Pick of the Week - Bulawayo Blue Yodel (Various)
Fourteen "country" songs from Zimbabwe, South Africa and Kenya.
From the good people at Mississippi Records and Olvido Records, a joint 2019 release that features country musicians you might not have heard of (Josaya Hadebe, Sabelo Mathe, Sammy Ngaku, and more) Here's a snip of what each label has to say about the album.
"A collection of beautiful Country-Western inspired music from 1950s Zimbabwe, South Africa and Kenya. Fingerpicking "omasiganda" troubadours, train car yodels, raw slide guitar, and haunting travel-weary ballads, all reissued for the first time from rare 78s. A heavy duty document of a nearly lost scene, and all the songs are all stunners to boot. Featuring George Sibanda, Josaya Hadebe, Sabelo Mathe, Petrus Mntambo and more."
"High lonesome sounds from 1950s Zimbabwe, Kenya, and South Africa: Gorgeous "omasiganda" fingerpicking, yodeling, raw slide guitar, and haunting travel ballads. A stunning fusion of neo-traditional African melodies and early American country-western music. 14 lost classics by George Sibanda, Josaya Hadebe, Sabelo Mathe, Sammy Ngaku, and more, all reissued for the first time from original 78rpm discs."
Wow. Listened to a couple of songs and promptly tracked down a vinyl copy to order. Thanks for the tip!
Amazing! I love Slide Guitar and I research Country Music from all over the World. Including Beix from Papua New Guinea