fela was a hero of mine since the 70s

Andy K, that was outstanding. Fela Kuti's music is exotic and beautiful.

Saxophone music is always sexy too.

Thank You ....

...Fela is one of my favs fat ass grooves

tasty melodies

provocative lyric

bitchen horn/key work

..!

"I no be gentlemen like that..."

Kos Diary: Fela Means Freedom

I've loved Fela since about '91 or so when a Nigerian colleague of mine took me to a show at Red Rocks.
He was an Igbo who fought against Fela's Yoruba in the Biafran war, but he loved and respected the man despite their ethnic differences.

Fela saw through the BS and corruption that lead to such tragedy, and he spoke out against it in his songs, and he and his family suffered for it.

Excellent documentary

Great selection!

Nice to see some love for Fela!

Whjen I was a kid I hung out at a record shop called Music Magic. The folks that worked there- Brad The Mad Lad, Jim, the stunning Leslie J. and Tyree- turned me on to a lot of music that I would never have heard, I think, without them. Fela's probably the one artist they introduced me to for whom my appreciation has grown the most over the last 25-30 years.

Wow, it's been that long. Yipes!

Here's another one of those seeds they planted:

Peter Tosh

Wanted Dread And Alive

i went to a "high life" concert that fela played at in nigeria in 1971.

music down to your bones.

Authority Stealing

Partial lyrics (thanks to the person who uploaded the vid):

CHORUS -

[Accuser]: "You're a Thief"
[Defendant]: "I'm not a thief"
[Accuser]: "You're a rogue"
[Defendant]: "I'm not a rogue"
[Accuser]: "You're known for stealing"
[Defendant]: "I do not steal"
[Accuser]: "You're a robber"
[Defendant]: "I'm not a robber"

[Defendant]: "You're rather the Thief"
[Accuser]: "I'm not a thief"
[Defendant]: "You're a rogue"
[Accuser]: "I'm not a rogue" . . .

VERSE ONE -

Arguments about stealing
Someone has taken something that belongs to another
On a typical morning, we see workers brisking
Office workers, labourers, and all variety of workers
Some on buses, others on their motorcycles
On any day, among such crowds, you can hear
"Catch him, catch him" "Thief, thief, thief"
Then the chasing starts by passersby
They'll grab the alleged thief and beat him
They'll sometimes lynch him
Or the Police may show up and pick him up
He may not get to defend himself in court
The alleged may be jailed for one year
two years, five years, seven years . . .
Or they'll just shoot him for armed robbery
The accused are often poor and desperate,
and theft has become their way of hustling,
trying to make ends meet

VERSE TWO -

Now let's turn our attention to the right wing
That's where the Oga people are - "authority people"
Unlike workers, authority people are called "officials"
Unlike workers, officials ride with motorcades
Unlike workers, officials fly in helicopters
And instead of walking, workers walk for them
However, these authority people do steal too
When the public contributes lots of money
authority people steal it
Authority people do not pick pockets
Oh no, that's just petty cash
Authority people steal big
While the armed robber needs gun to rob,
the authority man needs a pen to rob
He's in charge of the money
His pen is mighter than the gun
If the gun steals 80,000 Naira
the pen will steal 2,000,000,000 Naira
But when that happens,
you won't hear anyone shouting "thief, thief, thief"

Andy, you always have great music to showcase.

Time for me to say thanks, and adieu, for the evening. Tonight's musical selection was impeccable!

Jackson Browne - Lawless Avenues
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ_L2ueaSEA

Jackson Browne - Lives in the balance - 1986
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOwmAcWN3gU&feature=related

Thank you for the video, wonderful to hear and so relevant.

SORROW, TEARS, AND BLOOD

Everybody run run run
Everybody scatter scatter
Some people lost some bread
Some one nearly die
Some one just die
Police dey come, Army dey come
Confusion everywhere

Seven minutes later
All done cool down, brother
Police don go away
Army don disappear

Dem leave Sorrow, Tears, and Blood (2x)
Dem regular trade mark
*(CHORUS) DEM REGULAR TRADE MARK
Dem regular trade mark
*(CHORUS) DEM REGULAR TRADE MARK
La, la, la, la

My people self dey fear too much
Dem fear for the thing we no see
Dem fear for the air around us

We fear to fight for freedom
We fear to fight for liberty
We fear to fight for justice
We fear to fight for happiness
We always get reason to fear

Great music, been a big fan of Fela since the late eighties.

Army Arrangements
Zombie
No Agreement
Mister Follow Follow
Beast of No Nation

All of these can be found and listened to here....

http://www.last.fm/music/Fela+Kuti/+tracks?page=1

He is just brilliant.

In 1983, Dan Dinello, an instructor of mine at Columbia College in Chicago, went to Nigeria in hopes of interviewing Fela for a documentary he was making. It is through him that I first heard of Fela, and I was lucky enough to see him perform twice -- once at the Vic Theater in Chicago, and once at Poplar Creek Music Theater in suburban Hoffman Estates, where Fela opened for Jimmy Cliff. (It should've been the other way around.) Here is an article Dan wrote of the experience, which appeared originally in the Chicago Reader:

http://shockproductions.com/shockzine/cultureshock.html

Thanks, Andy, for the great selection.

Growing up 4homes from Fela's compound in the 70's as a preteen in surulere lagos never thought much about him except his 70wives and Fela always in his briefs, no boxers which always confused me. But his music back then even to a kid was always inspiring and electrifying. He will always be remembered for being one that spoke the truth to all Nigerians and the world irrespective of tribes in Nigeria.

It's only been 11 years since he passed? It's seems like so much longer. Fela is an underrated musical icon. There's a great musical on him that's been playing off-Broadway in NYC.

I discovered Fela during a trip to France in 1987. His posters were all over Avingnon, I just missed seeing the concert, but bought a tape and it changed my life. Dylan, Marley, Coltrane and James Brown all rolled into one. One of the best ever. Thanks for posting this.