Note: Notes from Rounder Records release "Calypso At Midnight" read: "This is one of three compositions by the calypsonian Lord Kitchener that seized popular imagination during the Carnival of 1946 and were published contemporaneously in Victory Calypsos, a Trinidad songbook. Living in New York from 1945 (while he fought for the rights to 'Rum and Coca-Cola'), Lord Invader probably learned the lyrics from this booklet. Kitchener cut the calypso as 'Tie Tongue Mopsie' in London in 1951. However, the piece is better known through Lord Invader's version, recorded in New York in 1946 (Disc 5007). The performance begins with a mess-up. The orchestra starts in a fast tempo and a difficult key for Lord Invader. Typically, the musicians knew how to read music and the calypsonians did not; also, they sometimes came from different class backgrounds. For example, Gerald Clark, the orchestra leader, was an upper-class Trinidadian. But Lord Invader's skills were such that he was able to discipline the orchestra, who in turn, show similar dexterity in accommodating to the musically untrained singer. As a bonus, Lord Invader improvises the last verse, demonstrating the power of extempore calypso in the hands of a true master."