The Barefoot Man

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The Barefoot Man
Birth nameGeorge Nowak
Also known asThe Barefoot Man
OriginGerman
GenresPop
Beach Rock
Soft rock
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter
InstrumentsGuitar
Years active1970s-present
LabelsBarefoot Records
Associated actsThe Barefoot Man and Band
Website Official Barefoot Man Website
Past membersHenry Leslie, Mark McTaggard, Harry Johnson, Philip "Smiley" Bodden

The Barefoot Man, born George Nowak, is an entertainer and songwriter who performs primarily in the Cayman Islands, specifically on the largest island of Grand Cayman. He has composed about 2,000 songs and has recorded nearly 500 of them. The Barefoot Man and his Band performed for many years at the Holiday Inn on the Seven Mile Beach of Grand Cayman. This hotel, however, no longer exists. He now performs primarily at the Reef Resort and at The Wharf in Grand Cayman. The Barefoot Man has been commonly compared to other island performers and songwriters like Jimmy Buffett. [1]

Contents

Barefoot's songs are predominately risqué parody, pun and double entendre put to reggae, calypso and sometimes country or pop beats. [2]

The Barefoot Man and Band was featured in the 1993 film, The Firm, starring actors Tom Cruise and Gene Hackman. For this film, George Nowak wrote the song "Money, Money, Money" which appears on the film's soundtrack. The song was performed and recorded by the band that he performed with at the Holiday Inn on Grand Cayman. [1]

He currently lives in the village of Breakers on the island of Grand Cayman and still performs for tourists several nights per week (when he's not off on some remote island fishing). He is also a contributing writer for several island publications.

Early years

Nowak was the son of a German merchant seaman who abandoned ship when George was very young. George's mother remarried, this time to an American serviceman and they moved to Wilmington, North Carolina where he attended high school. He graduated in 1968 and immediately moved to Nashville to "...write a country hit...to buy (his) own Island." [3]

Nowak details events from his life, including his early years in the book Which way to the Islands? – a collection of short stories and photos. In this book George reveals that during the Vietnam War (circa 1968), he went by the alias Barefoot Man while living "off the radar" in a club trading work for room and board since he could not procure a work permit with this name. [4]

Barefoot Man Albums (Released as Records and / or Cassette Tapes)

Album NameYear ReleasedSerial No.
The Galleon Beach Hotel Proudly Presents the Barefoot Man1971BM-001
Calypso Story – Live at the Galleon1973BR-T57380
The Galleon's Barefoot Man Sings for You: Songs from the Cayman Islands1973?BM-003
Barefoot and Company1975BA-1024
Cayman Memories1977BR-1005
Happy Days in the Cayman Islands1978BR-1006
Come Scuba Do With Me1978BR-1007
Barefoot and Andy1979?BR-5704
Dirty Foot1979BR-5787
Cayman Holiday1980GN-5884
A Decade on an Island1981BR-1008
Scuba Do II1981BF-5939
Typical Tropical1982?BF-6137
Barefoot's Island Favorites1983?C-1827
Tropical Beachcomber1983BFM-1212
Island Party!1984???
Barefoot's Best1985/86?BR-1014
Strictly Calypso1987?C-1940
Like the Reggae Beat1988?C-2036
Caribbean Favorites Vol. II1989?C-2220
Best of Calypso1989?C-2759
Feelin’ Hot, Hot, Hot1990?C-2865
Scuba Do III1990?C-3038
Back to the Islands1990C-4287
Calypso Collection1991C-4927
Strictly Calypso REISSUE1992?C-5622
Christmas on an Island1993?C-5807
Rum and Calypso1992???
Rum & Coconut Water1994???
Island Life1994?C-7054
Island Fever1995C-7933/C-8007
You Jamaican Me Crazy1996C-8768
Margarita Daze1998C-9469

Barefoot Man Albums (Released Primarily as CDs)

Album NameYear Released
Calypso Gold – Best of the Best, Volume 11996?
Hot Hot Hot Collection – Best of the Best, Volume 21997
Under The Coconut Tree1998
Barefoot's Best of the Best, Volume 31998
We Need a Vacation1999
Three Coconuts2000
Dirty Belly Button2002
Loud Shirts2003
Just Another Sunset2003
Gone Coconutz2005
Best of Scuba Do2005
In the Bahamas2006
Time Flies When You're Havin' Rum2008
Only the Good Stuff2008
Shoeless Classics, Volume I2009
Shoeless Classics, Volume II2009
Thong Gone Wrong2009
Bahamas Best2009
Children of the Caribbean2009
Dirty Foot2010
Horses on the Beach2010
One Way Ticket to the Beach2011
You Had to be There2012
Sand Dollars2013
Beach Bummin' Around2014
Why Didn't I Think of That?2016
Best Ever CD from the Cayman Islands???
Beyond the Reef???
The Ballad of Richard Le Noir (Big Black Dick) and More Fun Rummy Calypso's???
Calypso Classics???
Fake Boobs and Belly Buttons???
Hot, Hot, Hot???
Loud Shirts and Coconuts???
Reggae 'n Rum???

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References

  1. 1 2 About Barefoot Man Archived 6 April 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Friel, Bob. "Local Character: Barefoot Man". Caribbean Travel & Life. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  3. Payne, Bob (July–August 1995). "Barefoot Soul". Islands Magazine (Vol. 15, Num. 4). Islands Publishing Company. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  4. Nowak, H. G. (5 November 2012). Which way to the Islands (Volume 1) (Paperback ed.). Daring Books. p. 238. ISBN   978-0938936718.