Monday Audioblogging: In the Congo... Maybe

Congo Percussion, ca. mid-1960s, Pirouette Records. Click for larger, more politically incorrect.

Please Note! The recordings reproduced here carry neither a date nor any copyright information. Nevertheless, please read the audioblog disclaimer.

One of the outer limits of strange record collecting is what many of us call "supermarket records". This refers to the many tiny labels who made cheap, trendy records to cash-in on current music fads, and usually sold them in supermarkets at discount prices rather than record stores. These fly-by-night operations generally did not produce the music themselves, but bought the stuff on the open market, seemingly by the foot. One result of this hands-off approach to the content is that these albums usually had little or no information about the musicians, or sometimes the credits were deliberately misleading to increase sales. Another far stranger result is that sometimes you'll find the same music on two or more different records credited to totally different musicians. Or totally different worlds, as we'll see below.

This week's audioblogging selection displays all of the above peculiarities. Congo Percussion, on the ultra-cheap Pirouette Records, is credited on the inner label to "Chief Bey and His Royal Household", but obviously has nothing to do whatsoever with jazz legend Chief Bey, who had made African rhythms popular in the jazz world in the 50s and 60s. On the back cover (see below), a "Cawanda" group is mentioned, and some blurry black and white photos purport to show the musicians, but I wouldn't take their word for it. The liner notes even describe an eye-witness account of the recording session, but I'm assuming that comes from some secretary's overheated imagination:

Back cover, click for larger

Frustrating any further attempts to casually identify this strange music is that the exact same tracks were also released on this record under the name Tahitian Percussion, this time on the similarly disreputable Al-Fi Records. So which is it? Tahitian or West African? That's quite a geographical distance! Take a listen and I'm sure you'll agree with me that this is, in fact, African music. But is it actually from the Congo? You tell me! EDIT: Here's evidence of yet another release of this material (UPDATE: and another and another!), also on a "supermarket label", and also credited to "Cawanda's Group", which, I suppose, was written on masking tape on the reel-to-reel tapes.

But what incredible music it is! See, that's why it's worth it to pick up these usually terrible supermarket LPs, because every once in a while, one of them will knock your socks off. I'm under the impression that these songs are based on African traditionals, but the musicians seem to have been exposed just a tiny bit to Western notions of pop music and harmony. Or not. Who knows? The bizarre little exaggerated stereo ping-pong introductions to each tune are seemingly without precedent, and the rest doesn't sound quite like anything else I've ever heard. Some of these songs, especially "Elunde", are so intense they'll freeze you in place with their strange beauty, strong vocals and excellent, hypnotic percussion. Please enjoy the entire record (sorry about the scratches):

Asawanda (3:06, 3.5mb mp3)
Elunde (3:52, 4.4mb mp3)
Yow Cow Le (3:20, 3.8mb mp3)
Sha Sha Calor (4:13, 4.8mb mp3)
Fakiiya (3:07, 2.5mb mp3
Yarbou (2:51, 3.2mb mp3)
An De Vous (2:13, 2.5mb mp3)
Banja Ja En Gay (3:08, 3.5mb mp3)
Dedication/Elunde Reprise (5:32, 6.3mb mp3)
Ayilongo (3:22, 3.8mb mp3)

And it should go without saying: if anybody can help identify or explain these recordings, I'm all ears.