Lord Creator’s grandson remembers him as ‘Daddy’

Sheldon Russell, the grandson of calypso, R&B, ska, and rocksteady singer, Kenrick 'Lord Creator' Patrick, is hailing him as the father who showered him with love.

Russell, who is the son of Lord Creator's first daughter in Jamaica, shared countless memories of the man he called 'Daddy' with THE WEEKEND STAR.

"I have so many special memories of us ... of him dropping me to school in the mornings and picking me up in the evenings, and this went on from kindergarten straight into the start of high school,'" Russell said.

Lord Creator, who passed away last Friday at home, had prostate issues, as well as diabetes. He had suffered two strokes and had been confined to a wheelchair. Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, he relocated to Jamaica in the 60s and was a major part of the music scene. He recorded the first official Independence song in 1962 as well as Kingston Town, a song that was re-recorded by British reggae band UB40 and topped charts internationally, giving him a financial windfall which he shared generously with his family. Lord Creator received the Order of Distinction from the Government in 2022.

Russell recalled the treat of going shopping with his grandfather and relatives on Friday evenings at Westgate Shoppers Fair in Montego Bay, St James.

"I'd be given a small cart to get my desired items. All the staff knew me as 'Mr Patrick's grandson with the trolley'. There was a pharmacy on Union Street that we'd stop most evenings on our way home. One particular evening I behaved badly just because I didn't get a toy I requested. He carried me outside to the car and said 'If you ever disgrace me like that again is the first time I shall slap you'. That beating never came, though he used his eyes instead to indicate to me when I'm out of line," he said.

He shared that his grandfather's lap was his "favourite resting place".

"After supper at nights, he'd always retire to bed before everyone else. But my spot was always there beside him on his bed. I remember at around nine years old, he said to me 'Boy you are too privileged. You have your own bed, your own room, but yet is under my arm you want to be when night come'," he recalled.

He spoke with a smile about "deliberately giving [his] grandfather trouble" so that he could talk in his Trinidadian accent, which he never lost.

"If I'm speaking to someone about him, I might say my grandfather, but I've never called him 'grandpa'; he was always my Daddy. The first cell phone I got I saved his name as 'My Daddy', and it remains this way until this very day. I wish I could give him some of my youthfulness just to have him here with me. I will miss him dearly. Thank you Daddy. You did all you could and you did it well," Russell said.

- Y.P.