If You Want to Make a Lover: Palm Wine, Akan Blues & Early Guitar Highlife, Pt. II, by Various Artists

If You Want to Make a Lover: Palm Wine, Akan Blues & Early Guitar Highlife, Pt. II

by Various Artists

supported by

more...

	/

Streaming + Download

Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.

Purchasable with gift card

name your price
Cassette + Digital Album
Includes unlimited streaming of If You Want to Make a Lover: Palm Wine, Akan Blues & Early Guitar Highlife, Pt. II via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 3 days

Purchasable with gift card

£12 GBP or more

1.	The Three Night Wizards - I Love Yoruba Girl 02:45	buy track
2.	Onyina's Band - Kumasi Bus Aba 02:41	buy track
3.	Piccolo Pete & Congo Abana Band - Fatau Jalaku 02:40	buy track
4.	Manukure's Band - Daakye A Mewo No Aeko 02:35	buy track
5.	Kwame Boakyi & His Band - Nkobesie 02:59	buy track
6.	Fanti's Star Band - Dr Nkrumah ko Liberia, Pt. 1 02:51	buy track
7.	D.O. Willies Band - Obrapa Ye Wura Fe 02:39	buy track
8.	Kumasi Trio - Womma Onye Bi 02:58	buy track
9.	Domingos Band - Fika Go Mato 02:23	buy track
10.	George Williams Aingo - Suantsi 02:58	buy track
11.	Kakaiku's Band - Aboa Apatupre 02:51	buy track
12.	Asaba Youth Orchestra - Nata 02:30	buy track
13.	D.O. Willie's Band - Bra Begye Mani 02:52	buy track
14.	The Three Night Wizards - Anwusalie Lam Anya 02:48	buy track
15.	Adjin's Band - Osidsa 02:19	buy track
16.	George Williams Aingo - Fine, Fine, Sha't Are 02:50	buy track
17.	Kojo Seido's Band - Akyikyiri Wasem Ye Mo Bo 02:32	buy track
18.	Kwaa Mensah's Guitar Band - Sika Ho Yena Blues 02:58	buy track
19.	Nkonu & His Party - Ebe Chosa Love 02:43	buy track
20.	Kojo Bio's Band - Odo Onto Nceh 02:27	buy track
21.	Fanti's Star Band - Dr Nkrumah ko Liberia, Pt. 2 02:36	buy track
22.	Ojoge Daniel & His Band - Late Olusholanke 02:41	buy track
23.	Kwasi Gatsey's Band - Xi Xiame Fe Nye Wo 02:38	buy track
24.	Kumasi Trio - Yaw Donkor 03:02	buy track
25.	Piccolo Pete & Congo Abana Band - When I Dede 02:44	buy track
26.	The Three Night Wizards - Owerri Baram M Ihi 02:42	buy track

about

The second part in a collection encompassing Akan blues, palm wine and early guitar-based highlife music, with recordings dating from the late 1920s through to the end of the 1950s.

The music included here can probably all be said to have all stemmed from a style that initially took root in the Fanti region of coastal southern Ghana. Fusing local percussion instruments with the introduction of western (most notably Portuguese) guitars that had made their way to the Fanti region of southern Ghana via the Kru seamen of Liberia, who are said to have pioneered the distinctive two-fingered style of playing while sailing the high seas.

Mingling amongst the Kru as well as with other sailors and local working-class people during the 1920s & 30s, the guitars infused with the traditional Akan seprewa harp-playing technique, creating a style known as 'odonson' or 'Akan blues' - a rootsy highlife style also commonly referred to as palm wine music, so named after the palm wine bars where the music was commonly performed. Western record companies such as Zonophone, Columbia, Odeon, HMV, and later Decca/EMI's West Africa imprint, released much of the recordings included here - with the earliest inclusions appearing courtesy of George William Aingo, Nicholas De Heer, Edmund Tagoe & Frank Essien, and Jacob Sam's Kumasi Trio (all recorded in London during the late 1920s). The form would become a key element in the popular development of both Ghanaian & Nigerian highlife, as well as the maringa of Sierra Leone, the juju of western Nigeria, and the Congolese "dry" guitar music of central Africa.

With thanks to John Collins and the Bokoor African Popular Music Archives Foundation.

credits

released December 17, 2023

license

about

Death Is Not The End London, UK

Record label & NTS Radio show ~ global folk music, soundsystems, pirate radio + various wormholes.

contact / help

Contact Death Is Not The End

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like If You Want to Make a Lover: Palm Wine, Akan Blues & Early Guitar Highlife, Pt. II, you may also like:

At Pioneer Works
by Les Filles de Illighadad

supported by 29 fans who also own “If You Want to Make a Lover: Palm Wine, Akan Blues & Early Guitar Highlife, Pt. II”

I love these women. the voices mesh together perfectly; also the world music is exceptional. I have all of their albums and they're all excellent. Give them a listen. Steve Lake
go to album
Anou Malane
by Abdallah Ag Oumbadougou

supported by 28 fans who also own “If You Want to Make a Lover: Palm Wine, Akan Blues & Early Guitar Highlife, Pt. II”

This album is a true gem for anyone who loves Taureg guitar. I can't believe this is one of the forerunners for the genre, but upon listening it's not a surprise. The complete production is beautiful. The vocals are really excellent, but my favorite aspect is the talent on the guitar, so intriguing & expertly composed ©ough©ool
go to album
Field Recordings from the Sahel
by Sahel Sounds Compilations

supported by 28 fans who also own “If You Want to Make a Lover: Palm Wine, Akan Blues & Early Guitar Highlife, Pt. II”

Like a desert wind gently blowing the Sahel straight into your room. Explores a rich soundscape, so atmospheric you can feel the sand underneath your fingers and the cool breeze of the night. Karl Grundmann
go to album
I'll Be Ready When The Great Day Comes
by John Johanna

John Johanna’s beautiful new record pairs his spare, haunting guitar work with moving, baleful vocal melodies. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 21, 2018
go to album
I Heard The Voice
by Faith & Harmony

North Carolina’s Faith & Harmony brings the scorching sound of classic gospel soul to a new generation. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 20, 2023
go to album
Help Me To Understand / Look Up!
by The Harlem Gospel Travelers & Aaron Frazer

featured on Bandcamp Radio Mar 28, 2023
go to album
Siftorde
by Tidiane Thiam

supported by 28 fans who also own “If You Want to Make a Lover: Palm Wine, Akan Blues & Early Guitar Highlife, Pt. II”

One of the the most wonderful records in the world. Bravo Tidiane and Christopher. stewart travers
go to album