Little Beaver - Do Right Man - 45rpm (Saadia Records) 1965
- William Hale, 15 August 1945, Forest City, Arkansas, USA. Little Beaver, a singer and guitarist, made his mark on the tail-end of the soul era in the early 70s, with a typical southern-style body of work that included both blues and soul traditions. Little Beaver grew up in Arkansas but as a teenager moved to Florida. He recorded some local hits for various labels, with a Bobby Bland -style gospel-blues voice. He then joined Henry Stone’s TK complex of labels in 1971, and penned some hits for Betty Wright as well as playing on innumerable sessions. By the time Little Beaver first recorded on his own for TK’s Cat subsidiary in 1972, he had found his own voice and style and had a national hit with ‘Joey’ (number 48 R&B). His biggest hit was ‘Party Down’ (number 2 R&B) from 1974. His deep southern sound was not all that compatible with the emerging disco and funk trends and Beaver had his last chart record in 1976. - Oldies.com
Few record labels have garnered the feverish attentions of soul & funk collectors and DJs as much as the Saadia imprint of late ‘60s Miami, Florida. In a collecting world dominated by oddball one-offs, random indie obscurities and the occasional major label mishap, a local independent label with a small but consistently impeccable musical output is a truly rare thing. Saadia sets the benchmark for rare, local, independent funk and sets it very high indeed.
Never before put together, this 10 track LP compilation selects the highlights from the small but perfectly formed Saadia catalogue and offers an opportunity to shed some light on the story behind these outstanding recordings for the first time. - Jazzman
1st Hour: Detroit Miami Chicago - FUNK SOUL !
Playlist by request. Ask for the Music Ingredient Chef !
Vincent Ahehehinnou & Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo (Analog Africa) 1973
- Nestled in between Nigeria and Ghana, the traditional heavyweights of the golden West African musical axis, Benin, formerly known as Dahomey, has birthed some of the most raw and psychedelic Afro sounds to emerge from a continent blessed with artistic talent. From Lome to Luanda, Africa's coastal cities have constantly served as creative hubs and Benin's economic capital, Cotonou, is no exception. The former French trading post has spawned several bands and performers, the most indefatigable and prolific of which undoubtedly remains Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo. Extensively featured on Analog Africa's previous releases, Poly-Rythmo and its legendary members constitute arguably Africa's most innovative band. By building upon and modernizing the traditional rhythms of Vodoun, conforming to the Afrobeat sound of the time, incorporating Western styles and injecting a healthy Latin dose, Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo fostered a diverse groove that remained unique to Benin and resonated with the region's urban centres. Despite consisting of 16 members at its peak, the band was originally founded as Orchestre Poly-Disco in 1968 with original members Melome Clement, Bentho Gustave, Amenoudji Vicky Joseph and Bernard "Papillon" Zoundegnon. Seeking to expand and in search of a soul singer, Bentho and Papillon persuasively lured a certain Vincent Ahehehinnou from Daho Jazz, a band with little prospect of major success that often performed in seedy venues. Due to changes in producers and financiers, Orchestre Poly-Disco switched its name to Orchestre El Ritmo before finally establishing themselves as Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou after signing with Adissa Seidou, the owner of the Albarika Store label, in 1969. Influenced heavily by Fela Kuti, Vincent, who by this time had transformed himself into an Afrobeat and funk specialist, perhaps Benin's best, soon became a supremely influential member of Poly-Rhythmo and was approached by Albarika to record a 7-inch single. Realizing the band's preeminence on the African music stage, Vincent believed the time was ripe to follow in the footsteps of African music greats and record a full album instead. A deal was subsequently struck with the label for a production fee of 320.000 CFA - about 500 Euros given today's exchange rates.
The band took advantage of their producer's cross-border contacts and traveled from Cotonou to Lagos, which possessed better-equipped studio facilities, to record their first LP consisting of four heavy Afrobeat tracks, wholly composed by Vincent Ahehehinnou himself, in 1973. In fact, the four track-LP was recorded twice. Albarika rejected the first recording because of far too much background noise - the possible culprit being an obnoxious organ amplifier - forcing another recording to be done. The second recorded session met expectations and made it as the official vinyl release. That recording remains not only one of Benin's rarest LPs but one of its best works of music, setting the standard for all future Poly-Rythmo releases and firmly cementing the band and Vincent's reputation.
