Humming Bird (1940s)

Soon after Lord Kitchener’s arrival in London in 1948 on the MV Empire Windrush, entrepreneur Renico Simmons of South London arranged a recording session that resulted in Kitchener’s first recordings—8 sides on the Humming Bird label. The recordings were made at R.G. Jones’ studio in the Manor House in Morden, southwest London.

For more information, see John Cowley “London is the Place: Caribbean Music in the Context of Empire 1900-60” (Paul Oliver, ed. Black Music in Britain: Essays on the Afro Asian Contribution to Popular Music, Open University Press, 1990.

This is a different label than the later Hummingbird label run by Nelson Caton.

4 records.

Label Artists Title Year Format
Humming Bird 300/301
 Lord Kitchener Sweet Jamaica / Death is Compulsary 1948 78
Humming Bird 302/303
 Lord Kitchener Jump in the Line / Take me to Trinidad 1948 78
Humming Bird 304/305
 Lord Kitchener Chinese Memorial / I Want to Join in Matrimony 1948 78
Humming Bird 306/307
 Lord Kitchener The Steel Band / Blood is Thicker Than Water 1948 78