About Palm Wine Music

Palm wine music is a West African style of guitar music, mainly from the countries of Sierra Leone, Ghana and Nigeria. In its pure form, palm wine music is mostly acoustic music (although there was much electric guitar, especially later) played on a couple of guitars and accompanied by percussion and in Ghana by a big bass thumb piano called a pempensoa. Known in Sierra Leone as Maringa, palm wine music is in many ways akin to highlife (sort of like the front porch, rural form of highlife), and many palm wine musicians, including S.E. Rogie, ventured into highlife as well. Like much African guitar music, palm wine guitar is notable for the intertwining guitar lines, but it must be the most gentle form of African guitar music around, walking a thin line between music you can relax and listen to and music that makes you want to dance.

The name "palm wine music" of course comes from the music's association with the drink palm wine, which is made by tapping a palm tree and fermenting the sap. This produces a mellow, milky drink (2 percent alcohol) that gives you a relaxed kind of high. Palm wine historically was cheaper and easier to make at home that beer, and so it has been associated with a more rural and working class existence. The idea is that, at the local watering hole or at someone's house, palm wine the drink would be accompanied by palm wine the music, frequently with songs made up to honor the person who was footing the bill for the booze. Perhaps an American equivalent for this kind of association between music and social event would be the honkytonk, where the music and bars were so closely allied that they ended up with the same name.

And now, a bit of history:

Sierra Leone started its modern life in the late 1700s as a place the British colonized with the hope of resettling freed slaves from the New World, hence the name of the capital Freetown. It didn't always work out as such a peaceful utopia (and to this day the country is embroiled in violence), but Freetown did attract a huge variety of Africans from all over, and the new melting pot culture became known as Krio. The guitar was introduced to West Africa and Sierra Leone by Portuguese sailors, and the locals took to it like fire on wood. Another import that came with the guitar was Trinidadian calypso, a style which had a profound effect on local music, and which is still identifiable in palm wine music. Because of the British influence, the English language was also widespread in Sierra Leone, and much palm wine music from there is both in English and Krio, which at times borrows heavily from English.

Palm wine music has had a few important musicians that rose from the local nature of the style to record and become known across the region and in some cases internationally. E.K. Mensah was one of these, from Ghana, and from Sierra Leone, the big star was S.E. Rogie, whose early 60s hit "My Lovely Elizabeth" was a smash throughout West Africa and even made its way to England.

S.E. Rogie

Sooliman Ernest Rogie is without a doubt the king of palm wine music. His discs The 60s Sound of S.E. Rogie and Dead Men Don't Smoke Marijuana are the cornerstones of understanding the palm wine style. His smooth baritone and easy-going music made him very popular throughout the sixties. At that time he utilized a band that mostly consisted of his own guitar playing and two or three friends on claves, box percussion and bottle percussion. Another of his early hits was "Please Go Easy With Me" (1960), and "Do Me Justice" (1961) was his first recording with an electric bass. Most of his early records were recorded at his home with very primitive means, and as a result the sound is pretty scratchy by today's standards, but the music is so magical it trancends the sound deficiencies.

In 1973, Rogie moved to the U.S., ending up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he capitalized on the fading hippie scene as well as the emerging multi-cultural trends. He recorded several albums while he lived in the states, including African Highlife and African Lady. (While these records are still blessed with Rogie's talents, they suffer a little bit from stiff backup bands and backup vocals that sound too much like American soul music. You can find these on vinyl, but they haven't made it to CD). While in the US, Rogie was very involved in education through his African Folk and Culture Show, and in 1984, he received a congressional award for his involvement in educating the young people about African culture.

In 1988, Rogie moved to London, where he made an enormous impact, and enjoyed a cult celebrity status. In 1993, he recorded his swan song masterpiece for Peter Gabriel's Real World Records, Dead Men Don't Smoke Marijuana. The album again brought widespread recognition to the "Golden Voice of Sierra Leone", making it all the more sad when he passed away shortly after it was released in 1994, at the age of 68.

Other Palm Wine Recordings to Listen to:

There's not a lot, so grab it when you see it.

Abdul Tee Jay - Palm Wine A Go Go. A transplant from Sierra Leone to London, TJ had a band called Rokoto that was kind of a pan-African dance band. This disc represents his return to the music of his youth. It's incredible

Koo Nimo - Osabarima (Shanachie). Koo Nimo is a Ghanaian professor who started out wanting to be classical guitarist and then became obsessed with preserving Ghana's indigenous culture.

Kwabena Nyama - Sunday Monday (Musique du Monde) Another Ghanaian, Nyama equates his music with the blues and its tales of hardship. But the music is buoyant and folksy, full of that special palm wine magic.

E.K. Mensah, Koo Nimo, TO Jazz - Vintage Palm Wine Music (?) Recorded by John Collins in the 80s, this is again Ghana palm wine music. The sound quality is quite good, and it's the only place you'll find Mensah or TO Jazz.

Some other people to look out for, if you want good African guitar playing:

The world of African guitar is immense, but these are a few of the people we think are worth checking out.

Docteur Nico - Nico Kasanda was one of the most important guitarists in the Congolese style known as soukous or Congo Rhumba. He started out in the 50s playing with the Grand Kalle and then moved on to form his own group African Fiesta Sukisa. Very old style, incredibly tasteful.

Franco - Probably the most famous Congolese guitarist of the 50s and 60s, with many people ranking him first over Nico. Franco is great, but stick to earlier albums. If it comes from the eighties or even the late seventies, just walk on by.

Diblo Dibala - Diblo established the style that many of us think of as soukous, taking the old rhumba of Nico and Franco and jumping straight to the sebene, or fast part. His fleet, chiming guitar runs were much imitated, but he stands out because, especially in the 80s and early 90s, he infused his fast runs with a certain melancholy soul. Look for early Kanda Bongo Man albums with Diblo (Amour Fou, Non Stop Non Stop, Kwassa Kwassa ) or Loketo's Soukous Trouble.

D'Gary - D'Gary is a wizard from Madagascar who didn't even own his own guitar when he was discovered by Henry Kaiser and David Lindley in the early nineties. While a lot of Malagasy music can be pretty soft, D'Gary (especially with his band Jihe and his trio) maintains an aggressive edge. And when we saw him in Berkeley a few years ago, it seemed like he was playing in standard tuning but we had no idea how he did it. So there.

Jonah Sithole - The pioneering guitarist who, along with Thomas Mapfumo, brought the spirit-infused sound of the mbira to the guitar. Jonah's classic recordings with Mapfumo can be heard on the Mapfumo Singles disc, and he has one anthology of his own band, post-Mapfumo, which is captivating.

Eric Agyeman - As a member of Sweet Talks, Agyeman was a crucial highlife guitarist, and his disc on Stern's Highlife Safari is a gem of tasteful highlife.