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FELA

kennykenny 1,024 Posts
edited October 2010 in Strut Central
Been heavily into Fela Kuti's music lately..."Everything Scatter", "Roforofo Fight", "Zombie", "Shakara"....that whole sound really hits me hard and I need more! Who else should I be checking for? besides his drummer Tony's stuff....

Do most of the Nigerian music sound just like that? I'm not sure it its "Funk" that I'm looking for here, its that african jazz with a fast yet distinctive drum rhythm and the percussions and loud horns

Thanks!

  Comments

  • Hotsauce84Hotsauce84 8,450 Posts
    On that note, I finally saw the Broadway show last month and I loved it. ('Specially the fact that I got my ticket for $27 using a friend's 2003 student ID, but I digress.)

    I realized how little I know about Fela's story. Can anybody recommend a book I can check out?
  • kennykenny 1,024 Posts
    I heard about that broadway show too! almost impossible for me to catch it in person but definitely gonna get the DVD...

    I don't know enough about him and I should, so some read-up recommendations would be much appreciated.
  • Hotsauce84Hotsauce84 8,450 Posts
    Batmon wlll be in here soon enough with a pic of frat boys hitting a bong with Bob Marley's face on it.

    P.R.E.D.I.C.T.A.B.L.E.
  • HorseleechHorseleech 3,830 Posts
    http://www.amazon.com/Fela-This-Bitch-Carlos-Moore/dp/1556528353
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    Herm said:
    Batmon wlll be in here soon enough with a pic of frat boys hitting a bong with Bob Marley's face on it.

    P.R.E.D.I.C.T.A.B.L.E.

    LOL - u beat me to it....hahahaa...

    I anit fuckin w/ no Fela show w/ NOW FEATURING PATTI LABELLE!!! and shit, but for FELA to become a part of the mainstream diet/artist that one HAS to go thru to learn about another genre...ita all to the good.
  • kennykenny 1,024 Posts
    was the Ginger Baker documentary ever releasd on DVD or something??

    I'd be more interested to watch that in its entirety.
  • Hotsauce84Hotsauce84 8,450 Posts
    Horseleech said:

    Whoa, before I clicked the link I thought the name of the book was Fela This Bitch.

    I would definitely read that one.
  • themanthatwasusedthemanthatwasused 11 Posts
    Also do check out a 80's documentary of him called music is the weapon
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d.html/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/176-4727784-5874930?a=B000079DF9
  • holmesholmes 3,532 Posts
    kenny said:
    was the Ginger Baker documentary ever releasd on DVD or something??

    I'd be more interested to watch that in its entirety.
    Ginger Baker In Africa? I have that on DVD.
  • holmesholmes 3,532 Posts
    kenny said:
    Been heavily into Fela Kuti's music lately..."Everything Scatter", "Roforofo Fight", "Zombie", "Shakara"....that whole sound really hits me hard and I need more! Who else should I be checking for? besides his drummer Tony's stuff....

    Do most of the Nigerian music sound just like that? I'm not sure it its "Funk" that I'm looking for here, its that african jazz with a fast yet distinctive drum rhythm and the percussions and loud horns

    Thanks!
    anyways, just go buy one of the 7 million soundway 5LP "Nigerios King Victor Funk Inferno" sets that seem to come out 6 times a month. lol

    I loved that Fela broadway show when I saw it earlier this year, fun night out, but a very basic overview as far as storyline goes. Visually & musically it was sensory overload.
  • willie_fugalwillie_fugal 1,862 Posts
    this is a collection of essays on Fela, some of which are pretty good:

    http://amzn.com/1403962103

    honestly, check out the albums that Antibalas has put out. some people on here might call foul because they're not "authentic" (from africa/the past) but it's good music that you'll enjoy if you're just getting into Afrobeat.
  • plainstoneplainstone 96 Posts
    As well as the Carlos Moore book there's one by Michael Veal, just called "Fela", I think, that is worth looking out for. If you want even more background, there's an interesting book about his mother, called "For Women and the Nation".
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    kenny said:
    was the Ginger Baker documentary ever releasd on DVD or something??

