Mama Africa, RIP
-
Artist:
-
Album:The Queen of African Music - 17 Great Songs
-
Track:
Miriam Makeba, the first Black woman to win a Grammy Award, the first Black woman to break ground on many fronts, has died.
The highlights of her life and career in bullet points courtesy of the BBC:
1932: Born Johannesburg, South Africa 1959:
Stars in the jazz opera King Kong and anti-apartheid film Come Back, Africa, met Harry Belafonte
1960: Barred from South Africa
1963: Testifies against apartheid at the United Nations
1966: Becomes the first African woman to win a Grammy award
1968: Marries Black Panther Stokely Carmichael and moves to Guinea
1985: Moves to Brussels after her child Bongi dies in childbirth
1990: Returns to South Africa after personal request from Nelson Mandela
2008: Dies in Caserta, Italy following a concert, aged 76
Musically, she was best known for the Click song and for Pata Pata. Even if you don't think you know the Click song, you do... she made a "click" noise with her tongue, an integral vocal locution of Makeba's native Xhosa language in which that song is sung.
Here's a pretty great clip of it on youtube, which you'll have to visit as the user who posted it does not permit it to be embedded: miriam makeba the click song
What's left out of the bullet points above include performing with Paul Simon on his Graceland tour in 1987... prior to marrying Black Panther Stokely Carmichael, she was married to and divorced fellow South African musician Hugh Masakela ("Grazing in the Grass" - you know it) who himself made quite an impact on American popular music with his Afro stylings. She also appeared at 1974's Rumble in the Jungle, a master boxing match in Zaire between two heavyweight greats - George Forman and the legendary Muhammed Ali.
I have always been tuned into Miriam Makeba's politics and her music was a very lovely afterthought for me. I know she lived a long life, full of equal amounts of hardship and tribulations. Her persona and her conviction to her conscience inspired many scores of people, both common man and celebrity alike. She always seemed immortal and larger than life to me and now she is.
Comments (9)
Not knowing who she was, I had an LP I inherited with a bunch of other records. I played it and was blown away by it's beauty, and at the time, mysteriousness. Why hadn't I heard of her?
Much later. watching the Dylan doc, "No Direction Home", I watched a performance of hers that was both powerful, dramatic, and entertaining. I realized that a certain sense of drama or theater is necessary on top of talent, to make a really compelling performance. The performance still stands out as one of the high points of the docmentary du to it's intensity and emotionally evocative nature.
True talent.
RIP, MM. Smoke and prayers sent.
Hear The Click Song here. Ms Mekeba's passing is indeed a loss. A true pioneer who faced obstacles we can only read about, she stared down a brutal injustice without blinking. Her life & art are testaments to an indominable spirit & a beautiful person.
I am happy to see so many MOGgers paying respect to the lady with their own posts too.
the obits of musical legends just won't stop. 2008 is going to be known as the most lethal year in music history...
Rest In Peace, dear mama. you will be missed, but yr legend will live forever.
I was reading a full page news story today in The Independent - this is besides the obituary, which was another full page - and it turns ourt she had a heart attack just as she finished a concert. That is certainly the way to go. What made me feel proud of my fellow countrymen was that all the intelligent papers had large stories on this. Sad that it was to mourn her, but she got the proper respect.
Another track by her that you might enjoy is her version of "Manha de Carnaval" from an out-of-print 1962 album.
Dear Anna,
My father brought home her album when I was about 9 (?). (We had Hugh Masakela's album too.) Of course there was the 'click song' there was also a Portuguese song that I loved, and so MUCH more. As I write this I try to remember the other songs, I hear bits in my mind...I played and played and played that album...think I'll just close my eyes now and try to hear more, as I pay my silent propers.
with sincere thanks.
Just discovered her and this post. What a performer!