Pedal Steel in Nigerian Juju music

Nicholas Dedring · Post by **Nicholas Dedring** » 17 Nov 2003 10:13 am

So, I'm supposed to get together with some people who are putting together a band to play African music, with a lot of early King Sunny Ade influence to the sound.

FYI, there was a pedal steel player on the original recordings, I was just wondering whether any of you folks have done stuff on this order, and what thoughts you might have on prepping for it (other than woodshedding with the cd's, which I'm doing...)

Is this a pretty standard tuning being played? What sorts of figures are useful? How are the tunes typically structured? Any answers would be very useful.

Thanks!

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 17 Nov 2003 11:09 am

Between us, Mike Perlowin and I know everything. That's one of the things that Mike knows...

Paul Warnik · Post by **Paul Warnik** » 17 Nov 2003 12:10 pm

The Steel player's name was something like DEMOLA ANDOPOJU

Jambo rafikki nippe majji mon

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 17 Nov 2003 12:11 pm

Hey Nick--you didn't mention this last nite. Too cool! If you had mentioned it, I would have told you to talk to Perlowin.

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 17 Nov 2003 12:46 pm

That's another thing about Perlowin, his outlook on the pedal steel is non-traditional, fer sure.

I recall Demola basically came under Mike's protection/guidance when he first came to the USA. Demola accompanied Mike to an ISGC one year as I recalled. Demola was quite naive about American culture, cost of living, etc. as I remember.

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

Brendan Dunn · Post by **Brendan Dunn** » 18 Nov 2003 2:40 am

I would love to learn more about Demola Adepoju and also about the fellow who played steel in Ebenezer Obey's Juju band. Those were some of my inspirations to start (I just started) on PSG.
I recall reading an interview with Sunny Ade were he mentioned how much he admired Charlie Rich and Kenny Rogers, and how American Country music in general was a big influence on his sound.

A Nigerian friend once described to me a guy who often performed solo seated at a steel guitar with a wah wah pedal, back in the mid 70's , dressed up like Jimi Hendrix.... he went by the name "Jerry Boyfriend" (because so many chicks swooned over him!)I've yet to find any recordings or pictures so far. [This message was edited by Brendan Dunn on 18 November 2003 at 03:11 AM.]

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 18 Nov 2003 6:50 am

I've heard some of the juju music with steel. The pedal work (sounded like E9) seemed pretty minimal and it's played a lot like a lap steel. You seem to be doing the right thing. Just get some juju CDs and play along. Also any like music from other African pop music to calypso might be good to play along with for ideas. The chords are basic majors, and there is not as much pentatonic and minor stuff as in African-American music. It's all in the rhythm and energy. Sounds like fun.

Many African-Americans around here are familiar with African music and know about juju and steel guitar. When they find out I play steel, that is sometimes their reference point rather than country music. If you really want to hear some great African/Caribbean stuff, get a hold of something by a '70s group called Osibisa. They played a mixture of rock, Caribbean, African, jazz - much heavier stuff than most juju - and one of my favorite groups of all time.

By the way, the 3rd band I play with, The Blues Messengers, finally kicked into gear and got a gig. Wednesday night I'll be playing straight blues all night on my uni and tenor sax at Ludwigs, a German restaurant in Center City Philly. Like, achtung, man. I am loving playing all kinds of music on my uni.

[This message was edited by David Doggett on 18 November 2003 at 09:51 AM.]