by Les Slater
October 29 (editor’s note this article was originally published in 1987) will mark two years since we bade farewell to Francis “Patsy” Haynes — a name of which a lot more of us should have been more keenly aware. A lot more of us should have known of his exploits. That Patsy Haynes continued to ply his musical trade right up, practically, to the time of his death in 1985, frequently in a manner not at all commensurate with his creative potency is, if anything, a study in indignity. Patsy Haynes was a hero. Patsy Haynes was a genius. But he was these things because of being, first of all, of the steel band milieu. And there’s the rub.
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There are a lot of Pan Pioneers that started in the Struggle of the Steel Pan/ Steelband, and got nothing in return, Patsy Haynes was one of them, I just want to say, "Thank you very much" and may God Bless you.
I met Patsy when he first came here from T'dad. Him and Yankee Boy were Harlem All Stars main players along with Pop's
Patsy was simply amazing on the Tenor (dazzaling). He was a short man that played with tall intensions. May he R. I. P.
AKA: Tahzann