Saturday, May 17, 2014

AND LOOKED COOL DOING IT

If you happened to check out the post at Boogie Woogie Flu, where two of the Erma Franklin songs from yesterday were posted, you may have already heard the first song below. I don't care, it's catchy as hell. It's "Pata Pata" by Miriam Makeba, a South African singer who first recorded the song in 1956 (this version is from 1967). The post it's from is actually about the songs producer, Jerry Ragovoy, who also produced and co-wrote Franklin's "Piece of My Heart". It's a great read, written by Andy Schwartz (editor of New York Rocker, from 1978-82.) It doesn't really go into Makeda's bio, which is interesting in itself. Of note, she was a vocal opponent of apartheid, donating proceeds to the fight against it, and losing her citizenship in the process. She was married to Hugh "Grazing in the Grass" Masekela, and later Stokely Carmichael.


You know what transpired after hearing "Pata Pata". Another healthy diversion. By the time you're finished listeneing to "Malayisha", you'll see why. It's truly International pop, a South African singer and an American producer. An American soul producer. Well, yeah. There went my night. Sucked in again.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Miriam Makeba - Pata Pata mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Miriam Makeba - Malayisha mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Miriam Makeba - The Click Song mp3 at Internet Archive
Miriam Makeba - For What It's Worth (streaming) at YouTube
Visit:
Jerry Ragavoy In the Cathedral of Soul at Boogie Woogie Flu
Miriam Makeba at Wikipedia

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