Miriam Makeba on 78rpm (1955-1959)

I promised after my first post of less common material by Miriam Makeba — Tracks Less Travelled — that I would follow up with more, equally rare, sounds by the singer on 78 rpm. Today, fifteen months later, we feature that second compilation. The tracks here all come from the period before Makeba left South Africa in August 1959 and in many ways trace the growth of her early career — first as an individual (after many recordings with the Manhattan Brothers) and then with the all-female, close-harmony groups: the Sunbeams and the Skylarks. To my knowledge, none of the material below (save for one track) has been reissued in any subsequent format. Most of this material has not been heard in almost 55 years.

Makeba was an icon and pioneer of what has come to be called "world music" long before the term even crossed the marketing desks of record companies. While I loathe the term, I wonder if it in fact accurately and appropriately describes an artist like Makeba who did not restrict herself to one culture but drew material from many languages and styles worldwide: Xhosa, Zulu, Swazi, English, French, Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Guinean and so on. She truly was a "world singer".

On the other hand, the cynical side of me also recognises that those languages just happen to correspond with the particular places where her records were pressed and sold. So I have often wondered if her eclectic approach was not just an artistic choice, but also the result of pressure from international record companies to increase global sales.

I compiled the collection below in chronological order based on the matrix numbers of each recording and the results not only trace the evolution but also paint a portrait of an artist (and indeed a culture) open to a broad range of stylistic influences — even before her departure from South Africa. Calypso, gospel, close-harmony American popular music of the 1940s and 50s, but most significantly American jazz; all combined with local traditions to establish an eclectic palette.

The source of the calypso is not hard to pin point. Makeba's first two tracks in this style (recorded in 1957) are cover versions from Harry Belafonte's classic and influential album Calypso from 1956 (the first album to sell over one million copies). A fortuitous sampling — two years later it would be Belafonte himself launching Makeba's global career.

While there are few “hits” in the material below, there are still some significant gems and certainly the whole compilation, to me, has a really pleasant structure that would satisfy any mood, particularly at this time of year. The final few tracks with their significant gospel leanings seem most appropriate to the season. For the more popular material by Makeba from this period I would highly recommend the two CDs compiled by Rob Allingham and Albert Ralulimi: Miriam Makeba and the Skylarks (1956-1959) Vol.1 (CDGSP 3130) and Vol. 2 (CDGSP 3131). (Be sure to get the 2008 reissues each boasting five additional tracks and superior sound quality.)

Makeba with the Manhattan Brothers, c1953

Makeba began her career singing with her second nephew, Zweli Kunene, and his group the Cuban Brothers possibly as early as 1952. It was with the Cubans that Makeba made her first recordings, at that time, for EMI. In her book My Story Makeba maintains that it was while the Cubans were performing at the Donaldson Centre in Orlando East that she was spotted by Nathan Mdledle, lead vocalist of the Manhattan Brothers — South Africa's most popular vocal group at that time. Joe Mogotsi's account of the meeting (in his biography Matindane edited by Lars Rasmussen) is slightly different. He claims that Makeba approached Mdledle at the Donaldson Centre and only after a second interaction, did they come see her sing and then asked her to audition. Whichever the fact, in 1953, at the age of 21, Makeba joined Nathan Mdledle, Joe Mogotsi, Ronnie Majola and Rufus Khoza — the Manhattan Brothers — as their single female singer replacing Emily Kwenane, who was looking to pursue a solo career. Mdledle opted for her English given name as a stage name rather than Zenzi Makeba "as it sounded better" and Miriam Makeba became a star. (Makeba)

Mackay Davashe's Laku Tshon iLanga was her first big hit with the Manhattans but not her first recording. (That may have been Baby Ntsoare.) Gallo had sent the recording to a number of companies overseas and subsequently requested that the group re-record the song in English for an international market. With the help of American composer, Tom Glazer, Lovely Lies was the result pressed on the London label. Though Makeba was not a fan of the new lyrics — she felt that much of the core social drama of the original had been removed. Nevertheless, the song became their first big international hit and also the first South African song to enter the Billboard Top 100 in the United States, reaching position 45 in March of 1956. (Allingham) Because the composing process was generally quite fluid, Magotsi claimed that the Manhattans had an arrangement to share any composing fees with all involved regardless of who got the final credit. Davashe honored this arrangement for the original release but then conveniently failed to do the same for the English version. (Rasmussen) The credits in the latter went to: Davashe / Glazer.

Makeba talking about Lovely Lies in her first book also incorrectly stated that the recording was unusual as blacks were forbidden from singing in English. But according to Rob Allingham, this was not true the Manhattan Brothers had recorded a number of tracks in English in the 1940s and perhaps the lack of support for music in English by blacks may have been attributed to commercial concerns. Makeba's hits with the Manhattans include Baby Ntsoare, Laku Tshon 'iLanga, Tula Ndivile, Ntyilo Ntyilo, amongst others. All can be heard on the CD: The Very Best of the Manhattan Brothers (CDZAC 77) compiled by Rob Allingham.

