Letta Mbulu (born September 24, 1943) – Mahlalela (Lazy Bones) (1970)
The phenomenally funky opening cut to the South African singer/songwriter's third U.S. album featured the Crusaders and was co-produced by Hugh Masekela.
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The legendary South African singer/songwriter Letta Mbulu’s career spans seven decades, from the 1950s when she was a teenager up to the present day. In 1977 she provided lead vocals on several songs for the original soundtrack to Roots, produced by Quincy Jones.
Born in Umzinto, KwaZulu-Natal and raised in Orlando East, Soweto, she was taught to sing by her mother. By age 12, Mbulu was winning talent contests and performing with the Swanky Spots, a vocal sextet. They won first prize at a talent contest in 1957 organized by Union Artists, which resulted in them being asked to join a touring concert revue. This in turn led to roles in the jazz opera King Kong (based on the life of heavyweight boxer Ezekiel “King Kong” Dlamini), where Mbulu became Miriam Makeba's understudy at age 17. She later replaced her in the vocal group the Skylarks when Makeba left the country for the United States in 1959.
Five years later in 1964, Mbulu and her husband, songwriter/producer Caiphus Semenya followed Makeba and also left for exile in America. They would not permanently return to South Africa until the fall of apartheid in the early 1990s.
Once in the U.S., Mbulu’s first two albums were her debut LP Letta Mbulu Sings (1967) and Free Soul (1968), both released on Capitol Records. Her third album Letta was issued in 1970 on Chisa Records, a label co-founded by the multi-talented producer/composer and trumpeter Hugh Masekela and Stewart Levine in 1964 (the word “chisa” means “burn” in Zulu).
Letta was co-produced by Masekela and Levine, and featured the Crusaders as her backing band (Wilton Felder on bass and saxophone, “Stix” Hooper on drums, Arthur Adams on guitar, Joe Sample on keyboards, and Wayne Henderson (September 24, 1939 – April 5, 2014) on trombone and drums, who coincidentally shares a birthday with Mbulu.) Guitarist Wayne West and conga player Francisco Aguabella were also featured on the album.
Its phenomenally funky opening cut “Mahlalela (Lazy Bones)” was written by Mbulu’s husband. Semenya also wrote the hypnotic jam “Melodi (Sounds Of Home),” in which Mbulu sang about missing home, and the powerful message song “Jigijela (Don't Throw Stones).” It told the story of Black township youths fighting back against the armed apartheid police forces by throwing stones because they were ready to fight for their freedom with whatever tools they had.
After putting out her next album Naturally on Fantasy Records in 1973, Mbulu switched labels to A&M. Beginning with There’s Music In The Air (1976), she recorded two LP’s for them in the mid-70s. The second album was again titled Letta and released in 1978.
It was co-produced by Semenya, Stewert Levine, and A&M co-owner Herb Alpert. Letta featured a huge ensemble of horn players and percussionists, including Paulinho da Costa, with strings by McKinley Jackson. The album’s masterpiece was “Buza (There's A Light At The End Of A Tunnel),” which Mbulu co-wrote with the legendary Motown producer/songwriter Lamont Dozier. She sang this particular cut in Xhosa, and it used a Mbaqanga rhythm.
Other standout tracks with a African disco-jazz-funk flavor included “Baile Baneso,” written solely by Semenya, and the superb jam “I Can Depend On You,” which he co-wrote with Mbulu and Arthur Adams and contributed vocals to.
Letta imparted some deep wisdom for us all on the LP’s inner sleeve:
“I feel that the spirit of the music I make is universal, like the soul of man. It transcends all psychological, cultural and racial barriers. Love, Peace, and Progress.”
Happy 80th Birthday to the living legend Letta Mbulu.
Further info:
“Letta Mbulu’s In the Music...: How apartheid, exile and America helped shape a classic LP,” by Jered Stuffco, Red Bull Music Academy Daily, June 11, 2015.
“Africa Endless: Letta Mbulu Interviewed,” by Clyde Macfarlane, The Quietus, July 2, 2015.
“South African music legend Letta Mbulu celebrates 75th birthday in style,” by Siyabonga Sithole, Now in SA, September 28, 2018.
#soul #funk #SouthAfrica #LettaMbulu