Ernie's African Odyssey Pt 8 - Cameroon

It's week 8 of the tour and we are back on the mainland after our brief visit to Cabo Verde. We are in Cameroon, one of the real powerhouses of African music in my humble opinion.

The eagle-eyed among you may have spotted that we have six tracks for you today rather than the usual five. That is because we have a special request from Mr and Mrs Charity Chic. They have asked for the Les Têtes Brulées song in memory of Mrs CC's dear friend Brother John who spent many years teaching in Cameroon. You can read CC's very nice tribute to John here.

After that it was a real struggle to pick only five tracks. Obviously we had to have something by Mr Big Blow himself, the late great Manu Dibango. Equally obviously we had to include some Mandatory African Reggae. Sally Nyolo does the honours. That left only three slots to fill.

I have reluctantly left out the likes of Sam Fan Thomas, Francis Bebey, Ekambi Brillant and everything on Analog Africa's excellent "Cameroon Garage Funk" compilation, and opted for a trio of tunes that will get any party started.

First up is Lapiro de Mbanga. You might assume from "Jolies Filles" that he was just a good time guy, but he actually spent three years in prison after his song "Constitution constipée" criticised attempts by President Paul Biya to change the constitution to allow presidents to serve more than two terms. Lapiro sadly died in 2014, less than three years after his release from prison. Biya, on the other hand, is still President.

Next we have Elvis Kemayo, one of the world's top three Elvises in my view. He is happily still going strong as he approaches his 75th birthday in September. If you are keen to find out more, why not watch the 95 minute documentary that has been made about him. 

Last but by no means least we bring you Tala AM, the blind groovester who successfully sued James Brown for ripping off one of his tunes. You can read the full sordid tale while you are over at Bandcamp buying his excellent "African Funk Experimentals" collection, from which the track below comes.

"Des Hauts Et Des Bas" - Les Têtes Brûlées

"Abele Dance" - Manu Dibango

"Mamiwata" - Sally Nyolo

"Jolies Filles" - Lapiro De Mbanga

"Menzui" - Elvis Kemayo

"Gotam" - Tala AM