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Osibisa: Living in the State of Happy Vibes and Criss Cross Rhythms by Charles Aniagolu 208 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #04-0030; ISBN 1-4120-2106-5; US$20.00, C$22.99, EUR16.50, £11.50 Osibisa: legends of Afro-Rock and a truly great band of the 20th century. Spanning 30 years, the book is stuffed full of the colourful characters that dominated the post 60s rock scene.
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about the book
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About the Book
Led by the superbly talented, Ghanaian born saxophonist, Teddy Osei, Osibisa exploded on to the music scene in 1971. From Cape Town to Sydney, London to the Americas, Bombay to Beirut, their unique sound pulsed its way into the hearts and hips of millions of fans, infusing the tired post 60s rock scene with a poly-rhythmic fusion of African, Caribbean, Jazz, Rock, Latin and R&B.
This is their astonishing story. From years of obscurity to their first taste of stardom, from the colourful hedonistic characters that dominated the era to the depression of squabbles and break-ups. It is as much a story about rags-to-riches success as it is a sad tale of betrayal, jealousy and exploitation.
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About the Author
Charles Aniagolu is a writer, television producer and broadcast journalist. He has written two other books and has directed several television documentaries. Charles is also a news presenter and occasionally anchors the news on CNN International.
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Excerpts
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I.FOREWORD
II.CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR OSIBISA
III.PROLOGUE
IV. EARLY DAYS:
ASANTE ROOTS
HIGHLIFE
MR DUKER AND THE COMETS
COOL BRITTANNIA
ROOTS OF AFRO ROCK
GINGER BAKER AND THE SURGE OF
EXCITEMENT
UNDERGROUND ALTERNATIVE
V. AFRO ROCK YEARS:
STAR ATTRACTION
FROM THE ROLLING STONES TO THE
ROYAL BALLET
EMPIRE OF THE SUN
SOUL FOOD AND THE JACKSONS
STIR IT UP
SOMETHING IS SERIOUSLY ROTTEN...
THE LAGOS JINX
FLIGHT OF THE ELEPHANT
ROLF HARRIS AND THE DIDGERIDOO
RAG TIME
MIGHTY MEN OF OSIBISA
IN BROTHERHOOD WE STAND
BLACK MAGIC GREMLINS
FIRE IN THE RAIN
LAND OF THE PROPHET
RECORD SALES DON'T LIE
SUNSET
OSIBISA FOREVER
VI.EPILOGUE
VII.SOURCES
VIII.OSIBIOGRAPHY
IX.OSIBIFILE
PROLOGUE
London, England, August 1970!
Stories about a group that blends intriguing African
tribal beats with western rock, jazz, soul and a dash of
Latin slip out of the new "cool" and travel fast. Looping
back and forth like snakes, they eventually reach the UK's
most influential music magazine, Melody Maker. At its
height in the 70s, MM is selling over 250,000 copies - a
must read for anyone interested in rock and pop.
A couple of phone calls later, a meeting is arranged.
An excited manager announces to the awed band
members that MM has decided to send the columnist
Richard Williams to assess the "Osibisa-sound" that the
club circuit is raving about.
Everyone is more than just a little nervous. They
suddenly feel naked, a black band in the heart of white
Britain, looking for an African place in the pantheon of
western rock. This could be one tough audience,
merciless in its criticism. MM has near iconic status - the
people-appointed keepers of the British rock and pop
flame. What if Richard thinks they are taking the piss out
of rock 'n' roll by mongrelising it with "tribal" rhythms?
Would he understand their influences? While MM's
interest in them seems to confirm with claps of approval
that they did have some talent, worrying recollections of
the music press coming down hard on a band they did
not like rushed around their Afro-topped heads. Usually
after such a drubbing, a group could not hope to rise
again. On the other hand if you impressed them, you
were on your way. With fear and excitement in their
hearts, the boys concentrate the two weeks before the
meeting on polishing their act and refining their sound.
