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 Errol Strachan was born in Snug Comer, Acklins on the 18th day of December 1932 to the then Lillian Ferguson who later became Lillian Taylor of the above island and James Shadrack Strachan of Eight Mile Rock, Grand Bahama. Errol came to Nassau at the age of nine months. When he was old enough he started school at
St. Joseph's School, Farrington Road where he also attended church. At the age of 12 Errol became a choir and altar boy. Being in the choir he became very interested in singing. A short while later he joined the 5th Bahamas Boy Scouts, where Errol played the bugle.
About one month later a trumpet was placed in his hand by the then Father Album. As the years rolled by Errol got into many other things such as auto mechanics, construction, and all sorts of sports, but singing and playing music was always his love. Whether he was working on a car or on a building he was always singing a tune. In the very late 40's, 1949 to be exact, Errol began to frequent nightclubs such as the Zanzibar Nightclub on Blue Hill
Road or the Silver Slipper on East Street, begging and hoping the band leader would let him sing a song or two before the night was over.
One of those band leaders was the late Freddie Munnings, who when he found out that Errol really did want to become a singer, opened his band to Errol; for this he was very grateful to Freddie. Then came Errol's big moment in 1954 at the Cat & Fiddle which was run by the late
Bert Cambridge, Mr. Cambridge held an amateur contest in which
Errol took part, and won first prize, from then on it was go, go, go. By late 1954 Errol and his cousin
Eric Gibson (a.k.a. King Eric) got together and formed a band. They played at the Blue Rest Club on Kemp Road, which only lasted for a few months. In 1955 he married to the former Dorothea Archer. During the 1950's Errol performed in many charitable concerts; also over the years, he did
a number of performances abroad in Canada and various cities in the United States.
In 1957 his cousin Eric landed a job at a supper club called Captain Kidd, and there they stayed until early 1958, when the general strike took place that put an end to that job. In the summer of 1959 Errol formed his own band, "The Errol Strachan Quintet", where he played at the Dirty Dicks Club on Bay Street and then on to the Bama Club, also on Bay Street, where he was given the name "Duke Errol and the Lords". He
then went onto play at the Emerald Beach hotel for a year.
In 1961 Errol decided to get a better knowledge and understanding of music, so he decided to study the theory of music with
Eric Cash, and went as far as grade 4.
Following the Emerald Beach, he went on to play at the British Colonial Hotel where he stayed for seven (7) years. During this period Errol decided to open a music store, Edem Music Centre, in late 1968, which was in his opinion, a learning institution. Many leading musicians came out of this institution. Errol was on the music scene for a while until 1975, when he was offered a job at the South Ocean Beach Hotel, which lasted six (6)
months.
In 1973 Errol rented the entire upper floor of SuperWash on Nassau Street, where Edem School of Music was born and lasted for one and a half years. The doors were closed due to financial difficulties. Classes were then held at the back of the store, and soon the store was overflowing with kids, because the word got around that "the man at the music store would give you an instrument and also teach you." In 1978, the Young Soul Orchestra
was born and did its first performance in February 1979 and many more thereafter. One of their highlight performances was at the CHOGM State Dinner in 1985. In late 1979, he was approached to head the band in the Le Cabaret Theater on Paradise Island, which lasted for over nine (9) years.
In July of 1990, Errol was again approached to be a part of a team to organize a very large marching band to enhance the 1992 Quincentennial celebrations. Over 140 kids came forth, but due to broken promises, most of the members of the group quit, leaving approximately 30 kids; also the organizers quit, leaving just Errol, who decided to take it on single handedly, then becoming the
National
Youth Orchestra, and which is now going quite well. To date, the orchestra has to its credit 44 performances.
Errol Strachan, Duke Errol, has dedicated his entire life to music, whether teaching, performing or just promoting it in the Bahamas. A Bahamian musical great!
Source: BMEU |