The test-pressing of the rejected first recording was found and Analog Africa founder, Samy Ben Redjeb, chose two tracks from each recording. The two remastered tracks from the rejected recording are being exclusively released for the very first time on the recording you are holding.
Vincent has acknowledged that his entire life, including that of his family's, revolved around and is owed to Orchestre Poly-Rythmo. The Afrobeat mastermind left his beloved band on May 28, 1978. He chose not to reveal the reasons for his departure. - Analog Africa
2nd Hour: Legendary FUNKY AFRO BEAT !
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Antonio Carlos Jobim & Luiz Bonfa - Black Orpheus (Soundtrack) 1959
- Before the world heard Astrud Gilberto's whispy voice, before they knew of Stan Getz' velvety sax, they saw Black Orpheus. The film (in Portuguese, Orfeu Negro) put a face on a new style of samba that was fresh, romantic and very accessible to jazz hipsters. It was later called bossa nova (or "new wave" or "new groove"). Only a year before (November 1957), Antonio Carlos Jobim (and Newton Mendonca) had released the album Desafinado, featuring this new style of samba, incorporating it with jazz stylings, poetic lyrics sung by João Gilberto, and a 4 on 3 stammering rhythm. Jobim and Luis Bonfa wrote the soundtrack to the motion picture. This 1959 Cannes Film Festival Grand Prize winner (and Oscar's Best Foreign Film, and a Golden Globe winner) was based on the Orpheus-Eurydice legend but updated and played against the colorful background of Carnival in Brazil, featuring an all-Black cast. French director Marcel Camus created the movie from Vinícius de Moraes musical play Orfeu da Conceição."
More than just showcasing samba, Black Orpheus brought this music to life, making Antonio Carlos Jobim and Luis Bonfa international stars. From the very opening title scene, where favalistas burst through an ancient frieze of Orpheus and Eurydice, to the climactic Carnival parade, music pervades practically every moment of the film. Even the streetcars seem to dance.
As in the Greek legend, Orpheus is a legendary minstrel among his neighbors in the slums above Rio. He also works as a streetcar driver, where he first meets a naive county girl, named Eurydice. She has run to the city to escape from a jealous suitor that means to kill her. Orpheus protects her, and they fall in love. Death finally catches her but unlike the snake in the Greek myth, in the film she's bitten by the electrical sting of a hot cable-car wire. Inconsolable over his loss, Orpheus searches for her in the land of the dead. The underworld in Rio is the Bureau of Missing Persons and a Macumba ceremony, where Orpheus attempts to contact her spirit. With the help of Hermes, Orpheus is finally guided to the city morgue where he finds his deceased love. Despite it's tragic ending, the film ends on a happy note with the children singing "Samba de Orfeu." The legend of Orpheus and Eurydice lives on.
The music is timeless. The soundtrack sold millions. United States jazz musicians like Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd began to cover Orpheus numbers like "A Felicidade" and "Manha de Carnaval" (Morning of Carnival) with as much enthusiasm as other popular Jobim songs like "Corvacado" and "One Note Samba." As bossa nova began to grow in the U.S., Getz along with João Gilberto and his wife, Astrud, released "The Girl from Ipanema" in early 1963. This created a big hit in the U.S. and Europe, and virtually sent the whole bossa nova movement into orbit. Throughout the mid-Sixties all-things-Brazilian became an integral part of world culture. Bossa nova would have become fashionable without Black Orpheus. However the film brings the music alive. - Wayne Whitwam - Rootsworld.com
3rd Hour: Samba Bossa Nova Beginnings
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8/23/11 Little Beaver / Ahehehinnou Vincent / Antonio Carlos Jobim & Luiz Bonfa (LISTEN)
8/23/11 Little Beaver / Ahehehinnou Vincent / Antonio Carlos Jobim & Luiz Bonfa (LISTEN)Any Questions?
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