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King Sunny Ade ~ Aura
vinyl LP front cover detail
cover photo by Brian Griffin
detail photo of cover by Styrous®
Today is the birthday of Nigerian jùjú singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, King Sunny Ade who is regarded as one of the first African pop
musicians to gain international success and has been called one of the
most influential musicians of all time. He was born on the 22nd of
September, 1946, in Osogbo to a Nigerian royal family from Ondo and Akure, thereby making him an Omoba of the Yoruba people.
I discovered King Sunny Ade in the early eighties during the time I worked for Bill Schweitzer and Bill Donovan, the owners of the Record Finder.
I discovered many artists while working there but I finally had to quit
because almost all my salary went to buying records; not a great business
plan.
The music of King Sunny Ade is characterised by, among other instruments, the talking drum
– an instrument indigenous to his Yoruba roots, the guitar and his
peculiar application to jùjú music. His music is in the age-old
tradition of singing poetic lyrics ("ewi" in Yoruba) and
praise singing of dignitaries as well as components of Juju (traditional African belief) called the Ogede (casting of spells). Hence, Sunny Adé's music constitutes a record of the oral tradition of his people for posterity.
Sunny Adé introduced the pedal steel guitar to Nigerian pop music. He introduced the use of synthesizers, clarinet, vibraphone, tenor guitar into the jùjú music repertoire such as dub and wah-wah
guitar licks. Sunny Adé said he used these instruments not as an
attempt to innovate, but as a substitute for traditional jùjú
instruments which were too difficult to find and/or impractical for
touring. The pedal steel guitar, for instance, was added to his repertoire as a sound-alike for an African violin.
Sunny Adé with his band invented his unique sound and instrumental which he mostly uses as an entrance song during live performances. The
sound was made with a phalanx of electric guitars that functions like a
percussion section and talking drums that sound like a gossipy Greek
chorus.
Stevie Wonder adds his disticitve sound as he plays harmonica on Ase,
the opening song on the album. Most of the songs have the same rhythm
and tempo and are great songs to dance to with the exception of, Ogunja
which is slower, syncopated, almost dreamy, the male vocal harmonies
are wonderful; unfortunately, it's the shortest song on the record.
The steel guitar played by Ademola Adepoju on some of the songs is outstanding; he also played it on Ade's album, Juju. Tony Allen does a great job on the talking drum.
King Sunny Ade appeared in several films and had a performing role in the 1983 film, Breathless, which starred Richard Gere.
Tracklist:
Side 1:
Side 1:
A1 - Ase, Guitar [Tenor] – Santa Mamola, Harmonica – Stevie Wonder - 9:10
A2 - Gboromiro - 7:30
A3 - Ogunja, Drums – Akanbi Moses - 2:28
A2 - Gboromiro - 7:30
A3 - Ogunja, Drums – Akanbi Moses - 2:28
Side 2:
B1 - Oremi, Clavinet – Phil Ramocon*, Drums – Tony Allen - 6:57
B2 - Ire - 5:07
B3 - Iro - 6:41
Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Fallout Shelter
Recorded At – Recordisc
Recorded At – Phonodisk Studio
Pressed By – EMI Records
Credits:
Art Direction – Bruno Tilley
Bass – Jeyy Ihejejo
Congas, Backing Vocals – Shino Abiodun*
Engineer – Gary Olazabal
Engineer [Assistant] – Abdloulaye Sumare
Guitar [Rhythm] – John Akpan
Guitar [Solo] – Segun Ilori
Guitar [Tenor] – Bob Ohiri
Lacquer Cut By – Graeme*
Maracas – Michael Babalola
Photography By – Brian Griffin (3)
Producer – Martin Meissonnier
Producer, Guitar [Lead], Lead Vocals, Bongos, Congas – King Sunny Ade
Recorded By [Assistant], Mixed By [Assistant] – Candido*, Gibril, Mr. Salami*, Mathew Osiyawu*, Philip Tenants, Stephen Street
Recorded By, Mixed By – Godwin Logie
Shekere – Ganiyu Alashe
Steel Guitar – Ademola Adepoju*
Talking Drum – Alhaji Timmy Olaitan
Vocals – Femi Owomoyela, Jacob Ajakaiye*, Niyi Falaye, Tunde Temiola
Written-By – King Sunny Adé*, Tony Allen (tracks: B1)
Notes:
Thanks to Kenneth Ademoyye, Trevor Wyatt and all staff from Alade Records, Sunny Ade Organsation and Island Records. Special thanks to Kelvin Morris, Larry Morris, Timothy Morris, Rene Hardaway, Mamalula Hardaway. Recorded at Fallout Shelter, London, Recordisk Studio, Lagos, Phonodisk Studio, Ijebu (Ogun State). Harmonica Solo recorded at Wonderland Studio, Los Angeles...Also thanks to Bob Harlan, Alvin Broussard. Co-cordination in L.A. Massamba Fall (Masskool). Stevie Wonder appears courtesy of Motown Records.
Recorded at Fallout Shelter (London), Recordisk Studio (Lagos) and Phonodisc Studio (Ijebu). Harmonica solo recorded at Wonderland Studio (Los Angeles).
℗&© 1983/84
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Barcode: 16253-9824-1
King Sunny Ade And His African Beats* – Aura
Label: Island Records – ILPS 9746
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: UK
Released: 1984
Genre: Funk / Soul, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Afrobeat
Label: Island Records – ILPS 9746
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: UK
Released: 1984
Genre: Funk / Soul, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Afrobeat
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