Geraldo Pino ‎– Boogie Fever

When Geraldo Pino rolled into town from Sierra Leone with his Heartbeats, Nigeria had never seen anything quite like them. Slick, tight and playing the latest James Brown-style funk on the very expensive equipment, they soon had the country in their thrall. ‘Made me fall right on my ass!’ a chastened Fela Kuti remembered in 1982. Fans of Geraldo’s disarmingly eloquent enunciation on early albums - re-issued soon by PMG - may shocked the gruff, rawer tones on Boogie Fever. The album starts with a jaunty reggae track extolling the virtues of ganja and, later, ‘Dance Fever’ sounds like it was recorded down in Trenchtown after Geraldo had taken a toke or two of his own advice. Even the more traditional funk tracks like ‘African Hustle’ have a darker, more threatening vibe. Not that that is a bad thing. Boogie Fever is the sound of consummate musician letting his hair down. Or in Geraldo’s case, letting it grow into a tight afro and not bothering to watch his Ps and Qs anymore. - Peter Moore,

"Geraldo Pino came to Nigeria from Freetown in Sierra Leone in 1968 with his band THE HEARTBEATS and quickly changed the music scene completely. He was the first bandleader that brought sophistication into show business. He owned the best musical equipments, his costumes on stage was fantastic, his musicians were good looking guys with afro hair styles. His drummer then was Francis Foster who later played percussion with Paul Simon. Pino got the title of THE HARDEST WORKING MAN IN SHOW BUSINESS in Nigeria. Girls loved him. I later joined his band with new set of musicians in 1974 as a singer while he based in Kano in the north of Nigeria. To survive in Nigeria those days as a musician you have to be very good on stage and Pino was. His stagecraft was exhilarating, his costumes were dazzling, he command the band and his audience wherever he played with his dancesteps and he became an inspiration to many Musicians. He later moved to Port Harcourt where he lived and died many years ago. Though he is dead, his music lives on through his many songs and this vinyl in your hands. His memory also lived with those who watched him on stage. Ladies and gentle men, this is GERALDO PINO!"

Steve Black


---

"What's that Discogs? One copy for sale for £4,495.86? Fuck that! I'mma get this official reissue on the rather marvelous PMG if it's alright with you..."

Second hand piss-takery aside, this late 70s slice of groove heavy Afro-funk regularly changes hands for a monkey, so your bank manager should be thanking those fine folk in Austria. Drawing on reggae, disco and funk, Mr Pino gets up, down and all the way around across six party starting, largely instrumental offerings. Any record which starts with a buoyant reggae-disco ode to Barry's favourite plant life ("Ganja") is gonna be dope (ahem!), but when we're then taken through a bordering on ludicrous Afro-funk rendition of Beethoven's 5th, you know we're in safely wasted hands. You could easily assume this discoid arrangement would be whack, but you'd be better served throwing some shapes to the buzzing Moogs, chiming keys and wild wah guitar which make this beast purr. Things straighten out for the full steam ahead funk of title track "Boogie Fever" before "Dance For Love" opens the flip with a weirdo reggae lilt. If you're looking for the best party of your life condensed into five and a half minutes, then you should probably cast an ear over "African Hustle", crack your knuckles and dive into air piano ecstasy. After that Moog-led madness, there's just enough time to spark one up to the Afrobeat-meets-reggae of "Shake Shake Shake" before the run out groove reminds you it's time to pick the kids up from school. Killer!

piccadillyrecords.com

Tracklist

A1	Ganja (Ganja)
A2	5th Bethoven Africana
A3	Boogie Fever
B1	Dance For Love
B2	African Hustle
B3	Shake Shake Shake

 

Geraldo Pino

A playboy bandleader and singer, he helped shape African music

When he appeared at the Barbican in London last May, the singer, guitarist and bandleader Geraldo Pino, who has died aged 69, revealed himself as one of the forgotten fathers of African popular music. He had a major influence on west Africa's soul, funk and Afrobeat scene in the 1960s and 70s, and made a huge impression on the young Fela Kuti, yet his music had been largely unheard for the past 30 years.

