[VicAjax]

I'm lounging here on a Saturday afternoon, with He Miss Road spinning on the stereo.

It occurs to me that if anyone deserves his own multi-hundred post thread in the Head-Fi Music Forum, it's Fela Kuti.

Think about it. He's the Bob Marley, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley and Serge Gainsbourg of Africa, all rolled into one. Fela Anikulapo Kuti is easily one of the most important musical visionaries in all of modern history. And I don't think I'm exaggerating. Much.

His music is sophisticated, primitive, joyous, angry, political, sexual, timely, timeless and infectious.

So come out of the closet all you afrobeat worshippers, and submit to the Head-Fi altar of Fela!

 

[tru blu]

Well, Africa's a gy-normous continent, so I'm sure Fela, proud cat that he was, would love it if folks knew that his homeland is Nigeria. Afrobeat, the indomitably funky synthesis of James Brown and highlife he came up with, couldn't have been invented anywhere else on the continent, sort of like the Paul Simon favorite mbaqanga could only have come from South Africa and Youssou N'Dour's mbalax is the handiwork of Senegal.

That said, I'll post some of my Fela favorites (geez, there're sooo many). I'd also encourage anyone who seeks them out to find out the stories behind why he wrote them...you'll get a sort of autobiographical history of recent political and social problems in Nigeria, as well as the protests that kept Fela in and out of jail for much of his career.


"Water No Get Enemy"

"Rororofo Fight"

"Go Slow" (the Nigerian expression for a roadway with heavy-traffic)

"No Agreement"

"Zombie" (the military threw his mother from a second-story window for this one…she died of the injuries)

"Shuffering and Shmiling"

"Expensive Sh-t" (he ate weed during a raid, so the military arrested him and waited for him to go to the bathroom)

 

[VicAjax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tru blu /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, Africa's a gy-normous continent, so I'm sure Fela, proud cat that he was, would love it if folks knew that his homeland is Nigeria. Afrobeat, the indomitably funky synthesis of James Brown and highlife he came up with, couldn't have been invented anywhere else on the continent, sort of like the Paul Simon favorite mbaqanga could only have come from South Africa and Youssou N'Dour's mbalax is the handiwork of Senegal.

true, Fela was uniquely a product of Nigeria, musically, but he also transcended that with influence from other African music as well as European and American music.

And sociopolitically, he was a hero to all Africans (maybe with the exception of some government officials).

Quote:

"Expensive Sh-t" (he ate weed during a raid, so the military arrested him and waited for him to go to the bathroom)

i love this record... of course the Fela version of the story is that they tried to plant a joint on him so they could frame him, but he swallowed it and destroyed the evidence. when they waited for his s**t to come out, he managed to swap turds with a fellow inmate and came out clean.

 

[terriblepaulz]

"Zombie" always makes me sweaty

 

[jonnyhambone]

Yes, a huge Fela fan here too. I've had my eyes peeled for some Fela on vinyl for years but haven't seen any. I'm totally amazed that noone has made a movie based on his life yet...

 

[tru blu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonnyhambone /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm totally amazed that no one has made a movie based on his life yet...

There's currently an Off-Broadway play in NYC called Fela!…actually, I'm not quite sure if its run has finished yet. The guy who plays Fela is unbelievable—and the band Antibalas is onstage as the Africa 70 (or is it Egypt 80?) ensemble…fantastic! But the play as a whole isn't great. And I must say that his music makes it awfully hard to stay seated.

 

[Davey]

Fela always brought the funk. Great music, some of those 15-minute workouts seem to be over in just a few minutes, almost like the time just stops or something. Very cool. I'd search out the older pressings from Celluloid and the other original labels because what I've heard of the Universal remasters has way too much added compression. I picked up The Best Best of Fela Kuti collection from 1999 a few years ago, and the music does deserve the AMG 5-star rating, but for some reason they compressed the crap out of it which gives the music a hard edge and makes it less fun to listen. And this is music that celebrates fun, so quashing the dynamics is just stupid mastering from Universal.

You can download the 14 minute version of "Lady", one of my favorites, in a Funky thread over at Rave Recs ... AudioReview Forums - View Single Post - Sounds Funky

 

[sebastian589]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tru blu /img/forum/go_quote.gif There's currently an Off-Broadway play in NYC called Fela!…actually, I'm not quite sure if its run has finished yet. The guy who plays Fela is unbelievable—and the band Antibalas is onstage as the Africa 70 (or is it Egypt 80?) ensemble…fantastic! But the play as a whole isn't great. And I must say that his music makes it awfully hard to stay seated.

Sounds pretty cool, I'm a fan of Antibalas and a big fan of Fela. Fela is greatly under appreciated in my opinion, but that doesn't stop me from loving his music. Took a road trip this summer and listened mostly to Fela with Springsteen's "Born to Run", and Silver Jews "American Water" thrown in the mix. I was honestly looking forward to the drive back home.

 

[JadeEast]

I had the opportunity to see FELA play live two times and have loved his music for a long time. I always forget just how great his music is but every time I play some it becomes very clear again. So much of what I love about music is in those grooves.

 

[tru blu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davey /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'd search out the older pressings from Celluloid and the other original labels because what I've heard of the Universal remasters has way too much added compression.

Yeah, those Celluloids in particular are pretty hard to find because they were pulled shortly after their original release. It seems that Fela wasn't pleased with Celluloid owner Bill Laswell's remixes. All I know is that the one I have, Army Arrangement, is really strong.

 

[jodgey4]

I'mma necro-bump dis thread, and see what happens. Here's a related video from my favorite current drummer, short and sweet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33xsUa7oQ6U

 

[R_burke]

Lots of good current bands that take their cues from Fela
 
Antibalas
Chicago Afrobeat Project
Albino
Tony Allen (drummer for Fela)

 

[jodgey4]

Ya, I hadn't heard of Albino. Chris Dave and his trio take a lot of cues as well, as well as doing some really fun covers. I found Fela through the Neo-Soul scene, and just love his music so much. Everywhere I go, a reedy baritone sax is playing afrobeat dance lines in my head

.

 

[R_burke]

  Ya, I hadn't heard of Albino. Chris Dave and his trio take a lot of cues as well, as well as doing some really fun covers. I found Fela through the Neo-Soul scene, and just love his music so much. Everywhere I go, a reedy baritone sax is playing afrobeat dance lines in my head

.

I'm an old man, I got there through Ginger Baker when he played with Fela and then what he did with Air Force

 

[linglingjr]

Another bump:
I just got into his discography yesterday!  I learned about him through a samples used by The Avalanches on their 2004 album When I Met You.  
 
Awesome artist.