11 months ago
Friday, September 26, 2008
MY LOVELY ELIZABETH
S.E. Rogie - My Lovely Elizabeth
SO, I decided to stay focused on African music for another post.
S.E. Rogie, was a Palm Wine guitarist from Sierra Leone in West Africa. Palm Wine music, native to Western Africa is heavily influenced by Calypso. It is named after the fermented palm oil drink that the guitarists would drink when they would play together.
This is a pretty heavy performance. The guitar playing is absolutely beautiful. The vocal performance is equally stunning, Rogie's voice is very expressive and his delivery really helps to tell the story behind this song. It seems like while playing this song, he experiences the events he recounts in the introduction all over again. Rogie wrote and sang in four languages. I can't tell what language he is singing in for this performance, but that section of the song impresses me the most. I really love S.E. Rogie, Its a shame recordings of his music are so hard to come by.
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2 comments:
In "My Lovely Elizabeth" he speaks in English, Krio, and Mende
I bought a 45 rpm recording of this song in Sierra Leone in the mid-60s. It's one of my cherished possesions now, and I get misty-eyed when I listen to it.
Rogie made an LP while he lived in California -- it's probably impossible to find now -- and a RealWorld CD right before he died. It's sad that he died relatively young, right when he got some notice in the world outside Sierra Leone.
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