Name: Life Stories - Highlife and Afrobeat Classics 1973 - 1980
Brand: Ebo Taylor

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

STRUT72LP

Colour

Black

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

{"time": 1688032543481, "blocks": [], "version": "2.26.4"}

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2017-04-28

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

0730003307218

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Total Cap

Black LPx2

Artist

Ebo Taylor

Genre GB

African

Label GB

Strut

Ebo Taylor (born 1936) is a Ghanaian guitarist, composer, bandleader, producer and arranger focusing on highlife and afrobeat music.

Born in 1936, Ebo Taylor has been a vital figure on the Ghanaian music scene for over six decades. In the late '50s he was active in the influential highlife bands the Stargazers and the Broadway Dance Band. In 1962, Taylor took his own group, the Black Star Highlife Band, to London, which led to collaborations with Nigerian afrobeat star Fela Kuti as well as other African musicians in Britain at the time. Returning to Ghana, he worked as a producer, crafting recordings for Pat Thomas, C.K. Mann, and others, as well as exploring his own projects, combining traditional Ghanaian material with afrobeat, jazz, and funk rhythms to create his own recognizable sound in the '70s.

Father of [a=Ebo Taylor Jr.], [a3444104] and [a5357408]

Strut is a British independent label founded by Quinton Scott. From 1999 to 2003, Strut was at the forefront of unearthing forgotten dance music gems, covering a wide range of genres from hard funk and underground disco to Nigerian Afrobeat and old skool hip hop. Their releases not only featured killer dancefloor tracks but also provided a comprehensive context for the music, delving into the stories behind the tunes, the clubs, and the scene of that time. With meticulous attention to detail, Strut's albums were mastered from original tapes whenever possible and included extensive sleeve notes written by respected journalists, rare photographs, and memorabilia.

In January 2008, Strut was reactivated and became part of the *K7 label group. Since then, their releases have been primarily based in Europe unless there is an exclusive retailer in another territory.

Back In Stock

Ghanaian highlife guitar legend Ebo Taylor teams up with Strut for a long overdue definitive compilation of his seminal 1970s recordings, Life Stories. During Ghana's highlife explosion during the 1950s and '60s following wartime highlife pioneers like ET Mensah, Ebo Taylor made his name as a prolific composer, arranger and frontman leading two of Ghana's greatest big bands - stargazers and Broadway dance band. Moving to London to study music in 1962 alongside West African luminaries like Fela Kuti and Peter King, Taylor formed the Black Star highlife band and began incorporating jazz elements into traditional highlife forms. Returning to Ghana, Taylor became an in-house arranger and producer for Dick Essilfie-Bondzie's Essiebons label, working with other major Ghanaian stars like CK Mann and Pat Thomas. Through the '70s, he then recorded a number of solo projects, exploring unique fusions and borrowing elements from regional Ghanaian folk music, afrobeat, jazz, soul and funk. This compilation revisits this heyday of Taylor's work, focusing on his solo albums and some of his lesser known side projects including the dynamite Apagya show band and short-lived Taylor-led combos Assase Ase, Super Sounds Namba and the Pelikans. The selection also touches on his writing and production work for CK Mann and a collaboration recording with fellow member of early '70s nightclub band Blue Monks, Pat Thomas. tracks include the anthemic Heaven, sampled by Usher on his hit with Ludacris, She Don't Know, the original version of the poignant Love and Death and the rare 15-minute nugget, Aba Yaa. The package features rare photos, original album artwork and sleeve notes by Soundway records' Miles Cleret.

Life Stories - Highlife and Afrobeat Classics 1973 - 1980

Music GB