THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,233) Africa — “Paint It Black”
A “mind-blowing, conga-driven” (liner notes to the CD reissue of Music from “Lil Brown”) “inspired” and “slinky Latin-tinged psychedelic soul cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black” (Richard Metzger, https://dangerousminds.net/comments/we_all_know_music_from_big_pink_by_the_band._what_about_music_from_lil_brow) that “significantly expand[s] upon the psychedelic elements of the original[] . . . prov[ing] surprisingly ripe for lysergic interpretation”. (Jason Ankeny, https://www.allmusic.com/album/music-from-lil-brown-mw0000939664)
Max writes:
There’s some very soulful psychedelia–or is it psychedelic soul–on this slab of vinyl. From the opening of the 1st song (Paint It Back) this is clearly a keeper–the song starts with some Latin percussion (nice set of congas) & a few well placed guitar chords. Then it adds a soulful electric guitar to carry the melody, a bass break, some weird laughing & what sound like a guy popping his mouth with his finger. There are a few vocal snippets (some seem to be in Spanish but I can’t really tell since they’re not all that clear). Later you do get some other vocals that are clearly distinguishable in the mix: some of the nah-nah-nah chorus, a “paint it black” chant, someone singing about being “out of my mind,” a bit of the rest of the chorus (“I see a red door…”) . . . . Really though it’s the instruments that carry the song–all very laid back and hip and both soulful and trippy. The rest of the record doesn’t disappoint although Paint it Black remains my favorite track.
https://playitagainmax.blogspot.com/2006/07/africa-music-from-lil-brown-1968.html
Richard Metzger remembers hearing Africa’s “Paint It Black” for the first time:
As it went on, and on—it’s 7:35—I fell deeper and deeper under its jammy hypnotic conga drum-led spell. Not to imply any sort of improvisational looseness to the proceedings. The musicians were clearly professionals, the music was well-rehearsed and it was entirely planned out, not spontaneous in any true sense. It wasn’t like some hacky sack hippie jam band covering the Stones, but it wasn’t entirely obvious what it was. Or what vintage it was either.
As to “this soulful, funky, psych-tinged stew” (liner notes to the CD reissue of Music from “Lil Brown”) of an LP, Jason Ankeny says:
Although performed by former members of the Los Angeles doo wop group the Valiants, produced by Lou Adler and titled in response to the Band’s classic Music from Big Pink, Africa’s Music from “Lil Brown” defies its pedigree by delivering Latin-tinged psychedelic soul covers of some of the era’s biggest pop hits. Credit all involved with pushing and pulling these familiar songs to their breaking points. . . . Equally noteworthy is the relentless conga drumming that galvanizes virtually every cut — excellent, imaginative stuff.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/music-from-lil-brown-mw0000939664
John contemplates the band and the album:
[T]he members of Africa didn’t have a big pink house to record in, just a lil brown shed in someone’s backyard in a locale that is quite clearly in Southern California. . . . This album is classic late 60s southern Cali psychedelic garage soul/rock with the expected Latin rock influences . . . . [T]heae guys had been around since the 50s as a doo-wop group and then somewhere along the way added psychedelic guitar, tons of African and Latin percussion, a monster reverb unit and other groovy 60s type trappings. The music on here is classic south-central LA melting pot music with bits of soul, Latin rock and California psychedelia . . . . Despite this album’s Latin/African leanings, the raw garage-ish nature of this album gives it something in common with early Pink Floyd, The Velvet Underground, the first two Funkadelic albums or countless other psychedelic garage bands all around the world at that time. Of course the arrangements are loose and exact tuning is not a priority, but all of this just adds to this album’s charm. Often Africa will use simple repeating riffs with free ensemble improvisations making them the Los Angeles answer to the 60s German experimental bands known as “krautrock”. . . . [T]hey don’t play these [covers] as much as use their melodic material for repeating chants and loose improvisations . . . .
https://www.jazzmusicarchives.com/album/africa/music-from-lil-brown
Marv Goldberg gives a detailed history of the group in its various incarnations, starting in the 50’s and leading up to:
[I]n late 1968, they all became the soul group Africa, recording for Lou Adler’s Ode label (a subsidiary of Columbia). . . . They recorded eight sides for Ode, which were released on an album. “We used to rehearse at Gary Pipkin’s house and he had this little brown shack, a playhouse in the back yard, for his kids.” So, probably as a tribute to The Band’s recent album, Music From Big Pink, they decided to name the album Music From ‘Lil Brown’. . . . Lou Adler got a mobile recording studio . . . . A large mural of Africa’s photo was painted on the outside of the Whiskey à Go Go on the Sunset Strip in order to promote the album; it remained there for several months. Five years later, Africa recorded ten more tracks for MGM, but all remain unreleased.
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