Customer Reviews

Miriam Makeba / World of Miriam Makeba

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I gasped when I saw this CD cover!

The two albums featured on this CD, "Miriam Makeba" and "The World of Miriam Makeba," were favorites of my mother when I was a little girl growing up on the south side of Chicago in the sixties. Mom played them so constantly I came to (phonetically) know most of the songs by heart by the age of nine, precociously singing along to "The Click Song," "Pole Mze," "Little Boy" and "Tonados De Media Noche"--to the great amusement of grown-up family members and guests. I was delighted to discover a Makeba CD featuring not just one but both albums and ordered it immediately, waiting impatiently for its arrival. Upon receiving it I eagerly placed it on my CD player, happily pressed PLAY, sat back smiling as my childhood came floating back to me...

...and was startled, puzzled and more than a little disappointed to discover what appears to have been an error or mix-up for one of the albums.

Though "The World of Miriam Makeba" contained all of the wonderful songs I remembered from my mother's album, many of the selections included for "Miriam Makeba" seem to me to be from a different Makeba record entirely!

Enjoyable as they are, I don't at all recall cuts like "The Naughty Little Flea" or "Olilili" or "Where Does It Lead?" etc., being on either original album, whereas songs like the playful "Can't Cross Over," the dreamy, sensual "(Love Tastes Like) Strawberries" and the heartbreaking lullaby (where a crooning mother consoles a hungry child--there is nothing to eat) "Ntjilo Ntjilo" are absent entirely--what happened here??

Even so, Makeba's voice is so strong and beautiful, and her command of her South African and international material so absolute, that regardless I have to give this collection at least four stars. Only the odd and annoying absence of the aforementioned and other remembered songs keeps this from being a five-star rave.

Buy, listen and decide for yourselves.

Not having heard this music for years (ok, decades), I was keeping my fingers crossed that the these songs would sound as terrific as I remembered. They do! Perhaps the original "world music" artist, Ms. Makeba's sound is timeless. From soothing lullaby to rousing wedding night serenade (the "Click Song" - hint: I don't think it's advice about joint checking accounts), these selections will bring you to your feet. Why did I wait so long to buy this CD?!

This is for those of us who love pure musical tones although we may not recognize the words. Songs are in English, Xosa, Zulu, Indonesian, Swasi. See how long it takes you or your kids to identify #7-Mumbe! Hint: listen to the *back ground* singers, not to Ms Makeba! Two romping songs in English will have your youngsters singing along: The Naughty Little Flea, and One More Dance. The House of the Rising Sun is soft yet aching.

An absolutely fabulous find for me. I had the "albumn" Miriam Makeba as a teenager. This CD has brought back wonderful memories from my "earlier" years. Her amazing voice still gives me goosbumps!!

This cd is enjoyable from start to finish even if you only speak English. The collection is wide-ranging from the serious to the comical like my favourite "One more dance" which like a few other songs, is sung in English. Ms. Makeba excels here and in this collection truly lives on.

An oldie vbut a goodie. I bought this to replace an album I cannot live without.

Ms. Makeba sang at my college in 1964, and I've never forgotten her wonderful performance of many of these selections. Because she was ill, we waited about 45 minutes for her to be ready to sing. In spite of her illness, she gave a fabulous concert. I bought The World of Miriam Makeba on vinyl on my way out of the auditorium, and later got the earlier Miriam Makeba album. I'm so happy to be able to hear these wonderful songs again, and together on one disk. There is no one comparable.

This combined CD of Miriam Makeba's first and second LPs has the wonder of forward thinking and backward bliss. Hardly sold at time, the first LP, "Miriam Makeba" was a part of the US folk eagerness to hear new sounds. Like Harry Belefonte before her, there was a market for pleasant new rhythms and exotic but true belief.

It helped that Miriam sounded like Joan Baez with an accent.

In one of the most eyebrow raising great Pop moments, Miriam had a Top 12 hit with, "Pata Pata", a So. African child sing/song. Ya had ta be there!

The rest of the CD is for collectors and Paul Simon's payoff.