Rating:
Genre:
World
Release Date: 03/08/2005
Love's a Real Thing is an excellent introduction into the wild sound world of West Africa in the '70s. As
Ronnie Graham points out in his superb liner notes, the '60s were a time of assimilation for much of the popular music of Africa. Many bands were playing a hybrid of
Latin and African music typified by the Congolese
rhumba of
Franco & OK Jazz. The '70s were a different bag, though, with the heavy electric sounds of
Jimi Hendrix,
James Brown,
Cream, and others seeping into the consciousness of a new generation of Africans who were also contending with their own emerging sense of identity. The results are raucous, exuberant melting pots of funky
soul,
psychedelic rock, and honey-sweet
Latin horns mixed through the sensibilities of extremely talented African bands on the cusp of developing styles like
soukous,
mbalax, and
Afro-beat. Senegal's
Star Band Number One (aka
Etoile de Dakar and confusingly billed here as
No. 1 de No. 1), were already seasoned veterans by the dawn of the 1970s, and the sound of their
"Guajira Van" with its sinewy fuzz guitar solo and talking drum stabs is glorious proto-
mbalax. Elsewhere, there are songs more directly inspired by
rock and
soul.
"Allah Wakbarr" by
Ofo & the Black Company has a heavy
acid rock guitar lead competing with a conga drum for the top of the mix. The title cut,
"Love's a Real Thing" by Gambia's
Super Eagles, is a gritty organ and electric guitar-driven
soul number that could have come out of Memphis'
Stax Records. One of the later period numbers,
William Onyeabor's
"Better Change Your Mind" from 1978, is sophisticated Afro-
soul riding on an alien keyboard line.
"Keleya" from Mali's
Moussa Doumbia is the funkiest of the
Afro-beat songs on
Love's a Real Thing; its chunky organ solo and
James Brown grunts beat out the more laid-back
"Ifa" from
Tunji Oyelana & the Blenders and
"Awon-Ojise-Oluwa" from Nigerian studio veteran
Gasper Lawal. There have been other series that have explored Africa in this vibrant and historic period -- the fantastic
Ethiopiques,
Dakar Sound, and
Discotheque discs document Ethiopia, Senegal, and Guinea, respectively -- but what
Love's a Real Thing lacks in depth it makes up for in breadth, and the fact that it surveys the whole region rather than a single area makes it a great entry point for them all.
~Wade Kergan, All Music Guide
Cart 0 items
Listen
