{"title":"Miriam Makeba","description":"\u003cp\u003eGrammy Award-winning South African singer, Miriam Makeba, also known as \"Mama Afrika\", was born on March 4th, 1932 in Johannesburg. She began her career singing with various groups before gaining recognition for her role in the musical King Kong in 1959. Makeba's talent caught the attention of Harry Belafonte, who invited her to America. Widely regarded as the first lady of South African traditional music, she became an international superstar in the USA and UK. Despite being exiled from her home country due to political unrest, Makeba eventually returned to South Africa once the situation improved.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"pata-pata","title":"Pata Pata","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eStrut presents an all-time classic of South African music, the definitive remastered edition of Miriam Makeba’s \u003ci\u003ePata Pata\u003c\/i\u003e, her first album recorded for Reprise in 1966. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe album marked a significant international breakthrough for Makeba. Moving to the US after the anti-apartheid film \u003ci\u003eCome Back, Africa \u003c\/i\u003egained international attention and staying there in exile, she quickly built her career in New York during the ‘60s, mentored by Harry Belafonte. Signing with Reprise after a period with RCA, she returned to one of her older songs: “I wrote ‘Pata Pata’ back in 1956, back in South Africa,” remembered Makeba in her autobiography. “It was a fun little song and I was thinking of a dance that we do at home (“pata” means ‘touch” in Zulu and Xhosa).” Originally a hit in South Africa with her early vocal harmony group the Skylarks, the new recording, produced by Jerry Ragovoy, brought a lighter uptempo R’nB arrangement, adding some English lyrics. “It was my first truly big seller. All of a sudden, people who never knew I had been in America since 1959 were asking me to be on their television shows and play at their concert halls during 1967. In the discotheques, they invented a new dance called the ‘Pata Pata’ where couples dance apart and then reach out and touch each other. I went to Argentina for a concert and, across South America, they are singing my song.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe track peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at no. 12 and the album. Other songs on the album included a version of the traditional Xhosa classic, \u003ci\u003eClick Song Number One\u003c\/i\u003e (‘Qongqothwane’), the atmospheric \u003ci\u003eWest Wind\u003c\/i\u003e, later famously covered by her friend Nina Simone, and a version of Tilahun Gessesse’s \u003ci\u003eYetentu Tizaleny\u003c\/i\u003e which Makeba learned on a trip to Addis to perform for Haile Selassie at the Organisation Of African Unity. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMastered by The Carvery from the original reel to reel tapes, \u003ci\u003ePata Pata\u003c\/i\u003e is released in its mono and stereo versions for the first time. Physical formats feature brand new sleeve notes alongside rare photos from the time of recording and session details. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Strut","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP | x2","offer_id":50386211995979,"sku":"1069083","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50386211569995,"sku":"1069081","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/248847a7-3e8f-413f-b8ee-acc8c810bb02_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726322492"},{"product_id":"the-roots-of-miriam-makeba-from-south-africa-to-new-york","title":"The Roots of Miriam Makeba from South Africa to New York","description":"\u003cp\u003eKnown widely as \"Mama Africa\", Johannesburg-born Miriam Makeba, of Xhosa and Swazi descent, was a controversial singer, songwriter, feminist and political activist, perhaps one of the most important black women of the 20th Century. A singer with a dynamic, wholly unique vocal range, she built a career in South Africa during the 1950s, largely as a member of an all-female vocal group, The Skylarks, and as a \"guest\" member of the all-male Manhattan Brothers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe met Harry Belafonte in 1959, who encouraged her to move to New York, where he mentored her career and produced her early albums.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDisc 1 of this 2-CD set features the pick of her 1950s recordings made in South Africa, between 1954-59, and includes her first international hit, 'Lovely Lies', recorded with The Manhattan Bros.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDisc 2 comprises her earliest New York recordings, the LPs \u003ci\u003eMiriam Makeba\u003c\/i\u003e (which featured 'The Click Song') and \u003ci\u003eThe Many Voices Of Miriam Makeba\u003c\/i\u003e, plus a couple of sides recorded with Belafonte at Carnegie Hall.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jasmine","offers":[{"title":"CD | x2","offer_id":50528104284491,"sku":"1133082","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/035c74c9-2281-4c80-9743-84745f023416_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1728060690"},{"product_id":"xica-da-silva","title":"Xica Da Silva","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwo classic cuts from Jorge Ben and Miriam Makeba take either side of this Mr Bongo Brazil 45 reissue.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Xica Da Silva' is one of Jorge Ben's \u003cstrong\u003emost well-known\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eand well-loved cuts\u003c\/strong\u003e, housed on the legendary Africa Brazil LP that deserves a place in every collection. A magical MPB cut, it instantly transports you to the shores of Rio de Janeiro. With a low-slung funky samba flavour, Ben's absorbing vocal recounts the legend of one of Brazil's oldest black icons.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn the flip side, Miriam Makeba serves up an entrancing, slowed-down, grooved-out version of 'Xica da Silva'. A highly influential singer, songwriter, and \u003cstrong\u003ecivil rights activist\u003c\/strong\u003e from South Africa, this low and slow interpretation is doused in strutting guitar, off-beat piano stabs and hypnotic drums providing the perfect platform to let Miriam's vocal shine through.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRemastered with refreshed artwork.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mr Bongo","offers":[{"title":"Black 7\"","offer_id":50532383752523,"sku":"2211431","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_c3acd3be_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1728120957"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_7c15653a_thumbnail_4096_11eeea97-80f9-4d71-a70b-35d1b4f2bddb.jpg?v=1776853808","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/miriam-makeba.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}