Sometime in 1954, Makeba left the Manhattans to join Alf Herbert's touring show African Jazz and Variety featuring Dorothy Masuka, Dolly Rathebe and Lionel Pillay amongst others (Rasmussen has the date as 1954, Makeba has it as 1956) and then was again reunited with the Manhattans on Ian Bernhardt's variety show Township Jazz in 1955. She also recorded tracks under her own name for Gallotone in that same year.

The Skylarks: Mummy Girl Nketle, Mary Rabotapi, Makeba, Abigail Kubeka, 1956 from My Story

Early in 1956 Sam Alcock at Gallo encouraged Makeba to form an all female vocal group to compete with similar acts at Troubadour and Trutone. She with her half-sister Mizpah and Johanna Radebe recorded two tracks as the Sunbeams on GRC's Tropik label. (Makeba) The record sold well and the group was brought back into the studio but this time as the Skylarks on Gallo's Gallotone label. The women continued to record under both names for both labels. (GRC was an affiliate of Gallo's hence the common matrix numbers.) For the second session Mizpah was replaced by Mary Rabotapi who was fourteen at the time. The trio then expanded to four with the recruitment of Mummy Girl Nketle. Helen van Rensburg succeeded Johanna Radebe and in late 1957 Van Rensburg was subsequently replaced by Abigail Kubeka who was 16 at the time. As Allingham reveals in the liner notes to the Skylarks CD, the frequent changes to the group were all Makeba's doing. As Mary Rabotapi recalls; "She was the boss. [She] held the recording contract and she was the eldest [...]. Miriam wants hard workers, if you are slow on your feet, she'll take somebody else..." (Allingham)

The group was now set for many of the classic recordings of the late 1950s. On occasion a fifth female voice in Nomonde Sihawu would join the quartet with Sam Ngakane on bass. The Skylarks were prolific and in three years became South Africa's most popular vocal group recording over a hundred tracks and rivaling any of Gallo's other major acts. (Allingham)

Mogosti and Makeba rehearsing for King Kong, c1958. Source Ian Berry, Drum in Mona Glasser

Between 1957 and 1958 planning and rehearsals began on what would become the biggest hit of 1959, South Africa's first all-black African jazz opera: King Kong. The show was produced and directed by Leon Gluckman with music written by Todd Matshikza and included some of the key artists and musicians of the day. Makeba played the lead female role as Joyce, the girlfriend of the legendary and tragic boxer Ezekiel Dlamini, who was played by Nathan Mdledle. Other members of both the Manhattans Brothers and the Skylarks including Joe Mogotsi and Abigail Kubeka were also featured in the cast. The show opened to racially mixed audiences at the Wits Great Hall in February 1959 and then toured the country with much success for the next six months.

Meanwhile, Lionel Rogosin, a young American filmmaker had spotted Makeba performing in African Jazz and Variety in 1958 and recruited her to sing in his clandestine film about township life in South Africa: Come Back Africa (named for the ANC's freedom call Mayibuye iAfrica). The film was accepted into the 1959 Venice Film Festival and Rogosin invited Makeba to join him at the premier in Venice. Makeba applied for a passport to travel abroad and after many months of waiting and what she later described as a harassing interview she received one and subsequently left South Africa in August 1959. The film won the critic's award at Venice. (Makeba)

A few days prior to her departure, on August 12, Makeba joined the Skylarks in a scheduled studio session at Gallo and recorded four tunes. Two days later they returned and recorded ten more — her final session in South Africa. The very last song, aptly titled Miriam's Goodbye to Africa, was only released after she had already left, but became one of the Skylarks most successful tracks. (Allingham)

Just as Makeba had left South Africa after the success of King Kong, so to did the Manhattan Brothers go into exile after the UK production in 1961. In Joe Mogotsi's biography, he recalls some hard times during that period and reflects with some bitterness on how in 1964 their London manager had tried to make contact with Belafonte and Makeba in the hopes that they would be invited to the US. No invitation came... "Although Miriam knew the Brothers were in London, she used black Americans as her supporting act in her shows." (Rasmussen) In her defense though, it should be noted that Belafonte heavily criticized Makeba when she encouraged Letta Mbulu to come to the US in 1965, as he saw her as competition. Magotsi though had speculated that the cold shoulder may have been due to the fact that much of Makeba's early repertoire had included the Manhattans material as her own: "She had worked with the Brothers for many years in South Africa before going to the States and she must have anticipated a conflict of interest over the copyright of our compositions. In the States she was launched [...] singing songs like Qonggqotwane (The Click Song), but we were never credited as composers or even acknowledged by her. Our contributions to South African music went unnoticed." (Rasmussen)

Makeba continued to receive royalties on Manhattan Brothers material until they challenged her in 1993. In a remarkable letter of acknowledgement, included in Magotsi's biography, Makeba confirmed and returned the rights to the Manhattan Brothers of these songs: Qongqotwane (The Click Song), Jikela Emaweni, Mamoriri, Magwalandini and Ndixolele. Though she refused to give up Amampondo, which the Manhattans had recorded in 1958, but interestingly her version just happened to be included in the classic 1997 film When We Were Kings about the life of Muhammad Ali. (Rasmussen)

Makeba on cover of Polish magazine, Nowa Weis, 1969

Regardless of these rights issues, Makeba's importance as an anti-apartheid figure is significant and well-documented, but I really do not think people, especially in South Africa, even begin to grasp how singularly important she was to this movement and the global image of South Africa during these turbulent times. Before Mandela, Makeba was the face of South Africa to a global audience. 1960 is a watershed year in South African history. It is the year that Makeba released her first album in the United States, Europe and many other countries, but more importantly it is also the year of the Sharpeville massacre. The shootings were covered in the international press like no other prior event in South African history. The coverage sat on the front page of the New York Times for almost two months and during this time, Makeba was performing in New York, on US national television, and was broadly covered and reviewed in the US press. For many Americans she became the single face, literally, of a distant country in crisis.

