Kalpana Kalpana (Editor)

Matumbi (band)

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Genres
  
Labels
  
TrojanHarvestEMI

Active until
  
1982

Members
  
Years active
  
1971–1982

Associated acts
  
Genre
  
Reggae


Past members
  
Tex DixonEuton JonesDennis BovellErrol PottingerEaton "Jah" BlakeBevin FaganNicholas BaileyWebster "Webby J" JohnsonGlaister FaganLloyd "Jah Bunny" Donaldson

Origin
  
London, United Kingdom (1971)

Albums
  
Seven Seals, Empire Road, Malfunction, Music in the Air, Point of View, Black Civilazation

Similar
  
Aswad, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Janet Kay, Black Slate, Louisa Mark

Matumbi were one of the top British reggae bands of the 1970s and early 1980s, and are best known as the first successful band of guitarist and record producer Dennis Bovell.

Contents

History

Matumbi (band) httpsiytimgcomviaB5C3TvneTIhqdefaultjpg

Matumbi formed in 1971 in South London, with a line-up of Ted Dixon (vocals), Euton Jones (drums), Dennis Bovell (guitar), Errol Pottinger (guitar), Eaton "Jah" Blake (bass guitar) Bevin Fagan (vocals), and Nicholas Bailey (vocals, later better known as Nick Straker). In the early 1970s they acted as a backing band to touring Jamaican musicians. In 1973, they opened for The Wailers at the Ethiopian famine relief concert in Edmonton, where much to their embarrassment they went down better than the headliners, Bovell later saying: "The press thought we were much better, and we felt terrible because they were our heroes." Matumbi signed to Trojan Records, and had a major breakthrough in 1976, when their version of Bob Dylan's "Man in Me" became the biggest-selling UK reggae single that year.

Matumbi (band) Matumbi band Wikipedia

Success brought problems for the band, with their record label unhappy about some band members' other musical activities, and Bailey and Dixon left, to be replaced by Webster Johnson (keyboards). Pottinger and Jones also left the band, with Glaister Fagan and Lloyd "Jah Bunny" Donaldson joining. The new line-up signed a deal with Harvest Records, and toured with Ian Dury & the Blockheads. Matumbi recorded two sessions for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show in 1978. In the same year, they also recorded the theme song for the television series, Empire Road.

Matumbi (band) Bursalblaader Music amp Mick Dorey photos

The group's debut album, Seven Seals, was issued in 1978, but their second album, Point of View, was a greater success, with the title track giving the band a top 40 hit in 1979. Further albums followed between 1980 and 1982, but these did not match their earlier success. Their last album, Testify, was recorded in Jamaica co-produced by Bevin Fagan and drummer Euton Jones. The band split up, with members moving on to various other projects; Bovell released solo material and became renowned as a producer, Donaldson joined The Cimarons, and Fagan and Blake recorded as The Squad. Fagan died of a heart attack in 2008 aged 54.

Albums

Matumbi (band) Matumbi Biography amp History AllMusic

  • Seven Seals (1978), Harvest SHSP 4090
  • Point of View (1979), EMI
  • Dub Planet Orbit 1 (1980), Extinguish
  • Matumbi (1981), EMI
  • Testify (1982), Solid Groove
  • Compilations
    Matumbi (band) Bagga Matumbi Discography at Discogs

  • The Best of Matumbi (1977), Trojan
  • Empire Road - the best of Matumbi (2001), EMI
  • Music in the Air (2005), Trojan
  • Singles

  • "Brother Louie" (1973), Trojan
  • "Wipe Them Out" (1973), Trojan
  • "After Tonight" (1976), Trojan
  • "Man In Me" (1977), Trojan
  • "Rock" (June 1978), Harvest HAR 5162
  • "Empire Road" (September 1978), Harvest HAR 5169
  • "Bluebeat & Ska" (March 1979), Harvest HAR 5174
  • "Point of View (Squeeze a Little Lovin')" (August 1979), Harvest - UK #35
  • "Alive & Kicking" (1983)
  • Songs

    Man in Me1995
    Point of ViewPoint of View · 1979
    Bluebeat & SkaSeven Seals · 1993

    References

    Matumbi (band) Wikipedia