    I'd be more interested to watch that in its entirety.

    Ginger Baker in Africa. Yes, it is available on DVD. You should be able to find it new for under $10.00. Pretty dope doc.

    If you don't have a copy already, grab a copy of Ginger Baker's Stratavarious LP (released on Atco Records in the US.) That record (a long time "fave") is a collaboration with Fela Kuti and Africa '70. Man, how I wish that there was a Quad mix of that album!
  • kennykenny 1,024 Posts
    lamprey eel said:
    kenny said:
    was the Ginger Baker documentary ever releasd on DVD or something??

    I'd be more interested to watch that in its entirety.

    Ginger Baker in Africa. Yes, it is available on DVD. You should be able to find it new for under $10.00. Pretty dope doc.

    If you don't have a copy already, grab a copy of Ginger Baker's Stratavarious LP (released on Atco Records in the US.) That record (a long time "fave") is a collaboration with Fela Kuti and Africa '70. Man, how I wish that there was a Quad mix of that album!

    cool.

    always thought GInger Baker did only one album with Fela...
  • dammsdamms 704 Posts
    kenny said:
    Been heavily into Fela Kuti's music lately..."Everything Scatter", "Roforofo Fight", "Zombie", "Shakara"....that whole sound really hits me hard and I need more! Who else should I be checking for? besides his drummer Tony's stuff....
    Geraldo Pino
    Aleke Kanonu

    and prolly a gang of recent compilations focused on african funk
  • HorseleechHorseleech 3,830 Posts
    The Pax Nicholas reissue on Daptone is a great record, he was in Fela's band when he recorded it.

    And to be clear, Fela is Afrobeat, not Afro-funk.
  • pcmrpcmr 5,591 Posts
    i highly recommend the carls moore book
    he lived with him for some time and is a great author/speaker thinker
    the fela documentary has sick images of the shrine and ela in all his boldness
    how was patti labelle in the musical
  • empanadamnempanadamn 1,462 Posts
    http://www.groupon.com/deals/fela-nyc

    FELA tickets half off (for a limited time only)
  • white_teawhite_tea 3,262 Posts
    batmon said:
    Herm said:
    Batmon wlll be in here soon enough with a pic of frat boys hitting a bong with Bob Marley's face on it.

    P.R.E.D.I.C.T.A.B.L.E.

    LOL - u beat me to it....hahahaa...

    I anit fuckin w/ no Fela show w/ NOW FEATURING PATTI LABELLE!!! and shit, but for FELA to become a part of the mainstream diet/artist that one HAS to go thru to learn about another genre...ita all to the good.

    Fela will never be Marley because he doesn't have the hooks. "Water Get No Enemy" doesn't quite have a chorus that is going to get the Birkenstock knocking like "No Woman No Cry."

    :fivepager:

    Also doubt the Nigeria tourism bureau would employ Fela's tunes in an effort to boost tourism. Maybe I'm wrong.
  • crazycratecrazycrate 32 Posts
    stumbled upon this the other day..... especially the link to the bootsy interview about his experience seeing the band in lagos is great.....

    http://www.arthurmag.com/2009/11/02/fela-king-of-the-invisible-ar
  • DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
    white_tea said:


    Fela will never be Marley because he doesn't have the hooks. "Water Get No Enemy" doesn't quite have a chorus that is going to get the Birkenstock knocking like "No Woman No Cry."

    :fivepager:

    This.

    Arista tried to do a Marley in the early 80s with Black President and Original Sufferhead. How in the hell they thought they could cross him over when the shortest track on either album is over ten minutes long is a mystery to me. The good thing about that arrangement, brief though it was, was that it meant people like me, who'd read about Fela but had no idea how to get hold of his records, or indeed where to start if we could find them, were able to pick up a Fela album from the record department at our local branch of Boots the Chemist.

    Also doubt the Nigeria tourism bureau would employ Fela's tunes in an effort to boost tourism. Maybe I'm wrong.

    What an irony that would be.
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