MIRIAM MAKEBA ON 78 RPM 
(1955-1959)
compiled by flatinternational for Electric Jive
FXEJ 12

01) Pass Office Special
ABC 14045
02) Hoenene
ABC 14046
Miriam Makeba
Gallotone Jive Jive, GB 2134
(1955)

Pass Office Special refers to the pass book that all black Africans had to carry during the height of the apartheid years. According to Rob Allingham solo recordings by Makeba were advertised by Gallo as early as October 1955. It is my measured guess that these two tracks are from that period. Each of these tunes, though, were hits for Troubadour’s Dorothy Masuka in 1956 and are featured on her compilation CD: Hamba Notsokolo. Pass Office Special was released by Masuka as the more up-beat Ngi Hamba Ngedwa. On the CD Masuka is credited as the composer for both tunes and Makeba gets the credit line on the Gallotone 78 rpms. While Makeba has notoriously claimed others songs as her own, I am almost confident that both these recordings predate Masuka’s versions. Though rivals, Masuka and Makeba were fast friends and often practiced songs together. Makeba gives this account of their relationship in her biography: "Dorothy and I are always singing: backstage at the shows, on the train, late at night at our hotel, everywhere! She is smart and fast. Dorothy also composes beautiful melodies. Always, she is thinking of a new one. When one pops into her head, she comes to me and says, "Hey Miriam! Take this part." I hum it, and she improvises by humming another part. It is too bad that we cannot record together, but we have contracts with different record companies. Still, we have fun together." (Makeba) Makeba would go on to “cover” a number of other Masuka songs during her career sometimes as her own compositions.

03) Dube
ABC 14406
04) Hela Mama
ABC 14407
The Skylarks
Gallotone Jive Jive, GB 2405
(1956)

These two recordings appear to be the very first issued by the Skylarks, who in this case were a vocal trio with Makeba, Joanna Radebe and Mary Rabotapi. General Duze is on guitar. (Allingham)

05) Ndadibana Notsotsi
ABC 14663
06) Musu Kuhamba
ABC 14664
The Skylarks with accompaniment
Gallotone Jive Jive, GB 2503
(1956)

This is the second disc released by the Skylarks. Musu Kuhamba is a much slower version of Dorothy Masuka’s hit Ufikizolo which is also featured on her CD Hamba Notsokolo mentioned above. Allingham claims that Makeba was covering the Masuka song here even though the credit goes to Makeba on the disc label. (Allingham)

07) Africa
ABC 15310
08) Uyangonwabisa
ABC 15311
The Sunbeams
Tropik, DC 645
(1956)

I had read that Makeba and the Skylarks had also recorded for GRC as the Sunbeams but until very recently was not able to locate a disc. I came across this find in a record store in Cape Town. It is not clear why the two names were used for the group's recordings with different companies but Makeba maintains that it was meant to give the appearance of a rivalry. (Makeba) Both GRC and Gallo shared recording studios and thus the matrixes are continuous. The arrangers however were different and according to Allingham gave the GRC material a rather "slap-dash quality". (Allingham)

09) Ndakugcinga
ABC 15751
The Skylarks
USA, USA 301
(1957)

Ndakugcinga comes from the same session and is the b-side of Kutheni Sithandwa. Both tunes are variations on Harry Belafonte’s Jamaica Farewell and his international hit the Banana Boat Song (respectively). The songs signal the beginning of the influence of Belafonte’s album Calypso which became a worldwide hit in 1956 and the first record to sell over a million copies. In Makeba’s version of Jamaica Farewell, Kingston Town is replaced by Sophiatown. According to Allingham the session included Miriam Makeba, Abigail Kubeka, Sam 'Vandi' Leballo, Mummy Girl Nketle, Mary Rabotapi (vocals), Almon Memela (guitar), Eddie Wyngaart (bass) and Dan Hill (bongos). The USA disc is a 1965 reissue of an earlier Gallotone release GB 2608. The influence of calypso in general would continue into a number of other tracks some of which are featured below.

10) Sondela Sitete 

ABC 15845
11) Dibanani Mawethu
ABC 15846
The Skylarks
Gallotone Jive Jive, GB 2689
(1957)

12) Go Calypso
ABC 15932
13) Indoda Ihambile

ABC 15933
The Skylarks
Gallotone Jive, GB 2664
(1957)

Two tracks showing again the influence of calypso. Go Calypso opens with a conversation in which Makeba mentions in Afrikaans (or tsotsitaal) that the recording is taking place on June 26 which at that time happened to be the 5th anniversary of the start of the Defiance Campaign (in 1952) and the 2nd anniversary of the signing of the Freedom Charter (in 1955). June 26th 1957, the apparent day of the recording, was marked as Protest Day. "Later generations will remember June 26th, 1957 as the day on which the workers stayed at home in the year of the bus boycott, in the year of the treason trial, in the year when the people hit back. June 26 is the people's day, born of travail and tempered in the heat of struggle. On that day the people dedicate themselves anew to the struggle for freedom." (from Fighting Talk, July 1957). Today this day is celebrated as Freedom Day in South Africa.

