Editing Wilmoth Houdini

{{Infobox musical artist
|name = Wilmoth Houdini
|birth_name = Frederick Wilmoth Hendricks
|instrument = vocals
|occupation = singer-songwriter
|birth_date = November 25, 1895
|birth_place = [[Port of Spain]], [[Trinidad and Tobago]]<!--Don't change to [[Colony of Trinidad and Tobago]]; no place by that name ever existed-->
|death_date = {{death date and age|1973|08|06|1895|11|25}}
|death_place = [[New York City]], U.S.
|image = (Portrait of Calypso, between 1938 and 1948) (LOC) (5189943616).jpg
|caption = Performing in the 1940s
}}

'''Frederick Wilmoth Hendricks''' (November 25, 1895 – August 6, 1973), best known as '''Wilmoth Houdini''', was a prominent [[calypsonian]].

==Life==
In 1916, he started his career in earnest when he began working with the African Millionaires, a large carnival group consisting of about 25 members. He arrived in [[New York City]] sometime around 1927, after working on cargo ships and travelling extensively. Not long after his arrival there, he began cutting records with local bands for [[Decca Records]], notably Gerald Clark's Night Owls. He released well over a hundred different [[gramophone record|78s]] between 1928 and 1940, also under the names of '''Fredrick Wilmoth Hendricks ''' (his given name), '''Edgar Leon Sinclair''' (the name on his US passport), and '''King Houdini'''. His 1939 composition "He Had It Coming" was a hit for [[Louis Jordan]] and [[Ella Fitzgerald]] under the new title "[[Stone Cold Dead in the Market (He Had It Coming)|Stone Cold Dead in the Market]]". The song stayed on the top of the R&B charts for five weeks, and reached no. 7 on the pop charts. Gaining a good deal of recognition, Houdini wasted no time in organizing high-profile calypso festivals and concerts around New York, quickly becoming a respected member of the Caribbean communities there.

After moving to New York (as one of the earliest Trinidadian émigrés), he was often the object of derision by the calypsonians still in Trinidad, who claimed that he was stealing their ideas and capitalizing on them in the USA. This can be seen in numerous calypsos of the early to mid-1930s, from [[Roaring Lion]] and [[Attila the Hun (calypsonian)|Attila the Hun]] in particular, who also recorded in New York at the time. This led to Houdini's 1934 rebuttal, "War Declaration". Towards the beginning of the 1950s he played regularly at the Caribbean Club on Seventh Avenue, New York, with his only real rival, [[The Duke of Iron]], also a native of Trinidad.

Houdini died on August 6, 1973, in New York City, where he had lived for most his life. He is buried in [[Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)|Woodlawn Cemetery]] in [[the Bronx]], New York City.

==Influence==
His song "Uncle Joe", although melodically not original, had a huge influence upon the American psyche, influencing [[Dizzy Gillespie]], Ella Fitzgerald, [[Lord Mouse and the Kalypso Katz]], [[Hazmat Modine]], [[Bob Brozman]], and [[C. W. Stoneking]], to name but a few. He has inspired a newer generation of artists around the world, for example with his recording "Black But Sweet" covered by [[Mighty Dub Katz]] ("Son of Wilmot"), [[Sabres of Paradise]] ("Wilmot"), [[Shantel]] ("Bucovina") and [[Eleftheria Arvanitaki]] ("Δεν μιλώ για μια νύχτα, εγώ"). [[The Avalanches]] sampled Houdini's "[[Bobby Sox Idol]]" heavily in the 2016 single "[[Frankie Sinatra]]".

==Sources==
Cowley, John (1984). "Wilmoth Houdini: Poor but Ambitious", in ''Calypso Classics from Trinidad'' CD liner notes, pp.&nbsp;2&ndash;5. El Cerrito, California: Arhoolie Productions.

==External links==
{{commons category-inline|Wilmoth Houdini}}

==See also==

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Houdini, Wilmouth}}
[[Category:20th-century Trinidad and Tobago male singers]]
[[Category:20th-century Trinidad and Tobago singers]]
[[Category:Calypsonians]]
[[Category:1895 births]]
[[Category:1973 deaths]]
[[Category:Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to the United States]]


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