El Rego Et Ses Commandos - Dis-Moi Oui / Cherie Lucia
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El Rego Et Ses Commandos - Dis-Moi Oui / Cherie Lucia
(7") L.A. Aux Ecoutes LA23, early 1970s, BENIN
El Rego was one of the great bandleaders in Benin during the 1970s, producing a number of excellent rumba, funk, and soul sides with his Commandos; this particular 45 is a Nigerian pressing, probably from 1973. The A-side is a smoking Afrobeat cut with a clacking drum beat, dimestore organ, and a monster guitar intro-- it's funk with a psychedelic edge and fantastic feel. The flip is a drifting ballad with some really nice sax, great slow-motion highlife guitar, and languid harmony vocals underpinned by an odd, cricket-ish organ part. I haven't found any compilations of El Rego's stuff, but the several tracks of his I've heard have convinced me he needs one, and soon.
(Source : Joe Tangari / pitchfork.com)
El Rego Et Ses Commandos - Dis-Moi Oui / Cherie Lucia
(7") L.A. Aux Ecoutes LA23, early 1970s, BENIN
Tracklisting :
A1. Dis-Moi Oui 2:59 | Download MP3
B1. Cherie Lucia 3:33
Released in Cotonou, Benin early 70s. Exact date unkown.
Recorded at EMI Studios in Lagos, Nigeria.
Side A killer afro funk, vocals in French; Side B bolero, vocals in Fon.
Links : nowagainrecords.com/el-rego
El Rego - Dis moi oui - Afro soul - Victor Kiswell Archives
Info :
Though Benin’s 60s and 70s recording scene certainly rivaled that of neighboring Ghana and Nigeria, the European compilers that helped make Nigeria’s Fela Kuti and Ghana’s K.Frimpong (relative) household names have only recently rediscovered the country’s musical heroes.
The earliest benefactors of this resurgence were the inspiring Orchestre Poly Rythmo de Cotonou, whose numerous LPs and 45s offer a funky oeuvre hard to match in West Africa. But the man that Samy Ben Redjeb, producer of the top-notch compilation African Scream Contest Raw & Psychedelic Afro Sounds From Benin & Togo 70s and Legends of Benin credits with kick starting Benin’s funk, or jerk, movement, and whom Poly Rythmo bandleader Melome Clement cites as a direct influence on his ensemble’s sound, has remained a footnote.
Perhaps this is because Theophile Do Rego, better known as El Rego, et Ses Commandos released their groundbreaking tunes on the easily disposed 7” format. With a series of songs now compiled on Analog Africa’s trawls through the Beninois 60s and 70s scenes, and a rumored Voodoofunk/Daptone compilation forthcoming, we can only hope that El Rego’s other killers soon see the light of day.
