POSTED ON

March 7, 2011

Thomas Mapfumo & the Blacks Unlimited
Chamunorwa, Gramma Records 1989

Thomas Mapfumo, front

Wanted to post this LP way earlier, however because of
a disturbing series of ticks and tacks straight from the
beginning, I posponed it a couple of times. Today I decided
to post it anyway and fade start past the disturbance. You
must know that we miss a couple of tones consequently.
It’s a shame our Thomas kept his handkerchief wrapped
around his microphone, other than that it sounds cristal clear.
Still, worth a couple of spins, I leave you with this ‘chimurenga’
from Zimbabwe which we didn’t have for quite some time.

tracks;

1 Hwahwa
2 Murambadoro
3 Chitima nditakure
4 Chamunorwa
5 Hurukuro
6 Nyama yekugocha

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32 Comments

  1. gd 7 March 2011 at 23:39 - Reply

    thanks for this! some of my all time favorite music!

  2. Anonymous 8 March 2011 at 02:03 - Reply

    One of my favorite albums of all time. This one sounds a little different from the version I have. Thanks so much.

  3. RhythmCxn 8 March 2011 at 02:37 - Reply

    hi moos,

    I have a pristine, never-played copy of this record. I’ll check it to see if the sound is any better, and let you know. I’ve had a technical issue holding up my recording/posting, but that should be resolved in a week or so.

    Cheers, and as always, thanks.
    Robert

  4. Kostas from Greece 8 March 2011 at 12:21 - Reply

    MANY,MANY THANKS!!!

  5. SG 8 March 2011 at 13:07 - Reply

    MF links are kind of a blessing :)

  6. John B. 8 March 2011 at 20:03 - Reply

    Hey Moos: I see the parasites over at Congo na Biso have started deleting our comments! Har!

  7. John B. 8 March 2011 at 20:04 - Reply

    PS. I have this one on CD. I’d be happy to rip and upload it for you.

  8. John B. 8 March 2011 at 20:04 - Reply

    PS. I have this one on CD. I’d be happy to rip and upload it for you.

  9. ttrof 9 March 2011 at 02:49 - Reply

    thank you very very much moos for your global groovers. this is my all time favourite blog on the web

  10. ttrof 9 March 2011 at 02:49 - Reply

    thank you very very much moos for your global groovers. this is my all time favourite blog on the web

  11. RhythmCxn 9 March 2011 at 02:52 - Reply

    Hah! I have it on CD also (Mango) and so probably will not digitize my Zimbabwe pressing. Should have checked!

    cheers,
    robert

  12. RhythmCxn 9 March 2011 at 02:52 - Reply

    Hah! I have it on CD also (Mango) and so probably will not digitize my Zimbabwe pressing. Should have checked!

    cheers,
    robert

  13. ttrof 9 March 2011 at 02:53 - Reply

    there was time when your blog helped me to stay alive.

  14. ttrof 9 March 2011 at 02:53 - Reply

    there was time when your blog helped me to stay alive.

  15. Anonymous 14 March 2011 at 20:18 - Reply

    thanks for this!

    you keep hitting the spot!

    there’s a different version of the first track, Hwa Hwa, on the “Hokoya!” Lp with “the Acid Band”

  16. Anonymous 14 March 2011 at 20:18 - Reply

    thanks for this!

    you keep hitting the spot!

    there’s a different version of the first track, Hwa Hwa, on the “Hokoya!” Lp with “the Acid Band”

  17. Anonymous 25 August 2011 at 15:34 - Reply

    Thomas Mapfumo – 2009.05.11 live in KEXP Seattle

    http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YKCIIBOK

    Cheers, Dave Sez.

    Thanks to the original uploader, and to wrldsrv, freedomblues, electricjive, globalgroovers – each .blogspot.com.

  18. Anonymous 25 August 2011 at 15:34 - Reply

    Thomas Mapfumo – 2009.05.11 live in KEXP Seattle

    http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YKCIIBOK

    Cheers, Dave Sez.

    Thanks to the original uploader, and to wrldsrv, freedomblues, electricjive, globalgroovers – each .blogspot.com.

  19. Anonymous 6 April 2013 at 15:18 - Reply

    Hi Moos, I loved the Chimurenga from Thomas Mapfumo &amp; the Blacks. It&#39;s been a while since I played some of his LP&#39;s. <br /><br />Can you please post Pozo Hayes &quot;Looking Over There&quot; 1985 album from Benin, please notify me if you can. Thanks<br /><br />Russell

  20. Erik 7 April 2013 at 18:43 - Reply

    &quot;<i>He would play up to five nights a week during busy times, offering extraordinary shows that combined hints of R&amp;B, African jazz, reggae, dance music, and mbira anthems. Performances would often begin in the evening and go until dawn</i>&quot; and &quot;<i>[..] dance marathons [..]</i>&quot;. [Read more: Thomas Mapfumo Biography http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608003428/

  21. Iwan 17 April 2013 at 14:23 - Reply

    I know I know I know I know: No requests for re-ups right now. But could you pleaaaaaaaase make one exception? http://globalgroovers.blogspot.de/2008/12/le-nimba-de-nzerekore-gn-bia-bia.html<br />I looked everywhere …<br />Thank you so much.

  22. Doug S. 18 February 2014 at 10:25 - Reply

    A stone cold classic!

  23. Joe 18 February 2014 at 12:07 - Reply

    nyoka musango is a top five all time jam for me

  24. Barron 19 February 2014 at 17:40 - Reply

    Congratulations to the Dutch speed skating team! They have been amazing. Too bad the Americans couldn&#39;t make a decent showing. Apparently there are a number of serious problems in the US Speedskating Association that contributed my country&#39;s dismal performance in this sport.<br /><br />As always, thank you, Moos, for giving us such great music to enjoy!

  25. sulingman 20 February 2014 at 00:45 - Reply

    Thanks for this! Looking forward to finding out if any of the tracks are new to me.

  26. sulingman 21 February 2014 at 02:36 - Reply

    This is fantastic! I do believe some of these tracks sound better than they do on my Chimurenga Forever CD. Great encoding!

  27. DJ Daudi 21 February 2014 at 04:50 - Reply

    This still remains my favorite Mapfumo album. I agree. It still sounds fresh.

  28. glinka21 22 February 2014 at 06:05 - Reply

    Been trying to get this for some time. Thanks!

  29. Anonymous 2 May 2014 at 05:03 - Reply

    Can u please tell m th guy who was on guitar on th song vatete,the man was a genious

  30. Tamuka 23 February 2021 at 01:35 - Reply

    A little history on this album that I picked up from his biography. Thomas Mapfumo had signed a deal with Island Records (Mango imprint), and this was to be the second album they were releasing (the first was Corruption). They sent him brand new tapes to record on, but by the time he got them, he’d already recorded the album. Island was not satisfied with the quality of the recording, so when Thomas Mapfumo was next on tour in UK, they made him revoice the whole album. On the second song Murambadoro as it is heard here, the drums and bass were recorded on the same track, and so for the island remix, they completely did away with them and replaced it with just a 4 on the floor drum beat that is not typical of Mapfumo at all, and never replaced the bass guitar parts.

    Hence this Zimbabwe vinyl pressing sounds quite different from the Island (Mango) CD that was released in the west. The Island engineers did a good job of making the sound cleaner without taking away from the spirit of the music, except on Murambadoro.

    • Moos 23 February 2021 at 07:05 - Reply

      Nice info Tamuka, thank you very much ..

  31. Jb 27 June 2024 at 03:13 - Reply

    Appreciate the African muzik from Mukanya.

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