Almon Memela in all his diversity: 78rpm sampler

 In celebrating Almon Memela's "Broken Shoes" album I promised to share a few recordings from my 78rpm collection that illustrate the depth of feel, beauty and diversity of Memela's musical reach.

First up Memela's soothing voice accompanies his maskandi guitar in painting a hauntingly beautiful, yet painful musical canvas of the impact of apartheid in the 1960s.

"Amapoyisa" takes the form of a 'letter' to his rural homestead, and  loved one there, saying how afraid he is of the police in the city. Black migrant workers at the time were required to carry "passes" to enable entry to and residence in specific places. The police were active in enforcing the system, harassing and arresting black people for being in  the "wrong" place at the "wrong" time - completely disrupting their lives.

Almon Memela tells how city life is spent running and hiding from the police, and says to his family in their rural area that it is much more peaceful there as there are no police to harass them.

"Lashona" is a maskandi love-song in which Memela is travelling a long distance to visit the love of his life. While walking he is playing guitar and singing a lament that he is not going to get to his destination before sunset and that he knows he has a lot of explaining to do, and does not know how he is going to do it. He has not been able to keep his promises and fears that because of this his relationship is now lost ("ngaliwe").

 Amapoyisa / Lashona Link

This recording is a languid exploration of the twist style laced with guitar work that always leads  my untrained ear to believe that Almon Memela was not only listening to rock and twist, he was also listening to what was coming out of sixties Congo.

Accompanying Memela is fellow master Rex Ntuli on rhythm. Ntuli is probably most famous as being the guitarist on the original line-up of the Elite Swingsters during the 1960s.

You can  find Rex Ntuli and His Band in a great 78rpm compilation here, and with the Elite Swingsters here. and in Funky Mama here.

In Baca Twist Memela's lead glides across Ntuli's rhythm, referencing rock, soul and twist in a comfortable understated manner.

Umfezi Twist (an Umfesi is a Mozambican Spitting Cobra) is my current favorite, conjuring up moving images of a slowly swaying cobra - no drama this time, just delightful guitar that  sometimes sounds like it could be one of the Diabate brothers from Guinea.

 Baca Twist / Umfesi Twist Link

"Skilpad" (Afrikaans for 'tortoise') and "Uiydoda"  are classic Marabi Jazz compositions framed by banks of (uncredited) horns and defined by rhythm and lead guitar.

Almon's Jazz Kings and Almon's Jazz 8 were but two of the bands Memela pulled together for various recording dates.

In addition to the Soul diversion on AM Stragglers, Memela played (and produced) a lot of Mbaqanga - producing "Mine Jive Special" which features Kid Moncho.

Bump Jive and Phata Phata also were blessed with Memela's attention. Give "Highway Soul" a listen for his melting-pot blend of soul, bump and mbaqanga.

If you do have access to other recordings that Memela was involved in - we would like to hear from you.                       

Uyidoda / Skilpad Link

Almon Memela: Broken Shoes (1976)

Finally, herewith another holy grail the Electric Jive team has long been searching for. As Siemon said in his earlier post on Almon Memela's Funky Africa:  "The album is tight and excellent, but we might reserve the title of “holy grail” for Memela’s even scarcer album Broken Shoes (1976, Highway Soul, HSL 2009)… or at least until we listen to it!"

In my view Siemon, you will not be disappointed by these two fifteen-minute tracks of musical chemistry from guitar wizard Almon Memela and the stalwarts of Soweto's Pelican Club house band.

Memela's musical journey was a rich and diverse one. His earlier recordings start off with maskandi, move through penny-whistle and swing (I will share some 78rpm recordings at a later date), take a delightful diversion via Soul in the late 60s - you can find the A.M. Stragglers recording here. In the 70s Memela's music branched out into jazz, bump, mbaqanga and funk, to reach the pinnacle shared here with you today. You can read more about Memela and browse a partial discopgraphy on Flatint here.

