Customer Reviews

Songs of the African Coast: Cafe Music of Liberia

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A fascinating set of late 1940s recordings, documenting the "cafe music" of coastal Liberia, originally recorded by ethnographer Arthur S. Alberts and released on 10" records in the 1950s. This disc reprises most of the songs from those old discs, along with six previously unreleased tracks that amplify the other material. The songs are sung mostly in English, pidgin English, and some local slang, so on the whole, the meaning of the lyrics is readily apparent. Most songs are comedic takes on romantic or ribald themes, a few are topical (for which the reprinted old liner notes come in handy...) and all bear the obvious stamp of a relaxed nightclub/cabaret culture. The similarities between these recordings and classic calypso are quite striking, both musically and in the lyrical form, and like old-school calypso, this probably may not appeal to the average world music fan -- it's far less about melodies and rhythm than about wordplay and story-related entertainment. Still, students of African cultural history will find this collection fascinating, as will those of us who just like the unique sonic qualities of things that are just plain old... It's an echo of a time and place that are long gone, but remain enchanting nonetheless. (DJ Joe Sixpack)

Double on the previous two reviews. I'll add that "Kokoleo-Ko" is the highlight; check YouTube and you'll find kid choirs singing this song, but no info on it elsewise. Anyway, I got if from my local library, so check yours first.

This CD collects eighteen tracks (fifteen different songs, with alternate versions of three) of music recorded in Liberia in the late 1940s, and it is BRILLIANT. Imagine, if you will, an album of a talented piano-playing singer-songwriter you love, be it Daniel Johnston or Fats Domino or John Lennon or whoever, but backed up by a chorus of African voices singing in English and in various tribal dialects that seems to come out of nowhere and yet seems entirely natural. It IS AMAZING.

Some of the songs, in particular the two takes of "Gbanawa" which mix pop and politics as well as Billy Bragg as ever has, in which a jailed character sings about love and uncertainty; and "All Fo' You" which is a demented but haunting song about domestic abuse and commitment, are the sorts of songs that will give you a frantic desire to make a mix CD just to include them.

There is also the humorous "Bush Cow Blues," the catchy "Chicken is Nice"; the displaced deep-old-American-sounding spiritual "Neither Do I Condemn Thee"; and "You Promised to Marry Me," which blows my mind by using the same tune as Leadbelly's "Good Night Irene." Even the scholarly liner notes (and the notes are nice, if not extensive) don't know what to make of THAT--did Leadbelly (an American cotton-field laborer) base that song on an even older melody, or did the Liberian singers--Malinda Parker, Howard B.Hayes, and the Greenwood Singers--listen to Leadbelly records?

That Liberia was largely colonized by freed American slaves anxious to return to Africa, and that these songs are performed by the descendants of those former slaves, makes this entire compilation an absolutely fascinating exploration of a unique and sometimes astounding mix of American and African cultures. But mostly though, it's just great music, the sort of thing that if you had been there, would easily have been the best cafe performance you ever attended, and the sort of thing that, now, you will never want to take out of your stereo.

Highly, highly recommended; a must-own for fans of Harry Smith's "Anthology of American Folk Music"--this is a forgotten dub side to the music of the descendants of real-old-time America.