaring Lion, and Lord Pretender. In 1935, he went to New York with Attila and Lord Beginner to record for the Decca label, recording 46 songs in total.<ref name="Thompson" /> In 1939, he won the first Calypso King competition with "Trade Union".<ref name="Thompson" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bestoftrinidad.com/calypso/tiger.html|title=Growling Tiger |publisher=bestoftrinidad.com|author=Ronald C. Emrit |accessdate=6 May 2019}} {{unreliable?|date=May 2019}}</ref>
More so than his contemporaries Tiger sang about social and political issues. His best known songs are "Money is King",<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMlfUirBs4E "Growling Tiger - Money is King"], YouTube.</ref> about economic inequality, and "The Gold in Africa", about the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. Recording together with Atilla and Beginner as the Keskidee Trio, he recorded some lighter tunes, including "Don't Let Me Mother Know".
Folklorist Alan Lomax recorded him in 1962. In 1966, Growling Tiger performed at the Newport Folk Festival. In 1979, he recorded an album, ''Knockdown Calypsos'', for Rounder Records.
Fellow Trinidadian George Browne was dubbed "Young Tiger" after recording a cover version of Marcano's song "Single Man" in 1953.<ref>[http://www.answers.com/topic/young-tiger-world-artist Jason Ankeny, "Young Tiger"] Answers.com.</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.bestoftrinidad.com/calypso/tiger.html Growling Tiger, bestoftrinidad.com] * {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070222073809/http://www.calypsoworld.org/noflash/artists-16.htm |date=22 February 2007 |title=Historical Museum of Southern Florida, Neville Marcano }} * {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040123140937/http://iupress.indiana.edu/journals/smallaxe/sm9.html |date=23 January 2004 |title=Growling Tiger mentioned in iupress.indiana.edu/journals, }} * {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070707223602/http://www.trinibase.com/carnival/calypsoMonarch.asp |date=7 July 2007 |title=Growling Tiger song mentioned in trinibase.com }}
==See also==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Marcano, Neville}} Category:Trinidad and Tobago calypsonians Category:20th-century Trinidad and Tobago male singers Category:20th-century Trinidad and Tobago singers Category:1916 births Category:1993 deaths