Geraldo Pino & The Heartbeats – Let's Have A Party (1970)

[EN]

Geraldo Pino is one of these African legends, who influenced musically such giants as Fela Kuti himself. Born in small Sierra Leone he was to dominate whole West African scene in the late 60's. As Fela recalled before he passed away: When that guy Pino came to Lagos in '66, he came in a big way: in a convertible Pontiac, you know, one of those big American cars, man. Flashy new equipment. Lots of bread. He was doing his thing, man. He had everything I didn't have. He did a three-day show in Lagos. Then he went up the country to the North for a month, then came back to Lagos again for five days. After that he was to go back to Ghana. What worried me was that he was going to come back again to Nigeria. I had seen the impact this motherfucker had in Lagos. He had everyone in his pocket!

Geraldo Pino was undoubtedly one the most important African musicians of all times and definitely the biggest music star of the late 60's. Storming down the clubs of Ghana and Nigeria with his band The Heartbeats, he came as a new voice, bringing a fad for American soul to West Africa, which shortly smashed traditional styles like juju and highlife into pieces! His impact cannot be overlooked as his famous tour of '66 turned every skilled musician to fiery soul and raw funk, which eventually led to discovering new ways of music expression by many outstanding afro bands. Styles like jerk and afrobeat were soon to overwhelm African imagination, while traditional rhythms and Western influences were loosely mingling and melting together.

His fantastic album – "Let's Have A Party", was cut in EMI studios, in Lagos – the best recording house in Nigeria at that time. It was Pino's second LP, largely steered towards hard funk of James Brown – no doubt about it – but when that was totally reinforced by following Pan-Africanist ideology on a verbal level, it landed as a cracking-ass example of Geraldo Pino's creativity! When finished, it was the real shit! Accompanied by The Heartbeats and supervised by legendary African producer – Odion Iruoje, Pino had perfect conditions to record the immortal monster, which the world has overlooked for more than 30 years. Fortunately, it was saved by cult British label – Soundway Records, which reissued the album as a limited, high-end pressing (1000 copies) in 2005. You're not gonna find a lot of collectors, who want to drop their copy on the market as the original is impossible to find and even when found it won't guarantee you the same quality of sound.



Nothing wrong with that as all six compositions, featured on "Let's Have A Party", are mighty floor swipers making your blood boil and go screamin' crazy! There's "Heavy, heavy, heavy", ultra-funk, high pitched killer, overspilling with ecstatic percussion lines, telling the story of a very hot chick. A perfect component of a DJ set, determined to make public get sweaty & naked in a jiffy. "Africans Must Unite" is another hectic bomb, calling all the Africans to reunite around their common, cultural roots – it's definitely fast. Finally, we get "Power To The People" – a kind of pean to grassroots democracy a la George Soule's "Get Involved". I cannot praise that record enough! It's a must-must-buy!

[PL]

Geraldo Pino to jedna z legend Zachodniej Afryki, która wpłynęła swoim stylem nawet na takich tuzów, jak Fela Kuti, który mówił o nim tak, gdy zobaczył jego występ w 1966: "Ach, ten facet z Sierra Leone to było za dużo. Geraldo Pino z Sierra Leone. Nigdy go nie zapomnę. Nigdy wcześniej nie słyszałem takiej muzyki (...)" Szturmujący wraz ze swoim zespołem The Heartbeats kluby Ghany i Nigerii w połowie lat '60, Geraldo Pino był głosem przynoszącym Afryce modę na amerykański soul i roznoszącym popularne wcześniej juju i highlife w drzazgi.

"Let's Have A Party" to płyta, nagrana w znakomitym studiu EMI, w Lagos, będąca jego drugim albumem. Geraldo Pino obrał w nim hard funkowy kierunek na Jamesa Browna jednocześnie przechodząc ideologicznie do obozu afrykanistycznego, co stanowi iście eksplozywną mieszankę. The Heartbeats - towarzyszący skład muzyków z Ghany zapewnił mu pod okiem legendarnego producenta, pana Odiona Iruoje, idealne warunki do nagrania nieśmiertelnego potwora, który zaginął dla świata na trzydzieści lat. Uratowała go reedycja Soundwaya, doskonałej jakości pressing na czarnym winylu, limitowana do tysiąca egzemplarzy, której rzadko kto chce się pozbywać, jako że oryginał jest jeszcze rzadszy i znacznie, znacznie droższy nie gwarantując przy tym tej samej jakości dźwięku.



To jednak nie dziwi, gdyż sześć utworów na tej płycie to killery nie do zaduszenia, doprowadzające do szału i wrzenia krwi każdy parkiet. Mamy tu przede wszystkim "Heavy, heavy, heavy", ultra-funkowy, szybki numer z rozbudowanymi partiami perkusji, opowiadający krótką historię pewnej gorącej kobiety. W odpowiednim secie może doprowadzić do nagłego zrzucania z siebie ubrania przez publikę. Jest tu także wybuchowy "Africans Must Unite", nawołujący do odnalezienia przez wszystkich Afrykanów wspólnych korzeni, oczywiście w bardzo szybkim tempie. W końcu, mamy też "Power To The People", pean na cześć bezpośredniej demokracji w stylu „Get Involved” George'a Soule'a. Nie ma końca pochwał dla tej płyty! Pozycja esencjonalna!