14) We Motsoala
ABC 16061
15) Mme Matsoale
ABC 16062
The Flashes
Gallotone Jive, GB 2717
(1957)

I am almost convinced that these two tunes by the Flashes feature Makeba on lead vocal, though I have no evidence other than her voice to go by. I included the first track on my earlier compilation mix here at Electric Jive: 78 Revolutions Per Minute: Majuba Jazz from Mra to Bra. Certainly the b-side track, Mme Matsoale, is one of the real gems of this compilation.

16) Let's Break Bread Together
ABC 17033
The Skylarks
New Sound, GB 2847
(1958)

Let’s Break Bread Together is the b-side of the hit track Live Humble a tune penned by Gibson Kente. It seems that after the great success with Hush, a gospel-inspired tune recorded approximately three months earlier roughly in June 1958, the group worked again with Kente on a number of socially tinged songs in English, including the track Do Unto Others. The Skylarks would go on to record a number of other gospel flavored tunes composed by Kente in their final sessions with Makeba in 1959. The first third of the song is missing as the disc from which this track comes has a significant break.

17) Kisimus Time
ABC 17243
The Skylarks
New Sound, GB 2861
(1958)

An appropriate tune for the season. This was probably recorded in December of 1958 and follows a tradition at Troubadour and Gallo where Christmas and New Year songs were recorded annually for holiday sales.

18) Motherless, Fatherless Child
ABC 17799
19) Gossiping Christians
ABC 17800
The Skylarks with Miriam Makeba
New Sound, GB 3315
(1959)

20) Tremble
ABC 17811

21) Miriam's Goodbye to Africa (Breakfast Special)
ABC 17812
The Skylarks with Miriam Makeba
New Sound, GB 2958
(1959)

The last four tunes all come from Makeba’s last two sessions at Gallo, on August 12th and 14th, 1959, before she would leave for Europe and then the USA. All above except Miriam’s Goodbye to Africa (by Reggie Msomi) were composed by Gibson Kente and have a distinct gospel influence. The session also included a number of other hits for example Miriam and Spokes’ Phata Phata, Uile Ngoane Batho (both with Spokes Mashiyane), Uyadela and Yini Madoda, amongst others. The group for these sessions included Makeba, Abigail Kubeka, Mummy Girl Nketle, Mary Rabotapi (vocals), Reggie Msomi (guitar), Johannes 'Chooks' Tshukudu (bass) and Louis Molubi (drums). On Miriam's Goodbye, Sam Ngakane is also included on vocals with Dan Hill on organ.

Kente's Motherless, Fatherless Child references Makeba's leaving of her young daughter, Bongi, as does Miriam's Goodbye which literally marks her departure from South Africa. She would be re-united with Bongi in the United States a year later. Miriam's Goodbye was not issued until she left South Africa and became one of the Skylarks' biggest hits. It is also featured on the New Sounds of Africa Vol.2 LP which can be viewed here at EJ. For more Skylarks material also check out New Sounds of Africa Vol.1.

I wanted to include Miriam's Goodbye to Africa in this compilation as it significantly marks the end of her South African career. But this tune is also quite common so I have chosen to leave the transfer in its raw state without any software clean-up. The Breakfast Special, as I have called it, really does give one a sense of how some of these 78 rpms have aged.

Have a wonderful Holiday and New Year!
Enjoy!


MIRIAM MAKEBA ON 78 RPM
(1955-1959)
FXEJ 12

Miriam Makeba – Tracks Less Travelled (1958 – 98)

For the last six years I have been working on a project documenting the work of Miriam Makeba. After reading the liner notes of her highly political 1965 LP An Evening with Harry Belafonte and Miriam Makeba, it dawned on me that these mass-produced commodities, issued all over the world, were a perfect and significant vehicle for spreading an anti-apartheid message. I set a goal to accumulate as many examples as I could of those messages and in the process discovered some amazing music.

Over her prolific career, from 1954 up to her death in 2008, Makeba issued no less than 29 individual albums along with countless 78s, 45s and EPs, pressed in at least 33 countries. In addition, over 28 compilations of her works have been and continue to be issued on compact disc.

For my post today I constructed a small experiment using iTunes as a database. First I dumped every “best of” Makeba CD in my collection into the application. Secondly I loaded at least one copy of each of her albums; as well as digitizing those not available on CD. I then picked through the singles and EPs and digitized tracks not found on albums. The provisional result was 832 songs or two days of listening to comb through. My goal here was see what songs were more popular—widely issued on multiple pressings—and which were less common. I was also curious to see how many variations of individual songs there were. From that list I then selected tracks or versions of tracks (with one or two exceptions) that seemed to come up only once. For the most part these were tracks that either had never been reissued on CD or if they were, are seldom, if at all, included on her “best of” compilations. I was surprised to see the number of significant hits and gems remaining un-reissued. Of the 29 albums made by Makeba, there are at least six that have never been re-issued on CD. (Some of these can be viewed here.) Of those that have been reissued (and this is my biggest gripe) almost none include the original cover art or liner notes, but rather come across as budget-bin reissues. Where are all those fancy digipaks?

