Before he became leader of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan was a calypso singer. What? You didn’t know? Oh, yes, he was known in Boston as Calypso Louie and headlined a show in Chicago called “Calypso Follies.” He recorded several albums in the ’50s under the name The Charmer, including the one pictured above on which he mangled many calypso standards, like “Mary Ann” and “Ugly Woman.” Purportedly, the rights to the original recordings were purchased and suppressed by the Nation of Islam several years ago, but Dave Warden here at WOW was able to secure a copy of The Charmer and let us hear it. Click on the links to hear two samples.