Editing Atilla the Hun (calypsonian)

{{Short description|Trinidadian calypsonian (1927–2006)}}
{{About|the Trinidadian musician|the ruler of the Huns|Attila|other uses|Attila the Hun (disambiguation)}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
'''Raymond Quevedo''' (24 March 1892 – 22 February 1962),<ref name="LarkinGE">{{cite book|title=[[The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=122}}</ref> better known as '''Atilla the Hun''', was a [[calypsonian]] from [[Trinidad]]. He began singing in 1911 and was at his most prominent in the 1930s and 1940s.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> He was one of the pioneers in spreading awareness of [[Calypso music|calypso]] beyond its birthplace in [[Trinidad and Tobago]]. Together with the [[Roaring Lion]] ([[Roaring Lion|Rafael de Leon]]) he brought calypso to the [[United States]] for the first time in 1934.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> One of his popular calypsos was "[[FDR in Trinidad]]", commemorating U.S. President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]]'s 1936 trip to Trinidad.<ref name="LarkinGE"/>

Atilla competed in the first [[Calypso Monarch|Calypso King]] contest in 1939, and won the title in both 1946 and 1947.<ref>Thompson, p. 5, 59</ref>

Known as a defender of the poor, Atilla was able to transition to a political career. When several of his records were [[censorship|censored]] he composed "The Banning of Records", which was itself banned.<ref name="LarkinGE"/>

Atilla was the first calypsonian to hold elected public office; he was elected to the [[Port of Spain]] [[City Council]] in 1946 and was elected to the [[Legislative Council of Trinidad and Tobago]] in 1950 representing the St. George County East.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> (See: ''[[Elections in Trinidad and Tobago]]''). He also authored ''Atilla's Kaiso: A Short History of Trinidad Calypso'' with [[John La Rose]], published posthumously in 1983.

==See also==

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* Hill, Donald R. 1993. ''Calypso: Early Carnival Music in Trinidad''. University of Florida. (Includes a CD of early calypso music.)
* Quevedo, Raymond (Atilla the Hun). 1983. ''Atilla's '''Kaiso''': a short history of Trinidad calypso''. University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad. (Includes the words to many old calypsos as well as musical scores for some of Atilla's calypsos.)
* Thompson, Dave (2002) ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, {{ISBN|0-87930-655-6}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Attila the Hun}}
[[Category:1892 births]]
[[Category:1962 deaths]]
[[Category:Calypsonians]]
[[Category:Members of the Legislative Council of Trinidad and Tobago]]
[[Category:20th-century Trinidad and Tobago male singers]]
[[Category:20th-century Trinidad and Tobago singers]]
[[Category:Trinidad and Tobago city councillors]]