Richard arrives during an afternoon rehearsal at Tin
Pan Alley, a short stretch off London's Charing Cross
where sheet music is sold and various recording facilities
are located. It had been named after the era in America
before Elvis Presley when a song's popularity was
determined by the number of copies of sheet music it
sold, when the publishing business hired composers and
lyricists on a permanent basis to create popular songs.
Richard has no idea what to expect. It is 1970. The
psychedelic era has inspired nostalgia and Paul
McCartney and Ray Davies are suddenly playing
"kitschy versions of their parents' music". Glam rockers
like Queen and David Bowie are also carrying the torch,
adding theatricality to their songs. In America, Randy
Newman and Harry Nilsson are producing ragtime songs
influenced by New Orleans and inspired by the Tin Pan
Alley song writing style of Hoagy Carmichael. Richard is
also well familiar with reggae, ska, Latin and Brazilian
beats. So just where this latest African-West Indian band
would take things is anybody's guess.
The drums roll portentously and Osibisa launch
straight into their full-power act, ranging with spell
binding exuberance through an original medley of beaten
out, brilliantly wrought songs - The Dawn, Music for
Gong Gong, Ayiko Bia, Think of the People and
Akwaaba. Few groups can generate the band's energy
and excitement when they're hot and on this day they are
hot. With whoops, whistles and a riot of brightly
coloured Dashikis, gleaming Afros and bewitching
drums, they deliver a knockout performance.
MM has stumbled onto a real find. Richard is
entranced as much by their unique sound and
showmanship as he is by their commanding presence and
professionalism as musicians. He says later that he felt he
had been "transported to a higher world and new level of
musical appreciation".
Shortly afterwards, he splashes Osibisa across the
pages of Melody Maker, describing them as world
musicians who had "broken the sound barrier". Here it
would be worth reproducing some more of what he
wrote in August, 1970:
"Their music, as I heard some of it in a tiny rehearsal
room on Denmark Street, needs only to get in front of an
audience to be a killer. They make quite a point of being
unclassifiable and they're dead right. High-Life, jazz,
rock, blues, soul, and - most of all - the African heritage.
Truly this is Black Music - but without cant and with
purest joy...What they really need is for someone to put
them on at a big festival. Even if they were bottom of the
bill, they couldn't fail to arouse something akin to mass
hysteria. That's all that separates them from fame".
Predictably, the MM article opens up a floodgate of
opportunities as well as public and press attention. A
torrent of equally impressive reviews soon follow led by
Britain's Time Out magazine:
"In all the attempts that have been made recently to
incorporate primitive afro-rhythm into electric music,
Osibisa are the most successful I have ever heard. They
make Santana look like a nice bossa nova band. Osibisa
have gone wholeheartedly back to their roots and then
have added heavily jazz influenced lines for flute,
trumpet and sax. The overall transmission of energy
which their music gives off cannot fail to move both your
head and your blood".
Some reviews, in their enthusiasm and fascination
with Osibisa, go overboard. The Sunday Times of
London, writes that their music, "a compound of African,
Caribbean and rock rhythms, with a dash of Haitian
voodoo...and the most bewildering array of percussion --
is quite stunning."
The British rock paper, Strange Days, has strange
things to say:
"Osibisa is half from the Indies and half from the
Deepest Dark...The African thing is there, mixed with a
little Anglo and American influences. Hey, imagine if you
gave some acid to a jungle bushman. But man, the
vibrations, you can't do without the vibrations. No
wonder black magic and voodoo used this kind of
music".
The favourite comes later that year from the Disc and
Music Echo:
"In a short working career, Osibisa have blown Bread,
Black Sabbath and the famous Clarke-Boland band off
stages around the country - and that's only the
beginning".
Late 1970! The MM break is a real turning point. As a
still unsigned act, Osibisa are in demand for everything
from local store openings to dance hall parties. There are
more night - club bookings and bigger shows across
Britain. The band members are becoming more
experienced and professional and their shows are filled
with sparkle and fun. The future looks terribly bright.
"There were usually many other rock acts on the bill",
the London-based promoter Remi Salako told a magazine
reporter. "But with poise and polish Osibisa always
managed to win the audience's favour".
