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comment by goobster
goobster  ·  2881 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The best old music that I discovered in 2016, Africa edition.

I'm probably going to screw up this story, but some Brits in the 1920's were visiting Africa and had brought some Jimmie Rodgers records with them. He was a country singer who used to yodel as a part of his vocals.

When the tourists played the Jimmy Rodgers records for the locals, the locals said they didn't believe that sound could come from a man, and believed him to be inhabited by some sort of trickster spirit.

Add in a little transliteration, and the impish mythical spirit animal of "Chemirocha" was created.

It didn't take long for the local tribes to sing their own songs of Chemirocha, like this one:

But it was in 2016 when I became aware of African band Bye Beneco, and their re-envisioning of the traditional Chemirocha track into this absolutely stunning track:





cgod  ·  2879 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I think I like the original better.

goobster  ·  2879 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Yeah, I'm torn. I like them both for different reasons.

I especially like that Bye Beneco even did it in the first place. I love "cover tunes" that don't sound like the original... something that brings a new twist to a great song.