Thank you Manzo for making it possible to access this crisp and clean recording.

Download link here

Mine Jive Special (1975)

I have recently heard laments by a number of isiZulu-speaking people saying that the youth of today are disrespectful with their ugly public displays of swearing. Explore a little further and the complainants do admit that in their day, the youth of course used a few choice words, but go on to emphasise that respect (hlonipha) and subordination were shown when social context required it. In today's post there is a 1975 example which at least proves the existence of an exception to this memory.

In some ways, South Africa’s 1970's urban-based mbaqanga sub-culture mirrored the Jamaican rude-boy sub-culture. While apartheid’s machinery did, for a time, control the influx of black rural people to contained townships, the late 60s and early seventies certainly had its fair share of street-corner hoodlums with their own underground economies. If ska and rocksteady were the soundtracks to the first youth subculture of Trenchtown, what role did mbaqanga music play in 70's South African  township expressions of subculture and style?

Certainly, the Okapi knife was to many young South Africans what the ratchet knife was to the rudie. Talk to some of the older men today and they will tell 70s township leisure-time tales of dressing up “smart like gangstas", drinking hard, dancing, gambling, fighting and womanising. These original machismo ‘mapantsulas’ developed a larger-than-life expression of style with which to mock convention and those more powerful than themselves. From what I have heard, mbaqanga music was the dominant soundtrack. But I don't think the expression and experience of mbaqanga was a singular sub-cultural one, whatever its original breeding grounds. The woman who worked in my childhood home could not get enough of mbaqanga, and she was no gangsta.

'Sondela' in isiZulu means 'come closer'

Mbaqanga was also a huge ethnic and language cross-over success. Migrant mine workers from all over South and southern Africa certainly sent money back home. They also took home heaps of urban attitude, music and style that caused all sorts of disturbances and excitements. Sometimes, the more succesful mbaqanga groups would tour these countries too.

In my rare chances to dig for records on my working travels, I have found old 70s mbaqanga records in Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana. Some owners of these records have stories of their times, or their brothers’ times on the mines in Johannesburg and elsewhere in South Africa. If the mood is right, they will also tell fantastic tales of those ‘let it all hang out’ parties, and of the pimps and crooks that fed off the inebriated. Deep in the fabric of these stories of conquer and calamity is a felt experience of young, often migrant and dislocated, people exploring new identities and boundaries in relation to authority.

Which brings me to today’s offering, produced by the ever consummate Almon Memela. One track in particular got me thinking along this swearing and respect diversion. Do have a listen to the 1975 45rpm release of “Badonse Memela” first. The same song appears on the album, but the highly unusual “fuck you” verbal exchange near the beginning is absent on the LP. The few lines of isiZulu talk conjour up a street scene where a youngster remarks with attitude that an “umfundisi” (clergyman or learned one) is passing by. The older umfundisi replies with a friendly greeting, asking how “his son” is doing and then invites him to shine his shoes. To which the youth replies, “hau, fuck you man”. The umfundisi expresses shock at the youth having lost his sense of respect and addressing him with such language, and then says, “what’s with this fuck you business? If its like that, then ... fuck you man!”.

Abafana Bomjovo (The Jiving Boys) are an above-average, tight and grooving instrumental outfit with  strong organ, accordion, guitar and sax line-ups. Enjoy!

LP Rapidshare link

LP Mediafire link
45rpm Badonse Memela link

Roots (HSH 8000, 1975)

Roots were a short-lived band comprising Barney Rachabane (alto), Dennis Mpale (trumpet), Duke Makasi (tenor), Sipho Gumede (bass), Peter Morake (drums) and Jabu Nkosi (organ). Replace Jabu Nkosi with Abdullah Ibrahim, add Basil Coetzee on sax and you have the group that recorded the seminal African Herbs LP under the direction of Abdullah Ibrahim.

