So far we had five albums with Colacho Mendoza, they seem
to get better all the time. The more I play his music, the more
I like it. For this saturday we have another of his great records.
La Golondrina is from 1971 and the second volume titled ‘Mi
Mejor Concierto Vallenato’. Just love the rhythms, Colacho’s
voice and acordeon, the whole thing, listen and enjoy..

tracks;

01 – La golondrina
02 – Compadre simon
03 – Cecilia
04 – Salvadora
05 – La bruja
06 – Callate corazon
07 – Donde quiera que vayas
08 – Mercedes
09 – La tijera
10 – Amor con frenesi

Today’s lp by the African Brothers is a quite rare one. It is
ungooglable so to speak, zero results, only on ‘Popsike’
where you only find the most obscure albums. Great find
by our buddy Kali from Belgium when he was in Ghana
last year. African Brothers’ albums keep coming up
once in a while, they made so many. Enjoy this
one and share it if you can.

tracks;

01 – Prodigal love
02 – Efiri fie
03 – Mepe no bi
04 – Anafranaku
05 – Ahohowa
06 – Ankonam mobro
07 – Ontuu kwan da
08 – Virtue ( the meaning )

When hunting for records I always keep an eye open
for sixties calypso. So when I found this Lord Kitchener
it made me very happy. Calypso from this period is the
hardest to find and has the nicest sound to my opinion.
There are still many records to encounter but for now
we can sit and enjoy this fine lp. It must be from 1967
according to the internet, we had the album ’67 from
the same year obviously. It was my favourite Kitchener
for a long time and I’m glad to be able to extend that
Trinidad feel today, get it & spread it..

tracks;

01 – Nora
02 – Tie tongue mopsie
03 – Marjorie’s flirtation
04 – Trouble in arima
05 – Elsie’s river
06 – Mount olga
07 – Chinese never had a v.j. day
08 – Walk a mile and a half
09 – Black or white
10 – Mango tree

Carnaval 2015 is at our doorstep, it is early this year, half
february already. One of the famous singers from the old
days is Nelson Cavaquinho. This lp was recorded in 1973
and contains songs about carnaval, like ‘Vou Partir’.
Nelson’s strong guitar strokes belong to my very
favourites. Listen to a great piece
of Brazillian blues..

tracks;

01 – Juízo final
02 – Folhas secas
03 – Caminhando
04 – Minha festa
05 – Mulher sem alma
06 – Vou partir
07 – Rei vadio
08 – A flor e o espinho, Se eu sorrir, Qua…
09 – É tão triste cair
10 – Pode sorrir
11 – Rugas
12 – O bem e o mal
13 – Visita triste

When beginning this blog, the most important mission
was digitising lp’s to make Mp3’s of them. Using cd’s
was no option. Slowly however some cd’s are also
becoming scarse and out of print. This one by Ali
Farka Toure from 1988 is not as available as it
used to be. Being short in time today I made
this choice of post. Lp’s remain our main
source but an exception is made.
Hope you like this one, enjoy..

tracks;

01 – Timbarma
02 – Singya
03 – Nawiye
04 – Bakoytereye
05 – Tchigi fo
06 – Amandrai
07 – Kadi kadi
08 – Yulli
09 – Bakoye
10 – Amandrai live

The lp we’ve got selected for you today concerns an album
by two great artists. It is suggested these guys are in some
kind of battle singing in turns. The record is divided however,
instead of taking turns, Manuel Caraballo is doing the a-side
and Morgan Blanco the b-side. They perform with the same
group, ‘Los Principes Vallenatos’. One way or the other, I
like both of them and am unable to pick a favourite. What
do you think ? How about you Gerrit, I noticed you are
into vallenato too..by the way return my best wishes
to Agnes, greetings from old buddies in ‘t Gooi..

tracks;

1 Manuel Caraballo – Triste abandono
2 Manuel Caraballo – Cruz maria
3 Manuel Caraballo – Recuerdo inolvidable
4 Manuel Caraballo – Lloras tu dolor
5 Manuel Caraballo – El bocon
6 Manuel Caraballo – Solo el amor
7 Morgan Blanco – Los dos amores
8 Morgan Blanco – El hombre pobre
9 Morgan Blanco – Profunda ensoñacion
10 Morgan Blanco – Por un amor perdido
11 Morgan Blanco – El bucanero
12 Morgan Blanco – Mi muchachita

We had us a few records with Empire Bakuba already
but this one is somehow different. It tells us frontman
is Papy Tex instead of Pépé Kallé. His name doesn’t
even appear. I am sure to hear him a few times though.
Papy Tex wrote the tracks on this album and comes
out strong to my opinion. I dare say this is a
typical Empire Bakuba slice and it rocks
like always, listen and dance away..

tracks;

1 Livre d’or
2 Pebi ya pembe
3 Litama
4 Ce n’est pas ma faute

We knew them as Michigan and Smilie but here on their first
lp they are still called General Smilie and Papa Michigan.
They scored big time with their hits Rub-a-Dub Style and the
second song on this lp, Nice Up the Dance. Being one of the
first duo’s, they caused a craze for this type of reggae, they
toured Europe early eighties. I saw them in the Amsterdam
Paradiso. On the famous Studio One label, produced by
the great Sir Cocksone Dodd who also arranged it and
took care of all engineering and sound recording.
Don’t you just love their style, towell and all..
It was big fun those days.

tracks;

1 Rub-a-dub style
2 Nice up the dance
3 Thank you jah
4 Compliment to studio one
5 Time to be happy
6 Eye of danger

It is always difficult, what to do if backsleeve and label do not
agree on trackorder ? I recorded it as label suggested but saw
only in second instance that there was no match with the sleeve.
One way or the other, same songs, different order, all good to me.
Let’s focus on the music and find 11 very nice vallenatos, I don’t
know about you but I really like’m a lot, check & listen..

tracks;

1 Rosita guamalera
2 Ni pie ni pisa
3 Amor comprado
4 La ceiba
5 La rebelde
6 Margarita
7 Corazon apasionado
8 Mulata
9 Añoranza
10 Solo faltas tu
11 Africa

Okay Kwabena, let’s do one with the funky highlife field
marshall, Tony Sarfo composed and arranged all songs
on this album. He is backed by the Afrosibi gang in which
also Sammy Cropper plays his part. This time he does the
Bass guitar. Voice over by Tony Mensah of Kumasi and
Tony Sarfo. Track #1, little angel, was his biggest hit in
1983, but too sweet for me. Today’s album contains a
song called ‘Mensu’ just like yesterday’s record by Vis
a Vis. Same song, different version? I wonder
was it written by Tony Sarfo?
tracks;

1 Little angel
2 Momma yendo yenho
3 Obi de ba anopa
4 Mensu