Every year the Soulstrut online community holds a Record Day where members rip some of their favorite records and share them with the rest of the board. While there are really no rules to what people can share, emphasis is usually placed on previously unavailable, rare or obscure records, or things that you think other board members might like but not necessarily know about. In keeping with this tradition, I decided to share three extremely rare African records that I managed to get my hands on in 2010. Some seriously great music here that you won’t be able to find anywhere else. Hope you enjoy it!
ROB
Self Titled (Essiebons, 1978)
Ghanaian artist ROB has three full-lengths, all of which are impossibly rare. I was fortunate enough to get this copy from Frank Gossner who’s only managed to unearth a few copies after his many trips to Africa. A very unique sounding record – funky and soulful, but also deep and dark on a couple of cuts.
DOWNLOAD HERE
Ebo Taylor Jr. & Wuta Wazutu
Self Titled (Polydor, 197?)
Son of the legendary Ghanaian musician, composer, producer and arranger Ebo Taylor, this album contains “Mondo Soul Funky” which was comped on Ghana Soundz 2 put out by Soundway Records. There is another funky cut called “Swinging Soul For Love” which hasn’t been comped yet. The rest of the album is a mixture of traditional highlife and reggae.
DOWNLOAD HERE
Rax-Saba-Tha Inc.
Self Tittled (Awoko, 1977)
This is a pretty obscure release by Ghanaian group Rax-Saba-Tha Inc. As far as I know this hasn’t been reissued or comped, and a Google search yields nothing. Sung entirely in English, the music within is a mixture of psych and funk with some jazzy elements here and there. A really great and consistent LP that was one of my favorite discoveries of 2010.
DOWNLOAD HERE
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
404 on all but the Ebo Taylor…
Sorry, fixed now
Thanks! I’ve really been wanting to check out that Rex Saba.
(Rob actually has a third LP, by the way… But it’s not as heavy as the first two)
Thanks for the ROB correction.
Surprised you hadn’t heard that Rax-Saba before.
Listening to that Rob Lp right now. What a great record!!! The “Forgive Us All” tune is ace. Thanks a lot for sharing. What a great score, I saw it in Ebay some months back and it reached some Everest like heights. Hopefully someone will reissue these albums soon.
Yeah I’m hoping albums like these will eventually get reissued. There’s a lot of great stuff happening thanks to Frank, Academy Records, Soundway, Strut, etc. For most of us, this is the only way we’ll ever get to hear music like this.
Wow.. thanks ! the Rax-Saba is great..
Hey Brian,
You’re tops for posting this stuff! Really incredible of you. No way any of us would have ever heard this music, looking forward to listening to the downloads.
Best to you!
Dead on, the three best records I’ve heard in years. Incredible find! Thanks for sharing these essential nuggets.
It really doesn’t get better than this. Perfect. Thanks for bringing this music to the people!
These are the three best uploads of rare records anyone has ever posted on the net. Thank you! Hope to come across more music like this on your blog.