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Fela Anikulapo Kuti – Black President
Arista 1981
When I was making yesterday’s post I wanted to place a
link to Fela Kuti’s album ‘Black president’ of which I am
very sure it was posted way back in the beginning of the
Global Groove. Another record that has vanished in the
time I was still using Blogger. One way or the other, I am
no lover of Afrobeat, this album however is more or less
the only one that made it for me. It was one of the first
African records that reached me early eighties. Fela’s
way of playing the saxophone, the easy groove, the
hypnotic way it is built, I am no Fela fan, but
to me one of his best works ..
Toen ik gisteren een link wilde plaatsen naar Fela Kuti’s
‘Black President’ ontdekte ik tot m’n verbazing dat hij niet
meer aanwezig was. Alweer een album dat is verdwenen
in de tijd dat we Blogger nog gebruikten. Hoe dan ook, de
Afrobeat sound heeft me nooit heel erg aangesproken.
mij allemaal veel te funky, deze plaat van Fela daarentegen
was één van de eerste Afrikaanse elpees die me bereikte
in de vroege jaren tachtig en zo’n beetje de enige in het
genre die het voor me doet. Fela’s manier van saxofoon
spelen, de mellow groove, de bijna hypnotische opbouw,
ik ben geen kenner, maar voor mij is dit z’n beste ..
Wikipedia, English
Wikipedia, Nederlands
Discogs
01 – Sorrow tears and blood
02 – Colonial mentality
03 – I.T.T. (International thief thief)
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I’m a big Fela’s fan, and I have to agree with you Moos : the 3 pieces on this compilation are the best way to discover the great man. Back in the eighties, it was the first album I’ve heard from him. Great memory, I can remember the people and the moment where it happened ! For me Sorrow, tears and blood is the best song from Fela and I’m happy to say that my twenty years old children love it.
This is the first African album I ever bought. Got it over Christmas in 1981. Been on my top of list for 40 years. I believe it was recorded and released in Nigeria earlier . Their is a Knitting Factory reissue with the original artwork… However the European release is a nice package.
Great album
This was the very first Fela album I bought, back in ’81, a time of many, many discoveries, I came out of the punk scene and I got bored with most of that music pretty quick, discovering This Heat, Metabolist, James White & The Contortions, Blurt, loads of German bands etc. and then, sitting in the B14 jazz cafe in Rotterdam I heard Fela for the first time, this album, and it just blew me away, his albums were pretty hard to find back then but I found a lot of really great ones…. Fela…and Zazou Bikaye… Then, one night, like every Tuesday night I was listening Bram van Splunteren’s radio show Moondogs and he played fuji music, Kollington and I was sold… totally and I spend the next few years looking for fuji records, never found anything, asking in every record store, nobody ever even heard of that genre, so for many years that one song on that old dusty tape that I recorded from that radio show was the only fuji song I knew and it’s only since blogs like yours and youtube that I’ve been able to discover more of it…. But yeah, as far as Afrikan music goes, this is the album that started it for me :)
I am a big Fela fan as he has some of the best introductions, medleys and compositions I ever heard in music. He could make two versions of the same song and you would have a hard time deciding which is better, that’s how good he really was. Fela was also versatile and could play different instruments as can be seen in some of his videos. I like the fact that he admitted coming to Ghana to find inspiration for his music. Some of Ghana’s great artistes like B.B. Collins, Ebo Taylor and K. Frimpong worked with him or related to his songs at some point of their career. Thanks for sharing this and hopefully looking forward to more Fela music on the groove.
It is also interesting to note that most of the new artistes in Nigeria today, like burnaboy are all coming to Ghana to find inspiration for their songs like Fela did. This is history repeating itself. I was not a Fela fan at first, but his music grew up on me eventually. I recommend taking it on long road trips and let the music marinate, soak it all in.
Love Fela music, one of the all time greatest musicians ever. Definitely need more of Fela music.
Hi Moos, this must be very early, I have that album from the beginnings of Global Groove, the date is 06/13/2008 how good that this wonderful initiative is still alive, and fresh.
I don’t use Afro-pop beats frequently either, but I appreciate Fela and immerse myself in his legacy from time to time.
If you have the Roforofo Fight, I would appreciate it if you shared it, I had it on CD but it disappeared from its box, and I have not listened to it for years.
Hi Ngoni, Wonderful that you found the date
of posting of Black President. I still find
disappeared posts from time to time. If you
know of others, that would be awesome.
The Roforofo Fight is not in my possession
unfortunately ..
Excuse me. You mean this website has been functioning since 2008? Are you kidding.
No I’m not kidding may 5th
2008 was my first post,
you can go back and see ..
Hi. ADMIN. I’m curious to know how we plan to leave the legacy of this websites even when the owner is too old to continue this.
I’m absolutely a lover of old songs filled with philosophy and can’t imagine all this efforts end when the admin ages.
Literal Wisdom and philosophical knowledge are legacies that must be passed on to generations.
I found songs and album I never ever belived to see on the Internet here. Please I’m ready to support you to help. I’m a web developer a frontend.
Please kindly respond. Also, how do you get support financially to pay for all of the yearly hosting.
Don’t worrie, I am still young
enough to continue for years.
Who knows, maybe one of my sons
will step in one fine day ..