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Alembic Club » Miscellaneous » Archive: 2005 » Archive through February 01, 2005 » Osibisa, anyone? « Previous Next »

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richbass939
Intermediate Member
Username: richbass939

Post Number: 116
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 8:50 am:   Edit Post

I googled my way down memory lane and looked up Osibisa. Are any of you guys into them? Their's was the first music I ever sat down and learned when I started playing bass in the summer of 1973. What an intro to bass! Those guys are awesome. The only thing I ever had of theirs was an 8-track of Woyaya Osibisa.
They formed in England and are still gigging. I bet some of you U.K. people have seen them. They consist of 3 from Ghana and 3 from the Caribbean. With all the African percussion I imagine their live show is great.
Rich
jazzyvee
Intermediate Member
Username: jazzyvee

Post Number: 189
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 9:41 am:   Edit Post

Yeah I have heard of them they had some great records in the early days. Courtney Pine plays a tribute to them on his latest CD Devotion, and one of the members Gregg Brown is singing on Billy Cobham's album Drum & Voice.
dnburgess
Advanced Member
Username: dnburgess

Post Number: 371
Registered: 1-2003
Posted on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 3:42 pm:   Edit Post

Their first (self-titled) album blew me away. When was that - 72/73? That must be one of the best debuts of all time.

Was a nice contrast to the ELP, Tull, Zep I was listening to. About 10 years later they had some commercial hits - but by then it was far less African.

David B.
richbass939
Intermediate Member
Username: richbass939

Post Number: 119
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 3:54 pm:   Edit Post

David,
I think they said on their site that it was '71. Google for Osibisa and it is the first one that comes up, "Osibisa.co.uk", I think. They have a discography, bio, and some samples of their songs. Two of the samples I can remember from "Woyaya" which was their second, according to the discography. I'm really tempted to buy it. I might even get the first one, too.
Rich
dadabass2001
Advanced Member
Username: dadabass2001

Post Number: 314
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 6:47 pm:   Edit Post

"Osibisa, criss-crossing riddims that explode wit 'appiness"
That album was VERY cool!
:-)
Mike
dnburgess
Advanced Member
Username: dnburgess

Post Number: 372
Registered: 1-2003
Posted on Monday, January 24, 2005 - 12:41 am:   Edit Post

"... the root is early one morning in the heart of Africa."

Checked out the web site - the current lineup is very keyboard heavy.
adriaan
Senior Member
Username: adriaan

Post Number: 465
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Tuesday, January 25, 2005 - 4:08 am:   Edit Post

Are they the same band who had a hit with The Calendar Song? Or was it The Coffee Song?

There was a great cover of The Calendar Song (whoever made it famous) in Surinam Dutch called MaDiWoDo - in English that would be MonTueWedThu but of course that doesn't sound as nice as MaDiWoDo, especially given the great big W sound that the Surinam accent is famous for - on top of that infectious groove ...
jacko
Intermediate Member
Username: jacko

Post Number: 101
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Tuesday, January 25, 2005 - 6:12 am:   Edit Post

Weren't they the band with the roger dean album covers depicting flying elephants?
davehouck
Senior Member
Username: davehouck

Post Number: 1254
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Tuesday, January 25, 2005 - 7:33 am:   Edit Post

Thanks Rich; it's been a long time since that name has come to mind. I think my roommate at the time probably bought the first album unheard for the cover; and yes Jacko it was the Roger Dean flying elephants. And yes Adriaan, they did have a tune called the Coffee Song.


jacko
Intermediate Member
Username: jacko

Post Number: 102
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Tuesday, January 25, 2005 - 7:40 am:   Edit Post

I remeber it well. When i was at school - mid 70s, we all used to paint the covers of our school shoulder bags (army surplus canvas bags) with enamels. I half managed the yes logo and an attempt at roger dean's signature airplane but a friend who went on to art college had the osibisa elephants for a while - took me some time to find out what they were. He used to change regularly and i remember one time he had an almost perfect tales from topographic oceans cover. No idea what happened to him though.
richbass939
Intermediate Member
Username: richbass939

Post Number: 122
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Tuesday, January 25, 2005 - 10:57 am:   Edit Post

You guys are right. The cover art is great. I never knew or thought about who did the art. I heard long ago that Osibisa means "elephant" in some African language. I never confirmed it, though. I also heard that "Woyaya" means shit. What a name for your second album!
Their website has the flying elephant as the cursor. I'm getting kindof jazzed about them after the discussion here. Just might score some of these.
Rich
palembic
Senior Member
Username: palembic

Post Number: 1897
Registered: 9-2002
Posted on Tuesday, January 25, 2005 - 1:27 pm:   Edit Post

That cover rings a bell. Gosh ...projected right back to the schoolbank.

Paul TBO

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