Here are some notable side facts from the project: The song with the most versions is Qoqotwane (aka The Click Song) with at least nine variations. Amampondo comes second with seven variations. The songs that appears to be most commonly included on albums are Miriam and Spokes’ Phatha Phatha with the Skylarks (here there were at least nine repetitions); Hush and a live version of Jolinkomo with eight repetitions; Kutheni Sithandwa, Live Humble and Orlando with seven repetions; and Kikirikiki (Chicken), Samba, Pata Pata, the live version of West Wind all with six repetitions. Of course this examination is by no means scientific, but I thought it still interesting.

OK, here is the final list of 25 of my favorite least common selections by Miriam Makeba:

1) Rockin’ in Rhythm (1958)
Something New from Africa LP
(Decca, LK 4229, UK)
Avid collectors of South African music will be familiar with this track, featuring a wordless interpretation by Makeba of the Ellington tune with Lemmy Special Mabaso on flute and Jimmy Pratt on piano. I have only ever seen this record as a UK pressing, but the ABC matrix leads me to wonder if there might be an equivalent South African pressing. No doubt, all the tracks on this LP were probably issued as 78 rpms by Gallo Records. For what it is worth, this track is probably the first “vinyl” recording to feature Makeba.

2) Hamba Bekile (c1958)
New Sounds of Africa Vol. 2, EP (c1963)
(Gallo, New Sound, ESL 7141, SA)
When I first saw this EP, I assumed it was a promotional complement to Gallo’s two fantastic compilation LPs New Sounds of Africa volumes 1 (NSL 1001) and 2 (NSL 1002), first issued on the New Sound label in 1960. (The former LP also being issued on the Fiesta label in the USA.) Though two of the tracks from the EP are on the second LP, the remaining two are not, including this track, Hamba Bekile, featuring Makeba with the Skylarks and Spokes Mashiyane on flute. Oddly the track is also not included on Rob Allingham and Albert Ralulimi’s two fantastic CD compilations of Skylark’s material: Miriam Makeba and the Skylarks (1956 – 1959) Vol. 1 (CDGSP 3130) and 2 (CDGSP 3131). (Be sure to get the 2008 CD reissues, each boasting five additional tracks and superior sound quality.) The cover of the EP shows an image of Makeba taken from her 1960 debut album on RCA Records in the US, but the matrix number on the EP (ABC 23850) reveals that it was probably issued around 1963. Again this track would have originally been issued as a 78 rpm in South Africa.

3) Umqokozo (live, c1964)
4) Love Tastes like Strawberries (live, c1964)
Midnight Hoot, LP (1964)
(Kapp, KL 1357, USA; London, HA-R 8178, UK)
Both these tracks appear to be live recordings from a folk concert that included Alan Lomax, amongst others, and was issued as the Midnight Hoot on Kapp records. The studio versions of the two songs also appear on Makeba’s second LP The Many Voices of Miriam Makeba released by Kapp Records in 1962. I have tried to find a recording date for this concert but cannot—I suspect somewhere around late 1963 or early 1964. It is possible that Kapp re-constructed the LP as a live recording… the deliveries here sound almost too tight to be live!
It is not clear to me why Makeba, after recording her first LP with RCA in 1960 then recorded her second LP with Kapp Records and then returned to RCA for her next five LPs. My only guess is it had something to do with that fact that Gallo demanded that RCA pay a whopping $75 000 to buy Makeba out of her ‘royalty–free’ [my sarcasm] contract with Gallo in 1960. Lawyers finally agreed on a $45 000 buy-out where Gallo also retained the rights to publish that first US recording made by RCA. Subsequently all international pressings of her first album state “Recorded for Gallo” except for the US pressings. Both her first and second LPs were issued in South Africa on Gallo’s London (ZA 6037) and Continental (ZA 6135) labels respectively. Because of the deal, Makeba never saw any royalties from her first album—all proceeds going to pay back RCA for the buy-out from Gallo.

5) Into Yam (June 21, 1963)
6) Little Boy (July 1, 1963)
Forbidden Games, French EP
(RCA Victor, 86 406 M, FRA)
Into Yam is one of the songs that Makeba sings in Lionel Rogosin’s clandestine, 1959 film Come Back Africa about township life in South Africa. The film premiered at the 1959 Venice Film Festival and it was Rogosin who bribed South African officials to let Makeba come to Italy for the presentation. She would not return to South Africa for the next 30 years. Rogosin along with Harry Belafonte financed Makeba’s travels to the US and arranged for her to appear on the Steve Allen show in November 1959. The first song she sang on live television in the United States was Into Yam.
The version of Into Yam on this compilation as well as Little Boy, both featuring arrangements by Hugh Masekela, can be heard on her third LP The World of Miriam Makeba issued by RCA in 1963. Remarkably, neither track has been featured on any of Makeba’s many “best of” compilation CDs. Makeba does sing an updated version of the song on her 2006 album Forever and there, unlike the earlier versions, the composition credits go to Dorothy Masuka. The Many Voices of Miriam Makeba LP has been reissued on CD, but as a budget, two-for-the-price-of-one CD (along with her debut album) and without the original cover art.

