"O-SI-bi-sa... crisscross rhythms that explode with 'appiness"

[B.See]

[highplainsdem]

1. Fine band, creating very evocative music. They had their greatest chart success in 1971 with

their first two albums, Osibisa and Woyaya, both produced by Tony Visconti - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10181809938 . The videos here are for tracks on albums produced by Peter Gallen a couple of years later.

I said the last time their music was posted here that I'd post about what Tony had said about them in his memoirs, but then I forgot. Will look for that later. Both albums he produced for them reached #11 on the UK charts.

There are still two members of the band - lead singer Teddy Osei and keyboardist Robert Bailey - from that original lineup. Osei is 85 now.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osibisa

http://www.osibisa.co.uk/about.html

[B.See]

2. Thanks for the info.

We've seen them live on several occasions (way back when).

[highplainsdem]

4. Those must've been incredible shows! Sorry I'm late checking what producer

Last edited Fri Aug 4, 2023, 12:50 PM - Edit history (1)

Tony Visconti wrote about them in his autobiograpy, on pages 161-163.

They were one of two groups managed by Gerry Bron that Tony started working with in late 1970 (the other was Gentle Giant). Tony loved their live sound - "think Santana without the Latin" - but was having trouble getting them to replicate it in the studio - "their bubbly live sound was not surfacing." He finally asked them what was wrong and was told they didn't like the boards between them - the baffles that were there to get a clean sound in the studio. So he told the engineer to get rid of them, to set up for a live sound.

And that worked well enough they were able to quickly record several tracks they were all happy with. But they were needling him a bit, telling him he couldn't understand their music because he was white but he was "doing a good job anyway." There was infighting in the band, with one member walking out during the recording sessions (he doesn't say which one, and later he ran into the same problem with a couple of other groups, but I think this was the first album where he ran into those difficulties). In particular there were disagreements between the African and West Indian band members.

Tony was stressed enough by the infighting, despite loving their music, that he told Gerry Bron he didn't want to work with them again. Then their first album became a hit, and Bron invited him to a celebration at Ronnie Scott's club. The band carried him around the room on their shoulders, and Teddy said, "What's this, you don't want to work with us again?" - and Tony agreed to produce their second album.

And during those sessions there was more infighting, again between the Africans and the West Indians, with the latter telling him one night they wanted to do their own separate album (he told them the budget wouldn't cover recording that as well). Then Loughty/Lofty Amao quit the band before they'd finished recording, so they finished recording without him, and then he rejoined during the mixing and was upset that drummer Sol had played his percussion parts (Lofty played congas as well as saxophone) and he demanded those be re-recorded, but the budget wouldn't allow that.

Tony said he was very proud of the album, but his "nerves were frayed."

Working with Osibisa was great grounding for many later projects, and I could have got a job at the U.N.

I don't know if he was asked to produce their later albums, but it doesn't sound like he would have agreed. At least he was able to produce their two most successful albums for them, even if Osibisa and Woyaya didn't quite make the Top Ten, both making it to #11.

Just found a live performance I want to post in a thread of its own... Editing to add the link: https://www.democraticunderground.com/1034103825 .

[highplainsdem]

5. Just found a Guardian article from 2 years ago with more info & a different age for Teddy,

who'd be 85 according to Wikipedia. According to this April 2021 Guardian article, he was already 87 then, so 89 now.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/apr/29/osibisa-british-black-rock-band-fela-kuti-stevie-wonder

-snip-

“I wanted to make a difference to the African music scene,” says Osei. “I wanted to make a different sound.” Initially so poor the band were forced to rehearse in Osei’s Finsbury Park basement flat, it was when three Caribbean musicians joined that Osibisa found their sound. “Wendell Richardson could play rock guitar,” explains Osei.

Osibisa quickly made a mark, their dynamic fusion allowing them to play the Roundhouse and Ronnie Scott’s alongside African and Caribbean haunts. Jimi Hendrix dropped in to see them rehearse: “He loved our rhythms. If he’d played with us, he would have lived.” But it was Stevie Wonder who, while in London in 1970, was so enamoured by Osibisa he joined them on stage on drums, then helped engineer a record deal.

They were managed by Gerry and Lilian Bron, industry veterans who had previously managed the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. It was they, says Osei, who insisted on Tony Visconti producing Osibisa and Roger Dean designing their LP covers. (Dean later crafted fantastical visions for Yes.) Was it a culture clash, Visconti and Dean being associated with British rock bands? No, says Osei, both men listened to him. “Visconti was leaning on me for suggestions as to how to get the right sound – I love him for that! And Dean asked what kind of ideas I had. I said, ‘Something African’ and suggested an elephant. He drew a flying elephant and it’s been Osibisa’s logo ever since.”

The band’s eponymous debut album and follow-up Woyaya, both 1971, were Visconti/Dean efforts that sold strongly internationally and are now regarded as their finest work. Music for Gong Gong, from their debut, quickly became a soul DJ favourite (Louie Vega has remixed it), while a moving interpretation of Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s Spirits Up Above is one of Woyaya’s highlights. I mention this and Osei replies: “Roland Kirk, he jam with us in London.” Seeing I’m impressed, Osei says Osibisa also played with Sun Ra when the maverick American made his UK debut in 1971. Sugumugu then describes his Belsize Park African music club Iroko – where the Osibisa/Kirk jam took place – as “the place where all Black musicians visiting London headed to. Fela came there!”

-snip-

The second paragraph of that article says Osibisa were best-known for two mid-'70s hits, which Tony hadn't produced, but the only chart info I could find for those singles said they peaked at #17 and #31, not doing as well as the albums Tony produced for them.

That article is the first I'd heard of Stevie Wonder joining them on stage, then helping them get a record deal. Cool.

[ProfessorGAC]

3. Those Were Cool!

Good band!