LETTA MBULU: "Mahlalela"

pickwick33

I actually mentioned this in the "Favorite Motown" thread, but decided to give it a home of its' own so it wouldn't (hopefully) be lost...Not too long ago I received this compilation of Hugh Masekela-related tracks, including things he played on or produced, and while I've never been too big a fan of his, I will say that maybe half of those songs were good enuff to justify me keeping it...but holy shit, what is this up in here? There's this one standout track by Letta Mbulu called "Mahlalela" that had me by the balls...I think I ripped this straight to the iTunes in no time...this acapella call-and-response intro gives way to this angry Afro-funk bit that just won't quit...a one-chord vamp with foreign-language lyrics and highlife horns...if I had this on vinyl, I'd spin this at my soul night in a minute (even though that vocal intro is fairly long and just might spoil the momentum of the night, but I'd find a way to work that joker into the set)...the English translation of the title is apparently "Lazy Bones"...if this is so, then this obviously ain't no love song, 'cause Letta and the whole damn band sound pissed off...I'm sure some of y'all must have heard this.Evidently, it's on the 1970 album pictured above, on the Chisa label (which Motown distributed). Anybody heard this LP? If so, how's the rest of the album?I know that Letta had other releases...my only other exposure to her is a mid-60's era Capitol single that I'm not really feeling, and I know she later turned up on A&M, but how is this here Letta LP seen above?

fishmongerfunk

here is another version of mahlalela on some live harry belafonte album (she used to sing with him)which is less funky but nevertheless inbteresting. i am a fan of the "naturally" album on capitol that has the adderlys and joe sample and some other jazz greats doing backing. the song off that to hear is afro texas which has a really good horn arrangment and choppy guitar. another track i like of hers is called "west wind"
and i think it was an axelrod production. by the way, she was discovered by hugh's first wife miriam makeba who has lots of random fire too particually "samba", "goodbye poverty", and a killer version of jorge ben's "xica da silva".

DJFerrari

Dude... I love this track! The rest of the LP doesn't come close to comparing, but it's real easy to pickup so I'd suggest doing so.

When DJing with this one, I skip the first acapella part. The second one's more in time with the music coming in. It's also fun to do some transforming with it as you bring it in.

pickwick33

When DJing with this one, I skip the first acapella part. The second one's more in time with the music coming in. It's also fun to do some transforming with it as you bring it in.

Thanks for the advice. Normally I don't alter the records I'm spinning, apart from a few creative crossfades, but I'd make an exception in this case - this track is just too hot to let a 34-second acapella bit stand in the way.