The group's conga player, Loughty Lasisi Amao,
introduces the band to the husband and wife
management team, The Bron Organisation. Loughty has
done sessions for Gerry and Lillian Bron. He brings them
to London's Torrington to watch Osibisa perform. They
fall in love with the perky drum-rolling band instantly.
"We were very impressed with them", Gerry Bron recalls
many years later.
"The Brons thought we were strange and exciting",
says band - leader Teddy Osei. "After talking with them,
I was convinced they had the business expertise I lacked
to negotiate with record companies. I felt they would
prepare us for the leap into the record business". So he
readily agrees to offer them half-interest in managing the
group.
By the end of 1970, things are really beginning to
happen. The Brons have outlined a grand plan to make
them the "biggest group ever to emerge out of Africa". In
the first stage, Osibisa have become essentially an allblack
band playing to mostly white audiences, managing
to bring even the most coolly intellectual audiences at
Oxford and Cambridge to their feet, dancing and leaping
about. Wherever they perform, they bring with them
something of a joyful, "tribal" celebration. In only a few
months, they have become one of the most exciting bands
in the country.
While the Brons and their aides manage their business
affairs, the boys of Osibisa are beginning to enjoy their
first taste of stardom and the perks of celebrity. Their
reputation is spreading by word of mouth, built on
personal appearances, owing nothing to manufactured
trends or mass hype.
"It is a hard but worthwhile way of becoming
known", co-manager Lillian Bron tells Teddy. "There are
no illusions or false expectations to shatter".
"We started with no solid management and no funds,"
said Robert Bailey, original member of Osibisa. "But the
faith in the band was so strong because for us it was a
spiritual thing. Even before the success came, we felt it
was the right thing".
"Their attraction is that they are so different, so
unique", remarked one newspaper reviewer. "They
confound suggestions that a white person can never fully
understand the complexities of black music. Through
Osibisa, it has become possible for everyone to feel the
energy from a strong African-based rhythm and stage
performance".
This is exactly the kind of review the Brons are hoping
for and they set about capitalising on it. From their years
of experience, they know how to find bookings. Most
importantly, they know how to get paid.
Not all white audiences know what to make of
Osibisa. At some gigs, the band members see people
looking a little confused when they realise they are not
playing like Jimi Hendrix.
"Only after about the fifth number do they stop
thinking and start getting into it", recalls Sol Amarfio,
another original member. "By the end of the show, even
the collar and tie types are baying for more".
Osibisa are still essentially a live band at this stage.
"We feared the exuberance of our stage act might get lost
on record", says Teddy. "But the Brons realised we would
gain tremendously if we went on vinyl. This was the
second stage of the plan. Records allow people to listen to
music several times over, picking up different influences
while becoming familiar with the sound. I was confident
that with the right record company and management, we
would gain fans around the world".
The Brons are doing a brilliant job. Pretty soon a small
queue of middle market producers and record companies
are lining up hoping to cash in on them. After eight years
of waiting in the wings, the band is ready to sign any
deal. But Gerry and Lillian have their eyes on a much
bigger, global pie. A few months later, their patience
pays off handsomely after Osibisa have a chance
encounter with Stevie Wonder around Christmas 1970.
They do not realise Stevie is in the audience during a
performance at the Imperial College in London. One of
his minders whispers to Teddy that Stevie is really
excited about their music and wants to come and jam
with them. Five minutes later, he is led on stage. Stevie
gets on the drums and plays and sings his way through
three numbers with the band, to the delight of the
students. It is truly a great night of spontaneous
improvisation, with Stevie's youthful tenor popping up
out of a mix of African and West Indian falsettos and
basses, all of them blending into a colourful harmony
anchored on a layer of drums, congas, basslines, horns,
guitars, glossy keyboards and more congas. Later, Stevie
says he feels like he had "discovered something fresh,
exciting and unique" and becomes friends with the
group, especially Sol.
"I remember we went to his hotel room and Robert
Bailey was making fun of him and asks him 'where's the
light Stevie?' And Stevie quips, 'are you blind? Cant you
see?'
Catalogue Information