7) Qhude (October 30, 1963)
8) Come To Glory (1963)
Chants d'Afrique No. 2, French LP (April 1964)
(RCA Victor, 435 018, FRA)
I am absolutely floored that Qhude has not been featured on more Makeba “best of” compilations. Moreover it is unbelievable that her fourth album, The Voice of Africa, while being reissued on vinyl a number of times, has never been available on CD. The only CD compilation to feature Qhude is a well-researched 1991 US issue titled Africa (now out of print.) This CD is also one of the few to include a number of other fabulous tracks from five of her first six albums including the amazing Dubula and Kwedini. Come to Glory also on The Voice of Africa is a West Indian gospel chant and is one of my favorites.

9) Khawuyani-Khanyange (August 18, 1964)
10) Khuluma (August 18, 1964)
Miriam Makeba, French EP
(RCA Victor, 86 447 M, FRA)
Makeba’s fifth album Miriam Sings! has seldom, if at all, been reissued on vinyl and never on CD, though it boasts some great tracks including her alternative version of Kilimanjaro. Khawuyani-Khanyange, arranged by Masekela, is a combination of two songs by Makeba and Dorothy Masuka respectively and features Betty Mtombeni, Mamsie Gwangwa, Edith Grootboom, Ernst Mohlomi, Caiphus Semenya and Paul Makgoba on vocals.
Khuluma as the liner notes reveal is “another Mbaqanga from the townships, written by Betty Khoza, a singer from Durban living in Johannesburg” and also features Morris Goldberg on alto sax. (Check out more Betty Khoza and Morris Goldberg here.) In desperation to find clean copies of these two tracks, I broke down and opened a sealed copy I had found on eBay. All was not as it appeared and it turned out to be used… lesson here… be skeptical!

11) Oxgam (original studio version) (1966)
Canta en Espanol, Spanish 45
(RCA Victor, 3-10308, SPA)
Another shocking omission from many Makeba compilations is the original studio version of Oxgam (sometimes referred to as Click Song No.2); the preferred variation being the haunting, almost a cappella Baxabene Oxamu on the 1988 Sangoma album (one of her all time best LPs.) This Letta Mbulu track was first issued on Makeba’s 1966 LP, The Magic of Makeba and live versions are featured on In Concert! and the recently issued Live At Bern’s Salonger. The original album has also been reissued as part of a box set of seven of her LPs. Oxgam is a type of tongue twister meant to teach children how to pronounce clicks. Check out the funky organ stabs towards the end of the song!

12) Khawuleza (Russian booklet version)
(originally recorded April 1965; Russian version, 1970)
Kpyro3op (Krugozor Magazine with six flexi-discs)
(Issue 6, 1970, USSR)
Khawuleza (or Hurry, Mama, Hurry!) comes from the album An Evening with Harry Belafonte and Miriam Makeba, issued on RCA Victor in 1965 and is widely available on CD. The album itself is significant in that Makeba won a Grammy for it and it is one of her most politically overt. This is an important album for me personally in that it is the very one that generated the entire Makeba research project when I found a copy in a thrift store in the United States and was struck by the very political nature of the liner notes. The album includes Vuyisile Mini’s classic protest song Ndodemnyama or Beware Verwoerd. Khawuleza speaks of police raids in the townships and written and originally recorded by Dorothy Masuka in the 1950s. Like many of Makeba’s post-1963 UN address records, the album was banned in South Africa. Three tracks from that album can be found on a very unique Russian audio booklet and this is where the version of Khawuleza comes from. Although all three songs are identical to the LP versions, they are unique in a remarkable way: It appears that the editors of the magazine have overlayed voice commentary or perhaps a translation in Russian over Makeba’s introduction to the song! The booklet itself consists of a number of other tracks by other artists and each song is ring bound as a floppy flexi-disc in the book with extensive text in Russian. To play a song, one must simply go to the page of choice, fold the book completely open and place the entire object on the record player.

The Soviet Union was sympathetic to anti-apartheid causes and supported the ANC in exile with training and shelter. A number of historic ANC albums were recorded and issued in the USSR including the Amandla group with Jonas Gwangwa. Gwangwa also played a prominent role in conducting and arrangements on this album. Makeba herself had a number of albums issued in the Eastern block during the 1970s, after she became “self-exiled” from the US. The 1974 album A Promise was issued on the East German label Amiga and a compilation album Miriam Makeba was issued in Czechoslovakia on the Supraphon/Reprise label in 1974.

13) Charlie (Oh Mama) (c1966)
La Merveilleuse Miriam Makeba, French LP
(Mercury, 124 016 MDL, FRA)
An interesting earlier version of Milélé with English lyrics on Makeba’s first Mercury release, The Magnificent Miriam Makeba. The later version was included on the album Myriam Makeba & Bongi, issued on Syliphon Conakry in 1975.

