Well the first thing you’re going to notice about 1972’s Shakara is the cover. Fela grinning widely, legs crossed leaning back on his elbows wearing only his blue underpants. He is surrounded by 50 bare breasted women arranged around him in the shape of Africa, a seven and a zero. It’s hard to imagine anything more provocative even to this day and it must have hit 1970’s Nigeria like a slap in the face. Nothing like a spot of in your face polygamy to get the blood boiling. The two songs from this album are extended funk jams. The first Lady, is a swipe at African women who depart from his traditional notion of what their role is and attempt to claim a westernized equality with men and act like a ‘Lady.’ Clearly a tune that endeared him to women folk. He defended himself by saying later that he wasn’t saying that women couldn’t do anything they wanted, they just shouldn’t neglect their duties at home while doing so. Way to dig yourself out of that one Fela. The tune, despite it’s message is an absolute cracker, with this strident feel and sharp almost militaristic stabs of horns it’s a beautiful thirteen and a half minute slab of pure afro funk. The second piece, Shakara clocking in at a similar time, each would’ve taken up one side of the original LP, is quite ingenious. With a three minute instrumental intro the band manage to establish the groove and run over many of the melody and vocal lines with various instruments well before the vocals come in, so when Fela begins singing it already seems familiar. Shakara is loosely based around poking fun at people who bark but don’t bite, yet the message on both of these tunes really is the funk.
The second part of this album, the London Scene LP is one of the first recordings that Fela made at Abbey rd studio. Recorded in 1970 when placed on the same disc as 1972’s Shakara it show’s how far Fela’s sound travelled in such a short period. J’Ehin J’Ehin is about a person so greedy he eats his own teeth, it’s a slow low key outing that clocks in at a miniscule seven and a half minutes, though possesses a great rhythm change midway that revitalises the song, driven by the horns. The highlight is Who’re You, one of his best early songs, where he sits midway between Afrobeat and highlife. Ginger Baker apparently appears uncredited on the track Egbe Mio where Fela wails along to some groovy sounds apparently taking the piss out of people on a dance-floor. It’s also notable for featuring a very early call and response with a highly musical sounding Abbey Rd choir, taking this element into an area you definitely don’t hear in his later work. His music on London scene has a strong jazz influence, you can hear the funk and groove of Afrobeat coming, yet his still not there yet. It’s less pedal to the metal, yet still quite complex and inventive. He is still experimenting with form here and over the next few years he would go on to deliver some his strongest and best known works.
Bob Baker Fish