Roots are often cited as a key strand in the development of an indigenous afro jazz sound that links the Drive, the Pelican Club house band under Dick Khoza, Spirits Rejoice and later Sakhile. The liner notes (repeated below) make reference to the public performance diffculties of the times, something well noted by David Coplan in "In Township Tonight". There was nowhere left to perform this kind of music in the late seventies.

From the original liner notes: "Within two months of its formation, the group has already got down to composing and recording this LP. Barney Rachabane on the alto and Dennis Mpale the trumpet master are the backbone of Roots. These two have played with the greats, such as Mackay Davashe and Gordon Mfanda who were both nipped in their buds by an untimely death. Duke Makasi plays the tenor sax, Sipho Gumede is on bass, Peter Morake on the drums and Jabu Nkosi on the organ, The group plays Rock Jazz with a local sound. Their music takes one back to Dorkay House jam session days which are now no more. They play in private homes and intend making more recordings."

For a long time no recordings of the Roots were thought to exist but slowly we uncover the past through the artefacts we are fortunate to find. We hope you enjoy today's recovery. Highly recommended.

Roots (HSH 8000, 1975)
1. Jabu
2. Roots
3. School Girl
4. Emakhaya
5. Poor Mother
6. Barney’s Shoes
Prod by Almon Memela
New MF LINK HERE

In the Driver's Seat with Almon Memela

One of the artists that we have featured a number of times is guitarist Almon Memela. These include the much hyped LP Funky Africa and the late sixties AM Stragglers LP. Aside from these outings we are unaware of any other full length excursions aside from some of his production work such as this French issued compilation from 1977 being shared today. Enjoy!

Various Artists - Highway Soul
1. Mississippi River - Izintombi Zodumo
2. Phata Twelve Part 1 - Almon's Jazz 8
3. Phata Twelve Part 2 - Almon's Jazz 8
4. New Year Sikiza - Almon's Jazz 8
5. The Best Lover - Almon's Jazz 8 and the Sweethearts
6. Fast Sikiza - Almon's Jazz 8
7. Touch and Go Part 1 - Abafana Bamaswazi
8. Touch and Go Part 2 - Abafana Bamaswazi
9. There You Are - Almon's Jazz 8 and the Sweethearts
10. Don't Ever Think of Leaving Me - Izintombi Zodumo
Produced by Almon Memela

NEW DOWNLOAD LINK HERE

Almon Memela - Funky Africa (1975)

Today we pick up the A.M Stragglers thread (sewn by fortherecord in February) with Almon Memela’s super rare Funky Africa. Information on Memela, like his records, is hard to come by and much of what I have gleaned below has been sourced from various auctions and the research of Yvonne Huskisson.

Composer, guitarist and later producer for WEA Records in South Africa, Almon Sandisa Memela was born in Donnybrook, KwaZulu Natal in 1936. His first guitar was homemade, but his parents were not supportive of his musical endeavors and so he taught himself to play on borrowed instruments. After briefly working at the United Tobacco Company in Durban, Memela moved to Johannesburg in 1956 to work on the mines. While there he sought to take guitar lessons at the legendary Dorkay House in 1958. The three-storey education and performance centre was purchased by Union Artists (with proceeds from the 1954 farewell concert for anti-apartheid activist Father Trevor Huddleston) and became a fulcrum for artists to meet and share ideas. As it turned out, Memela, rather than becoming a student was asked to teach the guitar lessons!

Memela made his first recordings in 1959 and his early career included band work with the United Artists’ productions of King Kong, In Township Tonight and Mhobelo as well as background music for the Jamie Uys film Dingaka. His first recording as composer was the track Nozizwe with the Travelling Singers in 1960. In 1963 his work began shifting toward instrumentals exclusively—interestingly, the same year that he formed his group, Almon’s Jazz Eight.

