Ghana Part 1

Welcome to the Goggins Ghana Weekend. To kick things off we bring you a couple of tracks from a compilation released last year which goes under the catchy title of "Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds And Ghanaian Blues 1968-81". It was released by Soundway Records, the same people responsible for some excellent compilations of Nigerian and Panamanian music of the same sort of vintage, some of which have been featured here previously.

"Akoko Ba" - Gyedu-Blay Ambolley & His Creations

"Noble Kings (Yako Aba)" - Dr. K. Gyasi & His Noble Kings

I have been able to find out very little about Dr K, other than that his first name was Kwame and the Noble Kings featured Eric Agyeman and Thomas Frimpong who went on to be major names in their own right. Gyedu-Blay Ambolley, on the other hand, is much more forthcoming over on his website.

And now, an extra special treat for you. The next song was apparently commissioned by Kwame Nkrumah himself to be played at Ghana's independence celebrations in 1957, to celebrate the end of British colonial rule and promote the positive message that Ghana could stand on its own two feet. Unfortunately I don't have the original recording, but here's a clip of a cover version from the 1970s: Miss Viola Wills with "Ghana Get Along Without You Now".



Boom! Boom!