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artist.....: Rim Kwaku Obeng
album......: Rim Arrives (International Funk)
year.......: 2015
label......: BBE
BBE328ACD
source.....: WEB
moodswing..: Disco
releasesize: 99.38 MB
tracks.....: 09
length.....: 43:21
encoder....: LAME
quality....: 320kbps
scenealized: 06.01.2016
We're very proud to present here the
first of two legendary 'lost' albums
both previously available only as
rare-as-hen's teeth private presses,
from one Samuel K. Mfojo, the man known
as Rim Kwaku Obeng.
As well as heralding the arrival as
solo artist of an exciting new drummer,
the title of his 1977 debut, Rim
Arrives, also makes reference to the
long struggle Kwaku had in getting to
that point. To say that he 'paid his
dues' is an understatement!
A member of one of Ghana's most popular
bands, the Uhuru Dance Band, during a
period when 'every song was a hit', the
recording studios of LA were even more
alluring to an aspirant musician, and
he followed his bandmate, Duke Oketa,
there for a session in 1973. Despite
having hired a massive string section,
Oketa failed to provide charts for the
session, and it was postponed for a
week, with Kwaku being asked to write
them instead. He turned it around,
pocketed $700, and won the admiration
of Quincy Jones who was hanging out at
A&MÆs studios and asked Kwaku to join
him' only to back off when Oketa
intervened, threatening a lawsuit if
Kwaku walked.
That scuppered opportunity was as
nothing compared to the disaster that
next befell him: having flown to London
with Duke's band, to record with 'a
band called Traffic' and a young
singer-songwriter called Joan
Armatrading, Kwaku found himself
marooned in the city without money,
documentation or friends. Oketa had
checked out of their hotel the first
night, and had Kwaku's passport and
luggage with him. Despite the sympathy
of the hotel staff, he found himself on
the streets, and thus in 1973 began a
six-month period as a homeless,
destitute, undocumented stranger.
That Kwaku by chance managed to meet
Armatrading, who helped him get his
life back on track, by chance passing
Ronnie Scott's where she was playing,
was an even more unlikely twist in the
fate of this promising young musician.
He never found out why Oketa had
abandoned him, but he fulfilled his
promise, recording Rim Arrives in San
Francisco in 1977.
That year was the zenith of disco, and
pretty much anybody who entered a
recording studio that year cut a disco
record. Rim was no exception, his
Ghanaian rhythms tailor-made for the
percussive energy that was fuelling the
clubs of the day. With a mixture of hot
LA session musicians and African
emigres, he cut an album that very much
captures the spirit of its time. As
well as kit drums, conga and an array
of percussive instruments, the multi-
talented bandleader also played piano
and clavinet on the sessions. Throw in
some tight horn riffs, Fela-style call
and response vocals, and you have an
album that fits the current mania for
both vintage African music and ever-
more obscure disco perfectly. Cuts like
Brushing Means Making Love, Gas Line
and Believe In Yourself and have been
tearing up dancefloors in the hands of
specialist DJs for some time: now it's
time for the rest of the world to catch
up.
Also included is International Funk, a
very in-demand 12' he recorded later as
Rim and The Believers, with drum
machines and synths in full 1980s
effect!
Serious Afro-disco heat here, with the
originals fetching silly money, these
records were overlooked at the time,
with the glut of amazing music that
characterized the era; but, nearly four
decades on, it's fair to say that, Rim
really has arrived!
Url:http://www.junodownload.com/product
s/rim-kwaku-obeng-rim-arrives-
international-funk/2862960-02/
psst, more info at bbemusic.com
01 Rim Kwaku Obeng - Gas Line 04:16
02 Rim Kwaku Obeng - Believe in Yourself 04:58
03 Rim Kwaku Obeng - Sunkwa (Life First) 02:48
04 Rim Kwaku Obeng - Funky Drummer 05:03
05 Rim Kwaku Obeng - Brushing Means Making Love 05:18
06 Rim Kwaku Obeng - Nothing is Free 03:47
07 Rim Kwaku Obeng - Spend Your Money 06:09
08 Rim Kwaku Obeng & the Believers - International Funk 05:28
(Vocal)
09 Rim Kwaku Obeng & the Believers - International Funk 05:34
(Instrumental)