14) Chomba Cha Ajaba (1968)
Le Bateau Miracle, French EP
(Campagne Mondiale Contre La Faim, FAO 01, Part 62.723, FRA)
Chomba Cha Ajaba is a Makeba adaption of French singer Gilbert Bécaud’s Le Bateau Miracle or The Miracle Boat. The EP, sponsored by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) was issued in 1968 for their worldwide campaign against hunger. The EP was pressed in at least three countries: in France as Le Bateau Miracle, and in Ecuador and Mexico as El Barco Del Amor.

15) Malayisha (original studio version, 1967)
Golden Miriam Makeba, Japanese LP (c1968)
(Reprise, SWG 7113, JAP)
This Manhattan Brothers track has a huge hit for Makeba in 1967. Remarkably it was not issued on the Pata Pata album (from about the same time) and existed as a single only. The only two LPs that feature the original studio version are the Japanese compilation Golden Miriam Makeba and the Italian version of Pata Pata. Also the song can be found as an added bonus track on the US CD reissue of Pata Pata.

16) A Piece of Ground (live, August 28, 1968)
Miriam Makeba in Tokyo, Japanese LP (1968)
(Reprise, SJET 8082, JAP)
This track by Jeremy Taylor comes from one of Makeba’s rarest records, a Japan-only live recording made in Tokyo. (View it here at Electric Jive.)

17) The Ballad of Sad Young Men (demo, c1967)
18) Untitled (demo, c1967)
(Steel demo disc, Nola Penthouse Sound Studio, USA)
These two tracks are probably the rarest in the current selection. Both come from a steel demo disc featuring seven tracks, six of which would eventually appear on Makeba’s 1967 Mercury album All About Miriam. Of those tracks three would be further re-mixed on the famous Pata Pata album issued by Reprise in 1967. The tracks here are quite stripped down and my guess is they were used as reference for the future LPs. Their is a suggestion in the eBay auction that the disc may have come from the estate of Luchi DeJesus, the arranger of many of the tracks on All About Miriam and Pata Pata, but that is hard to verify. In all cases the final recordings are quite different from these demos but none are as distinct as The Ballad of Sad Young Men where the earlier version is quite somber compared with its upbeat final mix. This track is also most famous for being the b-side to the Pata Pata single. The Untitled demo track seems very familiar to me, but I can’t seem to identify it. Let us know if you recognize the tune.

19) Ibabalazie (original studio version, c1967) 

20) Emavungwini (Down in the Dumps) (c1968)
Miriam Makeba, Italian LP (issued 1968)
(Reprise, RI 5119, ITA)
Ibablazie is another Letta Mbulu song that quite frankly addresses that morning after phenomenon known as a “hangover.” Remarkably this funky original studio version never made the cut on any of Makeba’s official albums—generally the live version is featured. Also note the English lyrics in this version. Emavungwini, a tune by Douglas Xaba, is featured on what I think is Makeba’s best album simply titled Makeba! Both these tracks were great hits and were usually issued together as a single 45 rpm, one notable exception is the Italian version of the Pata Pata LP which includes both as additional tracks. While Emavingwini has been available through the CD reissue of the album Makeba!, neither of these tracks have been featured on any of her “best of” compilations.

21) You Suffer Too (1971)
La Guinee Guine, 45
(Editions Syliphone Conakry, SYL 536, FRA)
The bluesy You Suffer Too is the b-side of La Guinee Guine and comes from a series of 11 rare singles issued on the Syliphon Conakry label in the early 1970s, a period that spanned Makeba’s so-called “Guinea Years”— and which is also the title of a fabulous CD compilation of many of her songs from this period. The track unfortunately does not appear on the compilation. Perhaps its blues inflection did not meet the more African feel of the CD… but this track is one of my favorites.

22) Mansane Cissé (1973)
Africa, 45
(Editions Syliphone Conakry, SYL 551, FRA)
Mansane Cissé is the b-side to Africa, also on the Syliphone Conakry label. This traditional Senegalese tune is performed by what appears to be Makeba’s backing group, but ironically the instrumental does not include her voice. I however could not resist including it.

23) Les Trois Z (c1975)
24) I’mm You’mm We’mm (c1975)
(Disques Esperance, ESP 155027, FRA, 1978)
Les Trois Z is a political song from Zaire (now Congo) by Gérard Madiata. The term "Les Trois Z" referred to the “Authenticité” or authenticity campaign of Mobutu Sese Seko in the Democratic Republic of Congo during the late 1960s and early 70s, to “rid the country of the lingering vestiges of colonialism and the continuing influence of Western culture and to create a more centralized and singular national identity.” The campaign included renaming the country, the Congo River and the currency—“Zaire” and referred to them as Les Trois Z — Notre Pays, Notre Fleuve, Notre Monnaie (The Three Zs — Our Country, Our river, Our Money). Makeba’s version of the song was a significant influence on a young Angelique Kidjo who found early success with an adaption of it.
I’mm You’mm We’mm is the apparent b-side to Les Trois Z on this 1975 Disques Esperance single and, to my knowledge neither appeared on any of Makeba’s vinyl albums. Oddly, a pressing error reveals the b-side on this single to be Talking and Dialoging another less common track. I’mm You’mm We’mm does appear to be a studio recording and can be found on the German CD re-issue titled Live in Conakry but the track does not occur on the original 1970 LP Appel a L’Afrique.

