We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago…..
When the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees came out earlier this year I knew all of them except one. I really could not believe that someone I never heard of was being considered for a spot in the rock pantheon. When I mentioned on Facebook that I had never heard of Fela Kuti, my friend Doug Andrews, who spent one of his high school years as an exchange student in Ghana, quickly chimed in that Kuti was a 70’s powerhouse in much of the world including his native Nigeria. He was in the forefront of the musical genre known as Afrobeat which falls under the western column of “World Music”.
In 1971 former Cream drummer Ginger Baker, who had led his own band Ginger Baker’s Air Force, was bored with the musical scene in the UK and headed for Africa. His journey was chronicled in a film….
He also started playing and recording with Kuti, whom he had met in London back in the 60’s. The album that came out of their collaboration is simply called “Live” and was released in August of 1971.
If you like percussion you’ll love this…but it’s not all drums. There is a kicking horn section and Maurice Ekpo delivers some rubbery bass that worms it’s way into you brain. There are only four tunes on the Lp but the extended nature of the jams are hypnotic in their funkiness. I can’t understand the lyrics that Kuti (who also plays Hammond organ) is singing but it hardly matters. The music is meaty and good.
Kuti was also known for his political opposition to the repressive regime in Lagos, which is evident in his translated lyrics and got him beat up and brutalized on may occasions.
Needless to say, this did not get played in Wisconsin back in 1971, although some of my other friends said they heard it at college in Madison back in the day. I had never heard it until earlier this year…my loss then…my gain now.
