The Best of the Early Years

Performer: Miriam Makeba
Distributor: Caroline Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Miriam Makeba (vocals); Mary Rabotapi, Sam Vandi Leballo, Nomunde Sihawu, Mummy Girl Nketle, Sam Ngakane (vocals); Dan Hill, Kippie Moeketsi (clarinet). Recording information: South Africa (1954-1956). Unknown Contributor Roles: Nonhlanhla Radebe; Helen Van Rensburg. Arrangers: Abigail Kubeka; Miriam Makeba. An album of works from the earlier years of Miriam Makeba's long career. Featured are the years with the Skylarks and the Manhattan Brothers, as well as a few bits from her time in Guinea (after being exiled from South Africa). The presentation is anything but chronological, jumping from the Guinea Quintet to the Skylarks to the later run with the Manhattan Brothers and back again. The vocal work is always worth hearing, with the four- to five-part harmonies of the Skylarks showing an ever changing sound as the members changed from year to year (or sooner). There is a distinct showcasing of American jazz motifs in the instrumental arrangements throughout the pieces with the Manhattan Brothers, both from the earlier stint, and from her time in the play King Kong (about the South African boxer, not the giant gorilla). In combination with the labelmate Definitive Collection album, this album provides an outstanding, if not orderly, overview of the long and varied career of the songstress. Everything from her debut with the Manhattan Brothers, "Laku Tshone 'Ilanga," to her biggest international hit, "Pata Pata," is represented here, and her solo work is continued in the complementary album. For the newcomer, the combination is suggested. For those already acquainted with Makeba's work, this album would likely make a worthwhile addition to the collection as the representative of all of the numerous albums made behind the curtain of apartheid and only heard in bits and pieces in the West. ~ Adam Greenberg

Well-known for her political views and fearless outspokenness against apartheid, as well as a high-profile marriage to Black Panther Stokeley Carmichael in the 1960s, Miriam Makeba has been both punished and praised for her passions. But her shining accomplishments have been more musical than political. Makeba was the first South African musician to achieve worldwide popularity. She spent much of her long career singing of the power and struggle of humanity, in a voice that can express a huge range of emotions with intensity and sincerity. She even scored a top 40 hit in 1967 with the choral "Pata Pata."

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