Born and raised as Gerald Pine in Freetown, Sierra Leone, he was the son of a Nigeria-based lawyer and lost his mother and sister at an early age. Rebelling against his background, he started playing music at a social club and co-founded the Heartbeats at the start of the 1960s, playing covers of American hits and Congolese versions of rumba, then sweeping west Africa. The most famous Congolese musicians were Franco and Dr Nico, whose names inspired Gerald Pine to turn into the exotic "Geraldo Pino".

Playing Freetown nightclubs such as the Flamingo, Palm Beach and Tiwana, the Heartbeats became one of the highest earning bands in west Africa, and when television was introduced in Sierra Leone in 1962, Pino and the Heartbeats had their own show. In early 1963 they cut their first records - including Maria Lef For Waka, Heartbeats Merengue and Zamzie - which were released on his own Pino Records label. Zamzie is still used by Voice of America as a signature tune.

Africa was alive with dance music in those optimistic, post-colonial days and the Heartbeats provided a sophisticated, internationalised sound which began to challenge the ubiquitous highlife. Pino was also a great manager, promoter and businessman. Touring Ghana and Nigeria (1965-67), he was very much the playboy pop star, with a Pontiac convertible, flashy clothes and, most importantly, hardware unheard of in Africa at that time: imported amplifiers pumping out the sound of his electronic instruments and a six-microphone PA system.

Pino had the stage presence to match, impressing women and men equally. Among his 1960s and 70s hits were Power to the People, Give Me Ganja, Let Them Talk and Make Me Feel Good.

He impressed Fela Kuti (then still Ransome Kuti) when he played Lagos, Nigeria. At the time the Nigerian was playing jazzy highlife while Pino arrived with James Brown's style of music and formidable equipment. "He had all Nigeria in his pocket," Fela said in 1982. "Made me fall right on my ass, man."

Pino returned to Nigeria in 1967, and later that year took up a residency at the Ringway hotel, Accra, Ghana. The original Heartbeats broke up at the end of the decade and he recruited Ghanaians for the new Heartbeats 72 from a psychedelic band, the Plastic Jims. In the 70s they played west African concerts alongside Jimmy Cliff, Rufus Thomas and Manu Dibango. Pino's records made him famous as far away as Kenya.

In 1969 he settled in Nigeria and never left, buying a TV station and the Airport hotel in the city of Port Harcourt. There he introduced up-and-coming Camerounian musicians and played with Fela Kuti. In 2005 two of his albums were reissued, bringing his sounds to a new generation. In London last year, he played again with former Heartbeats drummer and arranger Francis Fuster, and despite failing health acquitted himself well.

Pino had cancer and was diabetic. A Port Harcourt paper reported that he was being treated for "a mere pain on the foot when he finally gave up the ghost". Pino never married, though he is believed to have fathered several children.

• Geraldo Pino (Gerald Pine), musician, born 10 February 1939; died 10 November 2008

 theguardian.com

Geraldo Pino

 

Fela Kuti quoted: 

 

"I was playing highlife jazz wenn Geraldo Pino came to town in ’66 or a bit earlier, with soul. He came to town with James Brown’s music…and with such equipment you’ve never seen, man. This man was tearing Lagos to pieces. Woooooooooh, man. He had Nigeria in his pocket. Made me fall right on my ass!"

 

When he appeared at the Barbican in London last May, the singer, guitarist and bandleader Geraldo Pino, who has died aged 69, revealed himself as one of the forgotten fathers of African popular music. He had a major influence on west Africa's soul, funk and Afrobeat scene in the 1960s and 70s, and made a huge impression on the young Fela Kuti, yet his music had been largely unheard for the past 30 years.

Born and raised as Gerald Pine in Freetown, Sierra Leone, he was the son of a Nigeria-based lawyer and lost his mother and sister at an early age. Rebelling against his background, he started playing music at a social club and co-founded the Heartbeats at the start of the 1960s, playing covers of American hits and Congolese versions of rumba, then sweeping west Africa. The most famous Congolese musicians were Franco and Dr Nico, whose names inspired Gerald Pine to turn into the exotic "Geraldo Pino".

Playing Freetown nightclubs such as the Flamingo, Palm Beach and Tiwana, the Heartbeats became one of the highest earning bands in west Africa, and when television was introduced in Sierra Leone in 1962, Pino and the Heartbeats had their own show. In early 1963 they cut their first records - including Maria Lef For Waka, Heartbeats Merengue and Zamzie - which were released on his own Pino Records label. Zamzie is still used by Voice of America as a signature tune.

