Author Topic: Osibisa, anyone? (Read 199 times)

richbass939 · « **on:** January 23, 2005, 08:50:13 AM »

I googled my way down memory lane and looked up Osibisa. Are any of you guys into them? Their's was the first music I ever sat down and learned when I started playing bass in the summer of 1973. What an intro to bass! Those guys are awesome. The only thing I ever had of theirs was an 8-track of Woyaya Osibisa.
They formed in England and are still gigging. I bet some of you U.K. people have seen them. They consist of 3 from Ghana and 3 from the Caribbean. With all the African percussion I imagine their live show is great.
Rich

jazzyvee · « **Reply #1 on:** January 23, 2005, 09:41:39 AM »

Yeah I have heard of them they had some great records in the early days. Courtney Pine plays a tribute to them on his latest CD Devotion, and one of the members Gregg Brown is singing on Billy Cobham's album Drum & Voice.

dnburgess · « **Reply #2 on:** January 23, 2005, 03:42:18 PM »

Their first (self-titled) album blew me away. When was that - 72/73? That must be one of the best debuts of all time.

Was a nice contrast to the ELP, Tull, Zep I was listening to. About 10 years later they had some commercial hits - but by then it was far less African.

David B.

richbass939 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 23, 2005, 03:54:48 PM »

David,
I think they said on their site that it was '71. Google for Osibisa and it is the first one that comes up, Osibisa.co.uk, I think. They have a discography, bio, and some samples of their songs. Two of the samples I can remember from Woyaya which was their second, according to the discography. I'm really tempted to buy it. I might even get the first one, too.
Rich

dadabass2001 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 23, 2005, 06:47:44 PM »

Osibisa, criss-crossing riddims that explode wit 'appiness
That album was VERY cool!

Mike

dnburgess · « **Reply #5 on:** January 24, 2005, 12:41:57 AM »

... the root is early one morning in the heart of Africa.

Checked out the web site - the current lineup is very keyboard heavy.

adriaan · « **Reply #6 on:** January 25, 2005, 04:08:22 AM »

Are they the same band who had a hit with The Calendar Song? Or was it The Coffee Song?

There was a great cover of The Calendar Song (whoever made it famous) in Surinam Dutch called MaDiWoDo - in English that would be MonTueWedThu but of course that doesn't sound as nice as MaDiWoDo, especially given the great big W sound that the Surinam accent is famous for - on top of that infectious groove ...

jacko · « **Reply #7 on:** January 25, 2005, 06:12:07 AM »

Weren't they the band with the roger dean album covers depicting flying elephants?

David Houck · « **Reply #8 on:** January 25, 2005, 07:33:05 AM »

Thanks Rich; it's been a long time since that name has come to mind. I think my roommate at the time probably bought the first album unheard for the cover; and yes Jacko it was the Roger Dean flying elephants. And yes Adriaan, they did have a tune called the Coffee Song.

jacko · « **Reply #9 on:** January 25, 2005, 07:40:28 AM »

I remeber it well. When i was at school - mid 70s, we all used to paint the covers of our school shoulder bags (army surplus canvas bags) with enamels. I half managed the yes logo and an attempt at roger dean's signature airplane but a friend who went on to art college had the osibisa elephants for a while - took me some time to find out what they were. He used to change regularly and i remember one time he had an almost perfect tales from topographic oceans cover. No idea what happened to him though.

richbass939 · « **Reply #10 on:** January 25, 2005, 10:57:16 AM »

You guys are right. The cover art is great. I never knew or thought about who did the art. I heard long ago that Osibisa means elephant in some African language. I never confirmed it, though. I also heard that Woyaya means shit. What a name for your second album!
Their website has the flying elephant as the cursor. I'm getting kindof jazzed about them after the discussion here. Just might score some of these.
Rich

palembic · « **Reply #11 on:** January 25, 2005, 01:27:47 PM »

That cover rings a bell. Gosh ...projected right back to the schoolbank.

Paul TBO