Farewell to the man of steel: Caribbean community mourns Trinidadian whose music charmed the world

HUNDREDS of mourners paraded through Notting Hill in west London yesterday to say farewell to Philmore Gordon Davidson, the man who introduced steel drums to Britain.

Traffic halted as wet-eyed women swaying in grief accompanied his coffin to the cemetery in Kensal Green. Three steel bands playing 'Amazing Grace' followed the entourage.

Nicknamed 'Boots' because of his size 14 feet, the Trinidadian drummer was celebrated world-wide. To Trinidadians, he was the man who set up one of their most famous steel bands. To Britons, he was the father of the steel band culture in this country.

Mourners yesterday remembered him as a gentle giant who carried his head 'held up high'. They talked about his shy manner, his soft speech. He was a maestro, one said, a 'teacher extraordinaire'.

'He was the first to play Mozart on the steel drums', said a former pupil, Lionel McCalman, 37. 'He was an inspiration to his pupils. He started me off on the 'guitar drum' - a drum he invented which is a cross between the rhythm drum and the tenor drum. With his sense of rhythm, knowledge, depth of feeling, he could do anything. He was the best thing ever to come out of Trinidad.'

Davidson first discovered the potential of oil drum lids as musical instruments after experimenting with batches left behind by the United States Army after the Second World War.

He founded the steel band Casablanca, which soon became world famous for its mellow, rich sound and calypso- style rhythms.

In 1951 Davidson visited Britain with the Trinidad All- Steel Percussion Orchestra for the Festival of Britain. In 1956 he decided to live here to escape the political upheavals in his homeland.

For his first seven years Davidson worked for British Rail. His job was to plug the carriages of trains together. The work damaged his hands, making drumming a strain.

He gave it up and devoted the rest of his life to setting up steel bands, teaching and tuning the instruments.

Every one of the estimated 500 mourners at yesterday's funeral would have known Davidson, said his niece, Claire Holder, director of the annual Notting Hill Carnival. This year he opened the carnival 'dripping sweat he was so nervous', one friend remembered.

'He was a humble man. He was always telling us how he was just learning - he was just beginning.'

Earlier this year he retired, aged 65, but was persuaded to work again at one primary school because the headmaster could not find another steel drum master whom the pupils could respect.

Davidson was alone when he collapsed with a heart attack and fell backwards on to the floor. His family started worrying when he failed to pick up his newspaper. He was buried with his old love: a pair of battered wooden drum sticks, red thread tied at the ends.

(Photograph omitted)