Jingo
The Originator: Babatunde Olatunji
Carlos Santana, wailing at Woodstock
Candido Camero on the congas…
Listen/Download – Michael Olatunji – Gin-Go-Lo-Ba
Listen/Download – Santana – Jin-Go-Lo-Bah (Jingo)
Listen/Download – Candido – Jingo
Greetings all.
I have something very special indeed for your ears this fine day.
Early last year I ran a series of posts under the ‘Disco/Not Disco’ banner celebrating the sounds played by pioneering DJ David Mancuso at his legendary Loft parties in NYC in the early 70s.
Mancuso had become something of an idol/guiding force for me, in so far as I have tried to emulate his DJing ethos as it were during my own sets.
He was a trailblazing record wrangler because he always kept one specific thing in mind, that being the dance and played anything that kept things moving. His Loft sets were filled with unusual sounds, including in his sets music from the worlds of rock, soul, funk, world music and anywhere else he could find the groove.
The Loft predated and strongly influenced the ‘disco’ scene and Mancuso’s eclecticism was carried out into the clubs by the other DJs that attended and had their minds blown at his parties.
One of the records that was a cornerstone of his sets, and has on its own a very interesting history, was a cut by the name of ‘Gin-Go-Lo-Ba’ by Michael ‘Babatunde’ Olatunji.
Olatunji was a Nigerian drummer and educator who emigrated to the United States as a student to attend Morehouse College.
He eventually moved to New York City to attend NYU where he put together his own percussion group and drew the attention of two especially influential figures, the mighty John Coltrane and record impresario John Hammond.
Olatunji recorded the LP ‘Drums of Passion’ in 1960, which included the track ‘Gin-Go-Lo-Bah’*, as well as the less influential (but also important) ‘Akiwawa’.
I first heard of Olatunji back in 1990 when I read Mickey Hart’s remarkable book ‘Drumming at the Edge of Magic: A Journey into the Spirit of Percussion’** which led me to Olatunji’s 1988 recording ‘Drums of Passion: The Invocation’. It was many years later when I first read about David Mancuso that I made the Loft connection.
Mancuso would make the Olatunji version of the song a cornerstone of his Loft sets for obvious reasons. It has a driving rhythmic force and the accompanying chanting that would no doubt grab and shake any mass of dancers, and would also mix well with any number of more ‘conventional’ dance records.
It was at the end of the 1960s that Carlos Santana and his band would adapt and record the tune under the title ‘Jingo’ (which is the version that most people have heard). I’m including that version (the 45 edit at least) here for reference, and because it kicks all kinds of ass. Interestingly, the Santana 45 uses an approximation of the Olatunji title, though the album (and subsequent 45 releases) truncates it to ‘Jingo’. It’s amazing to listen to how a pack of electrified (in all senses), racially integrated hippies get deep inside the rhythm and blow it up.
A full decade after the Santana recording, the song would be resurrected yet again by another fixture of Mancuso’s Loft sets, Cuban conguero Candido (born Candido Camero), also under the title ‘Jingo’.
Candido’s version of the song takes the African percussion and chant of the original and recasts it inside an electric/disco setting and despite the fact that the edges may have been smoothed a little, the cut loses none of its propulsive power. Even after almost two decades, the song was still dance floor gold.
The mix here is the 45 edit, which clocks in at only 3:17. I wish I had a copy of the 12”, which goes for almost six more minutes.
‘Jingo’ was later redone for the dancefloors yet again in 1987 by Jellybean.
Babatunde Olatunji passed away in 2003 after a lifetime of teaching, social activism, and above all, drumming.
I hope you dig the tune (and maybe dance a little) , and the drums and I’ll be back on Friday.
Peace
Larry
*Oddly, the catalog number of the Olatunji 45 suggests that it was released sometime in 1967, long after the LP released but before the Santana cover
** If you have any interest at all in the power of drums and rhythm and the way they can propel human consciousness through the dance ritual I recommend Hart’s book highly.
Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.
If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.
Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press
African, Cover Songs, Disco/Not Disco, Funk, Funk 45, Funk Rock, Funky16Corners, Latin, Latin Soul, Original Versions, Soul, Soul 45, The Loft
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David Mancuso, Funk, Funky16Corners, Latin Soul, Soul
Themocracy
Great post – Olatunji was a great force in drumming and education.
FYI – Smithsonian Folkways is re-issuing two of his albums produced by Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead on Oct. 11th (along with 23 other albums that make up The Mickey Hart Collection)
https://www.folkways.si.edu/about_us/news_press.aspx#07.19.11_MickeyHart
Thanks for the info. I’ll look out for those.
thanx so much for all the artist i discovered thanx to yr blog—-this a real ” feel good ” blog—ciao Rude hi-fi /barriobeat
Love this tune. Thanks for the genealogy of this track’s influence. I didn’t know the santana or Mancuso connections.
For a full length Candido version, try the recent compilation ‘Mixology: The Definitive Salsoul Mixes’ – see reveiw at:
https://www.flyglobalmusic.com/2011/va-%E2%80%93-mixology-the-definitive-salsoul-mixes/
as a tenderfoot collector I discovered a thrift shop with dozens of white-label Columbia 45’s, many Olatunji’s. One was “Lady Kennedy” about the current (at the time) first lady. Sadly this great one wasn’t in the stack.