KWELA! 78 ELIAS & HIS ZIG ZAG JIVE FLUTES -TOM HARK EX-

A VERY GOOD COPY OF THIS CLASSIC SOUTH AFRICAN KWELA 78 FROM THE FUTURE "BLACK MAMBAZO"

Alexandra township was a reservoir of music, especially pennywhistle jive. The biggest, most popular act from Alexandra was The Alex Shamba Boys, led by brothers Jack and Elias Lerole. This band, like many others, operated on the dusty streets of their neighbourhood. It was a tough 'hood - it still is. Then, marauding gangs terrorised everyone and harassed musicians in an attempt to control them. The band used to go around carrying tomahawks, the small axe made famous by American Indians. By then the brothers had met David Ramosa. Later, Zeph Nkabinde, singer Mahlatini's older brother, joined. They jammed together on Ninth Avenue and ventured into the mean streets of Johannesburg daily.

It was difficult to make a hit with Mashiyane Spokes around. He was the kingpin and everyone else had to be satisfied with the crumbs. But Mambazo weren't going to fold their hands and let Spokes ride all over them. Their major break came when they added guitar and vocal harmonies to their music. Up until then, kwela was just the one guitar accompanied by pennywhistles - one taking the lead.

Jack was the one who sang, becoming the first kwela "groaner". Unlike Mahlatini, Lerole was never a natural baritone, and his vocal chords took a beating - it wasn't just tobacco and alcohol that put the gravel in Big Jack's voice!

Audiences took to this new style of singing. It was the forerunner of mbaqanga, the sound which Mahlatini and The Mahotella Queens later took to the world.

With their new sound, EMI couldn't resist signing them up in 1956. Not uncommonly for the Fifties, the band recorded under many names, such as the Alexandra Shamba Boys - but the one that stuck was Black Mambazo. The name is based on the Zulu word for axe.

When they recorded the controversial Tom Hark - a play on the word tomahawk - they were called Elias and His Zig Zag Flutes. The tune was used as a signature for a popular British television show called The Killing Stones. Tom Hark was later released as a single selling thousands of copies (which made everyone rich except those who recorded it) becoming a best seller, staying in the UK charts for 14 weeks, and reaching No.2.  It was unexpected because this type of music was previously more or less unknown in the UK, although kwela or tin whistle jive was increasingly popular in South Africa at this time.  Tom Hark stands, even now, as one of the very few records of authentic vernacular music to penetrate so high into the UK charts

The popularity of Tom Hark did little for Mambazo, as their countrymen didn't get to hear it. But it did introduce this incredible sound to an international audience. Their record deal took the band off the street and into dance halls around the city, from the dusty streets of Alex to Orange Grove, Berea, Yeoville and the city proper. They'd been to all these places before - the difference being that this time they were invited inside.

TOM HARK WAS COVERED BY THE PIRANHAS IN 1980 WHEN IT GOT TO NUMBER 6 IN THE CHARTS

DISC DETAILS

ELIAS AND HIS ZIG ZAG JIVE FLUTES

UK COLUMBIA DB 4109

A Side:  TOM HARK

B Side:   RY RY  

CONDITION - EX-/VG+

 GREAT AFRICAN KWELA CLASSIC!

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