First Beat

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From one of Tony Allen's final recordings to one of his earliest (coincidentally from another 10").

Fela Ransome-Kuti And His Africa '70 ‎– Fela Fela Fela
Knitting Factory Records, Kalakuta Sunrise ‎– KFR-4007
Vinyl, 10", 33 ⅓ RPM, US, 2010
(Original LP released Nigeria, 1970) info

In their earliest days working together, Fela Kuti and Tony Allen played both the American-styled jazz that Allen would revisit in his later days (and in my previous post) and their take on highlife, the jazzy Western African music originating in Ghana. By the late 60s, they were making the break through in new rhythms and styles that they would call "afrobeat," a change that was brought to a head during their 1969 trip to America. A ten month stay in Los Angeles, a deeper exposure to the latest funk styles, and (just as important to their new music, politics and attitude) exposure to Black power politics (partly through Fela's relationship with Black Panther Party member and aspiring singer Sandra Akanke Isidore) were all bubbling in the background as they rechristened their Koola Lobitos band.

They made their first recording as the renamed Afrika 70 there in LA in '69, shortly before being forced to cut their trip short by US immigration. These recordings were used the next year for the debut LP by Fela Ransome-Kuti And His Africa '70, "Fela Fela Fela," released in Nigeria by His Master's Voice/EMI in 1970. These recordings have occasionally been repackaged as "The LA Sessions," but a few choice cuts from the (originally 10 track) Fela Fela Fela album saw their way onto 1,000 copies of this 10" record, released by Knitting Factory in 2010.

Within a few years, their music and message would be influencing artists around the world (and provoking the Nigerian government to censorship, violent police raids, and arrests) with 15+ minute songs, Allen's polyrhythms and Fela's denouncements of imperialism and corrupt governments. This record doesn't quite reach those heights, but you can hear the new ideas quickly flowering, leaving behind traditional highlife and jazz to build something new.

A1 My Lady Frustration
A2 Wayo (2nd Version)
B1 Lover
B2 Eko

Comments

  1. MMMay 9, 2020 at 4:04 PM

    In FLAC: https://mega.nz/folder/IHhTFZpD#LYsyfY19B2GNuW9sHeeLzw
    In MP3: https://mega.nz/folder/kSxVmZqI#3ZghjkdTshEltgeO60zYdw

    I hope you enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Leper LordJuly 28, 2020 at 3:17 PM

    great share mate

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete

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