Cyril Ferguson (1951 - 2009)

Cover illustration from Little Big Book of Buck Rogers, c. 1940
(found at Golden Age Comic Book Stories)

I didn't intend to start this week on such a down note, but I was planning this In Memoriam piece for Monday and bumped it when I found out about Jay Bennett's sudden passing. I wanted to write a little about Cyril Ferguson, who I recently found out had passed away at home in the Bahamas in April, possibly due to diabetes. I'm no expert on the music of the Bahamas, but a while ago I picked up a Numero Group compilation of music that had been released by Grand Bahama International (GBI). The songs of Cyril "Dry Bread" Ferguson were immediately my favorite thing about the record. These songs captured a feeling that set the calypso-influenced pop and R&B music of the Bahamas apart, and a lot of people have recognized this feeling in Ferguson's music. I was surprised to discover that Phish has often covered "Yamar", a Ferguson composition, as part of their live set.

"Gonna Build a Nation" is one of Ferguson's best. Released around the time of the Bahamas becoming an independent nation in 1973, the song tries to capture the excitement and newness of achieving self-determination as a people. He calls for the Bahamian people to have "love, trust, and understanding" as a new country, and Ferguson had a chance to see his country develop over thirty-plus years. He never found widespread fame or popularity as a musician, but archivists like those at the Numero Group will make sure that his music is available to anyone willing to seek it out for years to come.

"Gonna Build a Nation" by Cyril Ferguson