25) Kwanong Zongo (Nongqongqo) (live, November 19, 1997)
Les Voix De La Paix, EP CD (1998)
(International Yehudi Menhuin Foundation, Q 885, FRA)
This is a live version of Nongqongqo, recorded in Brussels, comes from a concert Voices For Peace organized by the International Yehudi Menuhin Foundation. The original version is featured on the classic album, An Evening with Harry Belafonte and Miriam Makeba, issued in 1965 and mentioned above. The song speaks about South African leaders—Sobukwe, Luthuli and Mandela—and their role in the struggle against apartheid.

At this point I should add the two tracks Makeba recorded for Toyota in 1980, but as those have already been featured on Electric Jive, perhaps I should end it here! Enjoy!

Miriam Makeba in Tokyo (1968)

Electric Jive is proud to present a unique, Japan only, release by South African icon Miriam Makeba. This is one of the rarest of the Makeba albums, coming up (as far as I know) only twice on eBay in the last six years. Recorded in Tokyo on August 28th 1968 this live album comes in the wake of her classic Pata Pata disc, which also marked the height of her US career. The album is Makeba’s second live release after In Concert! was recorded and issued the previous year in 1967. An earlier live recording of Makeba at Bern’s Salonger in Stockholm was made in 1966 and broadcast on Swedish Television in 1967 but was not issued until 2003. The DVD of the Swedish concert is simply stunning and I highly recommend it!

Makeba’s Japan tour came at a turbulent time for the singer and anti-apartheid activist. Four months earlier, in April of 1968, she had married Stokely Carmichael, the charismatic civil rights leader and president of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). The marriage came with much media scrutiny including a full color spread in Ebony magazine. The FBI considered Carmichael to be a dangerous radical and extended its investigations to include Makeba. Soon recording contracts were dropped and performances cancelled and by early 1969 the couple had left the US for Guinea. After her 1970 album Keep Me in Mind Makeba had no major-label releases in the US until the 1988 Sangoma.

In Tokyo offers many gems, most notably the first live recordings of Pata Pata and Malayisha. A Manhattan Brothers classic, Malayisha, had been issued as a single by Makeba but was not included on any of her albums at that time. The studio version eventually found a place on the CD re-issue of Pata Pata. For me a notable track on the album is Makeba’s version of Jeremy Taylor’s A Piece of Ground taken from the musical Wait a Minim. Makeba first recorded this song on her album The Magnificent Miriam Makeba in 1966 and an alternative version is featured on the classic Pata Pata album as well as In Concert! The song sung live also gave Makeba the opportunity to subtly bring up race relations in South Africa and it is interesting to compare her almost identical intros to the song on both live albums.

The lineup on the Tokyo album includes Sivuca (on accordion and guitar), Leopoldo Fleming (on percussion)—both featured regularly on the majority of Makeba’s Reprise releases—and Jimmy Phillips on bass.

A comprehensive discography for Makeba is currently in process… so watch this spot! For more information on Makeba I recommend Ake Holm’s dedicated site! Holm is also responsible for bringing the live Swedish recording to light.

Interesting detail... notice the dresses Makeba and her backing vocalist are wearing? The same dress is also featured as a wall hanging in the cover image of Letta Mbulu's second album Free Soul which was similarly released in 1968.

Miriam Makeba in Tokyo
(1968)
Reprise, Japan
SJET 8082 

(white label promo)

A1) Jikele Maweni 

A2) Mas Que Nada
A3) Click Song No.1 (Qoqotwane)
A4) Ask the Rising Sun
A5) Ibablazie
A6) Ring Bell, Ring Bell
A7) Malayisha
B1) Umqokoza
B2) Hambe Haye
B3) A Piece of Ground
B4) Reza
B5) Into Yam
B6) Pata Pata
B7) Amampondo 

Can’t stop myself: Makeba sings for Toyota

Is the impact of your political praise song lessened if you also sing songs to sell cars? That might have been an interesting question to ask both Franco (Azda) and Miriam Makeba (Toyota). Using existing songs to sell a product is one thing. Being paid to make songs to praise a product or person is a little different.

Sean over at “Africa is a Country” points to the recent ‘trivialisation’ of Miriam Makeba’s Pata Pata being used to sell Hondas. He also digs up a challengingly good old NY Times article on this trend of artists licensing songs to advertising agencies.

For many from South Africa I would guess that Pata Pata has its own speical associations already ingrained in our imaginations. Once the advertising jingle invades the association, our own memories can become disturbed; forever changed. A bit like Satchmo’s “What a Wonderful World” in “Good Morning Viet Nam”.

But what is happening with artists when they compose or perform songs specially created to sell a product to make someone else a profit? Praising political heroes is one thing, but selling cars is another. Either times are bad, or the sales punt does nothing to your conscience? In Makeba’s case, I want to believe that 1980 was a tough year for her? When Siemon Allen, collector of everything Makeba, shared this with me on a recent visit I knew it somehow had to make its way onto ElectricJive. An historical curiosity – in French and English.
RS Link
MF Link