fela kuti- help wanted.

i'd actually say that as a fela rookie, you'd do well to pick up the underground spiritual game mix cd by chief xcel of blackalicious (can sort you out if you like; might even have a spare). it's a good introduction. i'd also go for black president (a solid best of), expensive shit, coffin for a head of state, and zombie for starters. try to get viyl rather than cd coz i think this music really benefits from the sound of vinyl, but mostly because you get great artwork on these records, too.

agree about
expensive shit/he miss road
zombie

or the double cd best as a starter

IMHO, almost any Fela album with Nigeria 70 or Afrika 70 is great to start with, the later stuff being more acquired taste. The albums mentioned above are all recommendable, of course, but my favorites are probably Open and Close, Gentleman and Confusion.
I'll never forget the rush I got the first time I put a needle to a Fela record ('J'ehin j'ehin', Fela's London Scene) and at around the 2:30 mark there is a short break with an ascending horn motif, after which the massive brass kicks in - absolutely awesome! I LOVE this stuff!
For a short (three CDs) overview of Fela's career, get the King of Afrobeat anthology, which includes a 20-page booklet with his story and some lovely pictures of him and his queens, though you don't get Ghariokwu Lemi's awesome artwork to go with it.
In general, CD editions have not done the sound or the artwork justice (nothing new, then?).

redcrescent said:

In general, CD editions have not done the sound or the artwork justice (nothing new, then?).

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Artwork aside, seriously? The CDs sound good to me, the two-fer are also a bargiain, and for what i know vinyls where scarce and rare (africans import...) and pressed on horseshit (the sounded legendary bad, worse than italian vinyls of the '80)

ciao da francesco

simon as you can see everyone always has different opinions about what the best fela albums are. my only advice is to not go overboard: back in 2003 i sold back a ton of fela stuff i bought (the attraction pales quickly when exposed to a lot of it) in the first flush of excitement back in 2000/2001, keeping only "zombie", "shakara", and "kalakuta show" (my personal fave.)

murderation.

theres a reissure of shuffering and shmiling (celluloid) kicking around at the moment which is cool

BUT

my favourite kutis:

kalakuta show: this is the hippest.
open and close: this is (i reckon) the absolute best. most focused. most yobby too, though slimmer on the polito hell-raising)

i've about 25 of these LPs nearly all original tings from the years before the mass reissue (fantastic though that woz) and i'd probably concur with dubplatestyle.

francesco said:

Artwork aside, seriously? The CDs sound good to me, the two-fer are also a bargiain, and for what i know vinyls where scarce and rare (africans import...) and pressed on horseshit (the sounded legendary bad, worse than italian vinyls of the '80)

ciao da francesco

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Of course the CDs sound better than the original vinyl, and I agree they're a good bargain, but have you heard the Fela box sets LPs? The Stern's LPs are pretty good too.

had a strange experience at the Fela festival last autumn at the Barbican, the music was being played in the foyer by various bands and was piped throughout the art exhibition at the back. After a while the music just took over like you were being transported to a higher plane. I'm not a spiritual guy but this endless repitition of those grooves,which is has it should be, eventually starts taking you places. Those recordings aren't long enough........

redcrescent said:

have you heard the Fela box sets LPs? The Stern's LPs are pretty good too.

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So have the LPs been reissued on good vinyl? Wasn't aware of that. But probably, as with much vinyl today, were limited edition 'buy immediately or forgive it' option. Unluckly vinyl is something i can't afford anymore for various reason, but I was a vinyl lover, so probably sometimes I talk with frustation.

ciao da francesco

simon silverdollar said:

say i want to buy my first fela album, which should i go for?

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...if you've never heard anything by him, i'll suggest you start with the "best of" cd-compilation as a sampler, then move on from there... -otherwise,just listen to the guys-in-the-know,and you can't go wrong...