Fela don come again!

Well... I guess I shouldn't say "again" since I've never really posted a Fela album here before - I just like saying "Fela don come again." That was the first Fela song I remember hearing (or really paying attention to, anyway): You know, FELA YOU DON COME AGAIN O! and he replies, I never come, I still dey for far away... Wait, make I reach the place where I dey go...

Normally, I would probably avoid posting Fela albums as almost his entire catalog is currently in print on CD, but as it turns out, there are quite a few albums that have slipped through the cracks and escape reissue. One such record is Perambulator, released in 1983 on Lagos International Records. Once again, I've got to thank Mr. John B for hooking me up with this (I ought to make him an official member of the With Comb & Razor team the way he's been blessing us with these goodies, right?)

While the cover credits the record to "The Black President Chief Priest Fela Anikulapo Kuti and the Egypt 80 Band," it's not really an Egypt 80 record since both sides were actually recorded back in 1977, when Fela still had his Afrika 70 band (I guess the record's label kinda acknowledges this by crediting "Fela Anikulapo Kuti African '70 [sic] Organization and Egypt '80 Band"). "Perambulator" first appeared in 1978 as the B side to the French issue of Shuffering and Shmiling; "Frustration" (a.k.a. "Frustration of My Lady") was set to be the B-side to 1977's I Go Shout Plenty LP, which Decca ended up not releasing (a different, unauthorized version of I Go Shout Plenty was released in 1986. Thank you, Prof. Endo!)

("Frustration of My Lady" is, of course, is a re-recording of "My Lady's Frustration," the number Fela composed at the piano at Sandra Smith's house in Los Angeles back in 1969 when he resolved to "stop fooling around" and write "AFRICAN music.")

Also worth noting: featured as a "guest artist" on this disc is the legendary American jazz trumpeter Lester Bowie (best known for his work with the avant-garde Art Ensemble of Chicago) who lived and played with Fela for three months in 1977.

Alright... I know you wanna just hear the music, so here the music!



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