Steel Guitar with King Sunny Ade

Mitch Druckman · Post by **Mitch Druckman** » 16 Jul 2007 7:25 am

Demola Adepoju was the steel guitarist with Juju master King Sunny Ade of Nigeria. His non-pedal sound added a unique quality to the sound of African dance music. He later moved to pedal steel and played on Paul Simon's Graceland.

Does anyone have any info on the non-pedal tunings he used on the King Sunny recordings? There seems to be very little information on this innovative player.

Billy Wilson · Post by **Billy Wilson** » 16 Jul 2007 8:37 am

I was playing a gig downstairs from those guys once. I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I walked up and saw the 20 white robed angels on stage. The guy was playing pedal on this gig. I remeber thinking that his contribution to the over all sound of the music was ideal. Very major-y. perfect for E9th?

Post by **Brad Bechtel** » 16 Jul 2007 8:42 am

I've never heard any recordings by Mr. Adepoju featuring non-pedal steel guitar. Previous discussions on this same topic have indicated that he plays pedal steel exclusively.

If you find anything to the contrary, please let us all know.

Mitch Druckman · Post by **Mitch Druckman** » 16 Jul 2007 3:55 pm

I was under the impression that the slide guitar was non-pedal with King Sunny. When I saw them in the early 80's I don't recall any pedals on his console steel, but I was so blown away by the whole band that maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention. Demola Adepoju's sound is so unlike pedal steel as I know it that maybe I was assuming it to be non-pedal. His playing style and sound had such a lap steel quality to it on those first US releases with King Sunny. Can anyone shed some more light on this? When did Demola move from non-pedal to pedal steel?

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 16 Jul 2007 4:03 pm

Mike Perlowin likely knows the most here about this (or such is my impression).

Fred Eddie-Quartey · Post by **Fred Eddie-Quartey** » 19 Jul 2007 11:21 am

Demola Adepoju has played both lap steel and pedal steel. I have King Sunny Ade LPs from 1977 to 1978 or 1979 featuring Demola on lap steel. I don't know how he tuned his lap steel.

The first LP with Demola as a member of King Sunny's African Beats band is entitled "Synchro Chapter 1" and it was recorded in London, 1977.

Other KSA LPs with lap steel include:
"African Beats in London (1977)"
"Sound Vibration (1978)"
"Chapter 3 (1978)"
"Private Line (1979)"
"The Golden Mercury of Africa (1979)"

These albums are all out of print and were issued on KSA's Sunny Alade Records label. Occaasionally, these albums pop on eBay.

By 1979, Demola had switched to pedal steel and used it exclusively. There are a few posts by Mike Perlowin with more info on this. In an interview, King Sunny also confirmed that he and Demola purchased pedal steels during a 1979 visit to the UK.

I've seen Demola play Emmons D10 and S12 pedal steels, a Dekley S12, and a Sho-Bud LDG. I am not sure of the model of lap steel he started with but I beleive it was a Waikiki.

One Juju steel player who did play non-pedal steel was Lai Yinusa Dauda, with Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey's Inter-Reformers Band. He had a very unique style and setup. Yinusa played a Sierra D-10 pedal steel without the pedals connected. I don't believe he used the knee-levers, either. The E9 neck of his guitar was unstrung, leaving just the c6 neck. He would also use a lot of hammer-ons with the bar in the middle of the neck. His tone often had a sitar-like quality.

Hope this helps,

Fred.

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 19 Jul 2007 11:26 am

Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey's Inter-Reformers Band

That just rolls off the tongue, don't it?

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 19 Jul 2007 7:51 pm

One of the steel guitar publications interviewed Demola Adepoju several years ago. He said that when he got his first pedal steel (an Emmons, I believe), he had no idea how it was supposed to be tuned. He came up with his own tuning and pedal changes. Adepoju played on a lot of hit records and influenced a lot of musicians on the African continent. Maybe he should be in the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame?

Fred Eddie-Quartey · Post by **Fred Eddie-Quartey** » 20 Jul 2007 10:27 am

He has my vote for the SGF. BTW, Doug, would you happen to know in which steel guitar magazine he was interviewed?

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 20 Jul 2007 10:51 am

Fred, it was probably Steel Guitar World Magazine or Guitar Player Magazine. Sorry I can't be more specific. I do remember reading an article about Adepoju back in the 1990's in one of the music mags.