BLO - 1972 - Chapter 1 01 Preacher Man 02 Time To Face The Sun 03 Beware 04 We Gonna Have A Party 05 Don't 06 Chant To Mother Earth 07 We Are Out Together 08 Miss Sagitt (instrumental)
This
band from Nigeria became very famous among collectors worldwide.
Perhaps this is the most sought after album from Africa. The 3 members,
Berkely Jones, Laolu Akintobi and Mike Odumosu created the name BLO
from B for Berkely, L for Laolu and O for Odumosu. 2 members toured
with Ginger Baker in 1972 and BLO supported Osibisa on tour in Nigeria.
At that time BLO was voted as the best band in Nigeria.
BLO - 1974 - Phase II
01 Blo 02 It's Gonna Be A Good Day 03 Native Doctor 04 Do It, You'll Like It 05 Don't Take Her Away (From Me) 06 Whole Lot Of Shit 07 Atide
Second LP with guitarist Berkely Ike Jones, Mike "Gbenga" Odumosu and Laolu "Akins" Akintobi. Great Afro Funk and Afro Psych album.
BLO - 1975 - Step Three
01 Mind Talk 02 Rhythm Of Coils 03 Hypocrisy 04 Gotta Get Has Me Better Head 05 Hot Chase 06 Don't Sweater The Form Under Me
3rd
album of BLO (Berkely, Laolu, O'Wright), definitively afro funk. On
this album, Mike Odumosu was replaced by Biddy O'Wright. This album is
the best album of this group, more funky than the two debut albums and
less disco than the fourth and the fifth album. This album was recorded
in 1975 at Decca Studios Lagos, Nigeria. Every tracks are winners like
"Mind Talk", "Gotta Get Has Me Better Head"
~~~~~~~~~
Blo
fused the Afrobeat rhythms of their native Nigeria with the
mind-expanding psychedelia and funk of late-'60s Western rock to forge
a wholly original sound embracing the full spectrum of black music. The
roots of the group lay in the Clusters, already one of the most popular
Nigerian highlife acts of the mid-'60s even prior to a stint as the
support band for the Sierra Leonean pop superstar Geraldo Pino, once
dubbed "the West African James Brown." In 1970, guitarist Berkely "Ike"
Jones, bassist Mike "Gbenga" Odumosu, and drummer Laolu "Akins"
Akintobi left the Clusters to join Afrocollection with twin sisters
Kehinde and Taiwo Lijadu (featured a decade later on the British
television show The Tube), moving away from their highlife roots to
explore a more pronounced Afro-Rock approach. While performing at the
Lagos club Batakuto, Afrocollection jammed with Ginger Baker, the
renowned drummer from the British blues-rock supergroup Cream; in late
1971, the members of Afrocollection joined Baker in forming the
jazz-rock ensemble Salt, making their live debut the following year
alongside the legendary Fela Kuti. Despite a series of well-received
live appearances throughout Western Europe and North America, the Salt
project proved short-lived, and in late 1972, Jones, Odumosu, and
Akintobi formed Blo, touring relentlessly in the months to come, prior
to recording their EMI Nigeria label debut Blo: Chapter One. The 3
members, Berkely Jones, Laolu Akintobi and Mike Odumosu created the
name BLO from B for Berkely, L for Laolu and O for Odumosu. Drawing
equally on the pioneering Afrobeat of Fela and Tony Allen as well as
the American psych-rock of bands like the Grateful Dead and the Byrds,
the record failed to live up to EMI's commercial expectations, and
after signing to Afrodisia, Blo resurfaced in 1975 with Phase 2,
pushing further into funk and R&B territory. Grand Funk Railroad
and the Isley Brothers were the primary influences on the trio's third
LP, Phase 3, but as lackluster sales continued to dog the group, Blo
faced greater corporate pressure to reflect contemporary musical trends
— specifically, disco, a shift culminating with 1980's Bulky Backside,
recorded in London. Blo dissolved following the 1982 release of Back in
Time; the retrospective Phases 1972-1982 appeared on the Afro Strut
label in 2001. ~Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
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