Africa was alive with dance music in those optimistic, post-colonial days and the Heartbeats provided a sophisticated, internationalised sound which began to challenge the ubiquitous highlife. Pino was also a great manager, promoter and businessman. Touring Ghana and Nigeria (1965-67), he was very much the playboy pop star, with a Pontiac convertible, flashy clothes and, most importantly, hardware unheard of in Africa at that time: imported amplifiers pumping out the sound of his electronic instruments and a six-microphone PA system.

Pino had the stage presence to match, impressing women and men equally. Among his 1960s and 70s hits were Power to the People, Give Me Ganja, Let Them Talk and Make Me Feel Good.
He impressed Fela Kuti (then still Ransome Kuti) when he played Lagos, Nigeria. At the time the Nigerian was playing jazzy highlife while Pino arrived with James Brown's style of music and formidable equipment. "He had all Nigeria in his pocket," Fela said in 1982. "Made me fall right on my ass, man."

Pino returned to Nigeria in 1967, and later that year took up a residency at the Ringway hotel, Accra, Ghana. The original Heartbeats broke up at the end of the decade and he recruited Ghanaians for the new Heartbeats 72 from a psychedelic band, the Plastic Jims. In the 70s they played west African concerts alongside Jimmy Cliff, Rufus Thomas and Manu Dibango. Pino's records made him famous as far away as Kenya.

In 1969 he settled in Nigeria and never left, buying a TV station and the Airport hotel in the city of Port Harcourt. There he introduced up-and-coming Camerounian musicians and played with Fela Kuti. In 2005 two of his albums were reissued, bringing his sounds to a new generation. In London last year, he played again with former Heartbeats drummer and arranger Francis Fuster, and despite failing health acquitted himself well.

Pino had cancer and was diabetic. A Port Harcourt paper reported that he was being treated for "a mere pain on the foot when he finally gave up the ghost". Pino never married, though he is believed to have fathered several children.

Geraldo Pino (Gerald Pine), musician, born 10 February 1939; died 10 November 2008.

theguardian.com

A long lost hero of Afrobeat music!

Geraldo Pino (aka Gerald Pine) is one of the hidden heroes of African popular music. A singer, guitarist and bandleader from Sierra Leone, Geraldo had a major influence on the burgeoning soul/funk/Afrobeat scene in West Africa during the 1960s and 70s. He made a huge impression on the young Fela Kuti who praised him effusively but his music has remained largely unheard for the past 30 years.

Pino’s proto-Afrobeat echoed the cultural preoccupations of the time – Black Power, African Unity, Heavy Vibes.

Gerald Pine formed the Heartbeats in Freetown in 1960/61 as a pop band playing cover versions of British and American hit songs, although they soon adapted to the influence of pachanga, tcha tcha tcha and rumba music from the Congo, notably that international blend supplied by Ryco Jazz (see RETRO10CD) who were touring the West Africa region. As the latin influences grew, so Gerald Pine evolved into the more exotic sounding Geraldo Pino, although it was as a champion of American style funk that he made his mark. Pino made a deep and lasting impression on that iconoclastic figure Fela Anikulapo Kuti (then still known by his family name of Ransome Kuti). As Fela told the author Carlos Moore in his 1982 biography:

"I was playing highlife jazz when Geraldo Pino came to town in '66 or a bit earlier with soul. That's what upset everything, man. He came to town with James Brown's music, singing, "Hey, hey, I feel all right, ta, ta, ta, ta. . . " And with such equipment you've never seen, man. This man was tearing Lagos to pieces. Wooooooooh, man. He had all Nigeria in his pocket. Made me fall right on my ass, man. Ahhhhhh, this Sierra Leonean guy was too much. Geraldo Pino from Sierra Leone. I'll never forget him. I never heard this kind of music before-o, I'm telling you. Only when I went to Ghana shortly after that did I hear music like that again, soul music. Shit! If you could have seen him, man. And his equipment . . . something else!

Pino’s party grooves and the Funk Imperative which underlines his musical philosophy make these dance tracks sound just as vital today as they did back then.



DISCOGRAPHY


Geraldo Pino & The Heartbeats - Afro Coco Soul Live


Geraldo Pino & The Heartbeats - Let´s have a party


Geraldo Pino & The Heartbeats - Heavy Heavy Heavy