I thought I had all of Ebenezer Obey's great LPs from the '80s, until I came across this gem in Dusty Groove in Chicago a few months ago.
It turns out that, while Gbeja Mi Eledumare (Afrodisia DWAPS 2252) was released in 1985, it was recorded in 1979. The reason I missed it before is that it was released on Afrodisia instead of the Chief Commander's own Obey label. Some time in the '70s, Obey's label, Decca West Africa, was "indigenized" and transformed into Afrodisia Records, most of its reference numbers retaining the old WAPS or DWAPS prefixes. Around the same time Obey, having obtained the rights to his archive recordings, began releasing them on the Obey imprint, again with the WAPS prefix. Newer recordings had reference numbers beginning with OPS.
So what I think happened was that Gbeja Mi Eledumare was recorded, never released and Afrodisia somehow retained the rights to it, only to release it a few years later. An excellent recording it is!
Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey & his Inter-Reformers Band - Gbeja Mi Eledumare / Olorun Oba Tiwa Dowo Re / Aiye Ju Daniel Si Iho Kinniun / Rere A Pe Ika a Pe
Download Gbeja Mi Eledumare as a zipped file here.
5 comments:
Please you are doing amazing, I love you to kindly mail me geraldokereafor@gmail.com
I love the album, seems that a similar scenario happened to the release of Obey's My Vision in 1985 (it kinda sound alike with this album). I have never heard or listened to this album until now. The guitars and drums in the side B are phenomenal same as side A. Interesting that you dug up this rare stuff. Thank you!
Awwwh Mr John I really miss you so much sir, welcome back sir ❤️
Obey was an Icon, i also knew about him. When song was song, not these days.
Super Nigerian Lifestyle Blog
Thanks for sharing ❤️
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