Monday, November 10, 2008

Miriam Makeba, R. I. P.

Miriam Makeba, Singer, Dies at 76 - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com: "LONDON — Miriam Makeba, a South African singer whose voice stirred hopes of freedom among millions in her own country though her music was formally banned by the apartheid authorities she struggled against, died overnight after performing at a concert in Italy on Sunday. She was 76."

2 comments:

Todd Mason said...

A critically important talent...PATA PATA the album is as diverse as any Weaver's album (one of the best songs on it is Israeli), and yet she was treated with casual contempt by her label Reprise (read the liner notes) and by the dunces who put together the boxing documentary WHEN WE WERE KINGS, where they devoted about 15 minutes to James Brown sweating backstage and the only representation Makeba gets is a repeated few-second clip of her doing a click song which is used to indicate how Evil beset the concert/boxing match the film documents.

Thanks for putting up the note and song, Bill.

Unknown said...

I was a little surprised that I remembered her so well from performances on TV and the one album I have. She never got the credit she deserved, at least not in the U.S.