The Jazz Eight recorded and performed throughout the 60s and 70s (listen to their HMV 78s in the Ballantine Archive) and the line-up included amongst others, future Drive members, Henry and Stanley Sithole (who joined the group around 1966) and Bunny Luthuli (in 1968). In 1969 the Sithole Brothers formed the Heshoo Beshoo Group before they and Luthuli established the Drive in 1971. In the meantime Memela and his group The A.M Stragglers recorded Soul Bandit (1969, Little Giant, G2) the album featured here on Electric Jive in February.

Memela is remarkably versatile and his style shifts from soul jazz with the Stragglers to bump jive with Abafana Bamaswazi (on Highway Soul and the Swaziland Likwindla Festival, both 1977); from straight mbaqanga on some 45s to the rich afro funk textures featured on today’s offering: Funky Africa.

In the world of eBay, Funky Africa has been elevated to “holy grail” status making this rare album even harder to come by and excessively expensive. The album is tight and excellent, but we might reserve the title of “holy grail” for Memela’s even scarcer album Broken Shoes (1976, Highway Soul, HSL 2009)… or at least until we listen to it!

For a limited discography of Almon Melmela go to flatint.

One final note… I was surprised to see the cover—that stark, hot African landscape—show up again on a Turkish pressing of Pink Floyd’s debut album The Piper At the Gates of Dawn… odd!

ALMON MEMELA

Funky Africa

Atlantic

ATC 9583

1975

Download link here

Soul Bandit: Almon Memela’s Stragglers (1969)

As promised, here is the entire 1969 album from South African guitarist and trendsetter, Almon Sandisa Memela. Born in Donnybrook in 1936 Memela was a musician’s musician playing, arranging and composing a diversity of great music from the 1950s through to the 1980s. Amongst many others, he played guitar for Miriam Makeba and the Skylarks in the 1950s and composed the hit song ‘Banoyi’ sung by Letta Mbulu on her 1967 album Free Soul. He went on to become a producer and talent scout in the 1970s.

Almon Memela, Lemmy Special, Jeremy Taylor jamming
at Suzie's Shebeen in the early 1960s
from Jim Bailey's African Photo Archive

A bonus download is included of Almon Memela’s Jazz 8 tracks from 1972 and again in 1977 when he played the Swaziland Linkundla Festival – both of which are jazzier mbaqanga-influenced offerings than today’s main course of African sixtie's soul. His 1979 recording “Funky Africa” is much sought after by collectors.

Soul Bandits is one of those albums that, when played out of context, has confused lovers of 60s northern soul. For example – Canadian blogger Shindiggit gives a pretty snappy description of a Soul Bandit seven-single he dug-up at a record fair in Ontario a few years ago:

"Sometimes you get one of those records which just grabs you by the face and smacks you back into your chair. The A-side of this track (Soul Bandit) is like that for me. Imagine Soul Finger by the Bar-Kays thrown into a blender with Champ by the Mohawks.....Soul Bandit is THAT bastard child. This horns & organ infused floorsmasher is basically one of the funnest singles I own. The B-Side is a little slower, going for a bluesier vibe, however is still horns & organ drenched and pretty damned classic in it's own right.

The odd thing about this single is that I can find nothing...let me repeat...NOTHING, not even a passing mention as to whom this band was or any info on this single. I'm no soul detective, but I figure it's a studio band like the Mohawks. The label smacks of Britishness and oddly the catalogue number is L.1. Maybe this was a one off single? Any way it goes, I would LOVE to hear if anyone has any info on this band AND the single itself...Little Giant has been a record label in many guises over the years but I think this is a private label and not directly connected to any of the others I've seen.”

Do give this album a listen, it grows on you! If you prefer the more African-jazz oriented stuff, you can hear excerpts of some 78s of Almon Memela from Chris Ballantine’s collection here.

Soul Bandit: A.M. Stragglers
Mediafire here
Rapidshare here

Almon Memela's Jazz 8
Rapidshare here
Mediafire here