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Beginning in the mid-60's,
black consciousness was on the rise. As blacks in the US (and elsewhere)
began to embrace their African heritage,
words and images of Africa began to make their way into the black
community and pop culture at large. The Afro (or 'natural'), the raised
fist of Black Power, African inspired clothing and names were all
superficial signs of a new Black nationalism. I recently compiled a disc
of some records that represent that consciousness reflected in music, in
varying degrees.
Almost all of the tunes I selected are "dance" records.
Practically none of them have any explicit political/social message.
While a few are instrumentals, most manage to work grunts of 'Ungowa!',
name-checks of African countries and tribes and plenty of congas and
bongos into the mix, alongside the dance steps. A large chunk
of them (from 1967 and 1968) represent a kind of minor (in that
none of them were hits) 'African Twist'
craze.
The earliest, 1967's 'African Twist PT1 & Pt2' by singer/sax
player Lonnie Youngblood
was one of the many mid-range R&B hits he had in the 60's and early
70's.
'African Boo-Ga-Loo'
by Jackie Lee (in
actuality Earl Nelson of Bob & Earl 'Harlem Shuffle' fame) managed
to hit the African and 'boogaloo' trends at the same time. it was
released on the LA Keymen label, also the first home to the Watts 103rd
Street Rhythm Band among others.
The
Lat-Teen's were a New York City Latin soul group who serve as a reminder
that much of the African music in the US arrived here via the Caribbean.
The tune appeared on their first (of three) Cotique LPs, 'The Lat-Teens',
which also contained tunes like 'Mary-Wanna', 'El Shingaling' and their
version of 'Louie Louie'. Their later material moved away from Latin Soul into a
straight salsa bag.
Photo at left - The Lat-Teens |
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Jomo was a one-off
Chess studio creation of R&B legend Andre Williams, who wrote and
produced (and probably played on and sang) 'Uhuru (African Twist)'.
Jerry
'Jerry-O' Murray was a master of funky dance singles, recording at
least nine of them, for Boogaloo (as Tom and Jerrio with his partner
Robert 'Tom' Tharp), ABC-Paramount, Shout and White Whale between 1965
and his death in the mid-70's. He was also a producer and composer,
releasing discs on his own Chicago based Jerry-O records by groups like
the Dukays (after Gene Chandler left to go solo). 'Afro Twist Time (Um-Gow-Wow)'
is one of his best and includes his trademark shout of 'Papa Chew!!!'.
The Mad
Men are one of the lesser-known acts on Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff's
Philadelphia Gamble label, but that doesn't stop 'Do The African Twist
Pts 1&2' from being a great record. It features some great guitar
and one of the most intense screams in the history of Philly soul.
Stacy
Lane was an incredible Wilson Pickett-esque southern soul screamer
who recorded two 45's for Excello in the late 60's. 'African Twist -
which was co-written by Travis Wammack of 'Scratchy' fame, then a
frequent Excello session man - manages to work jungle noises (including
lion's roars) into the mix. The flip, 'I'm Out to Win You Over' is also
a killer.
The Ikettes' medley of James Brown's
'There Was A Time' and Ike Turners instrumental 'African Boos' is
the best track on the Ike and Tina Turner Revue's 1969 live LP on Minit.
It rivals the Godfather's original version for ferocity, with a killer
horn section and a relentless drumbeat.. |
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Though the Ike
& Tina revue was basically a soul-rock outfit, this cut is from their
funkiest years where they - Ike & Tina, the Ikettes and Ike Turners
Kings Of Rhythm - laid it
down heavy for the Minit and Pompeii labels.
'African
Strut' by Lynn Westbrook is a little known (on the small Esprit label), but
extremely tasty slice of slow, gritty organ funk, which includes a
breakdown in which Lynn 'calls the tribes'. He also manages to open the
tune with a Tarzan yell. It has been re-released on one of Goldmine Soul
Supply's 'Sound Of Funk' volumes.
One
of their three singles for Moira (they also did an LP for Cotillion before
morphing into the Counts and doing three more albums for Westbound) 'The
Girl From Kenya' is the B-side of the Fabulous
Counts incredible 'Jan Jan'. One of the few discs here to move out of
the 'dance' mold, it has lyrics that sound like an Afro-sheen commercial.
Fortunately the Fab's get down with some of their trademark organ and
killer guitar to make this track a winner.
We
briefly head to Jamaica for the Classics 'History of Africa'; one
of the earlier entries in what would become a vast catalogue of reggae
discs about war and politics in Africa (tied into the Rastafarian
fascination with Ethiopia and the parallel Black independence movements in
Jamaica and African nations like Zaire, Rhodesia, and South Africa). Here
the Classics name-check assassinated Congolese leader Patrice Lamumba.
This 45 was released in the UK on the rock steady/ soul label Pama whose
catalogue also included UK organ funksters the Mohawks, and US soul
shouters like Bobby Patterson
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a "Afro
Walk' and Congo Blue', both super tasty Latin funk are from Mongo
Santamaria's 1971LP 'Mongo's Way'. Santamaria pre-saged the trend by
composing the jazz standard 'Afro Blue' in the mid-50's. The LP also
features the hard drumming of 'Bernard 'Pretty' Purdie, keyboards by
jazz-funk all-star Neal Creque and some sweet, funky flute by Roger Glenn.
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Photos on left - Top - Jerry-O, bottom -
Lonnie Youngblood,
'Burundi Black
Pt1' , by Burundi Steiphenson Black has a long history from its time as
a 1972 top-40 hit in the UK and Europe to its revival in the 80's and 90's
as an ethno-techno dance record.
Despite
the name 'Afrique', the
version of 'Soul Makossa' heard here was recorded by a hot LA session
group- one of more than 10 bands to cover this tune by Cameroonian funk
genius Manu Dibango. The covers were so ubiquitous in fact that when
Atlantic got around to issuing Dibango's version in the US it was labeled
as "the original".
The latest cut is 'Kilimanjaro
Cookout' by funky jazzer O'Donel
Levy (below)who's early-70's Groove Merchant sides are highly
prized by samplers and DJ's.
If
anyone has 45s or good quality tapes of other 'Afro' themed tunes from the
same era, I'd be glad to run off a CD copy of my comp in trade
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