Biography

Thomas Mapfumo was natural within 1945 in Marondera, a village south of Salisbury, the capital of Rhodesia. He lived the traditional, rural Shona lifestyle until the age of decade, after his personal moved to the Salisbury town of Mbare. He joined his number 1 band, a Zutu Brothers (Encyclopædia Britannica says it was a Cyclones), as a singer at the age of Xvi. From either so he was universally around 1 band or even a second, periodically doing odd jobs unofficially too, including white-livered farming. Hence a title of his 1972 band, a Hallelujah Chicken Process Band.

He played mostly covers of U.s. rock & soul tunes, like Otis Redding or Elvis Presley, until he was in the Hallelujah Chicken Run Band. There he introduced a innovation of adapting traditional Shona music to modern rock instrumentation.

He worked sustaining guitar player Joshua Dube (Leopard Human's Africa Music Prescription says Jonah Sithole) to transcribe a sounds of a main instrument of traditional Shona music, the mbira, or thumb piano, to the electric guitar. He as well began singing primarily inside the Shona language, like than in English, & his music became great deal extra political.

Just the fact that he was drawing on the indigene musical tradition & singing around his native language was the political statement. At that instance Rhodesia was ruled by a whiten minority which denigrated the native blacken people & culture. However to a higher degree that, his lyrics became overtly political, supporting a revolution that was getting in a rural areas, what Mapfumo calls "the communal lands". He known as his future style of music chimurenga. Within Shona it means "struggle", & was the title of a last radical movement in the late nineteenth century. His songs openly known as for the violent overthrow of the government, using lyrics rather "Mothers, send your sons to war." However since a whiten government didn't see Shona, it didn't understand how else radical it was.

At length it caught in, though. the climax come sustaining a song known as "Hokoyo!", which means "Watch out!" the food & drug administration banned a record from either the state-collectivised radio and threw him into a prison camp while forgoing charges within 1979. However it couldn't prevent his records from either existence played around discos or even in radio it didn't control, rather a Voice of Mozambique. Big demonstrations inside protest of his arrest & an inability to trump higher charges against him forced the food and drug administration to release him fallowing triad months.

Loose elections were held around 1980 and a recently government was installed. Mapfumo performed at the celebratory concert which besides featured Bob Marley.

A PRI-syndicated radio program Afropop ran a feature inside Thomas Mapfumo in late 1988/early 1989. Hikers Georges Collinet describes Mapfumo as sleep inside the great-density suburbia sustaining his married woman, world health organization worked at an attorney in downtown Harare, & his ii toddlers - the son and the girl. & he drove the blue Ford with fake leopard-skin seat covers.

Virtually all of his songs were however political, treating by using impoverishment & more social issues. Mapfumo comments on the fact that he doesn't sing numbers of love-song: "All you need if you wanna get into the bedroom... You've got a wife. You do it. You don't have to sing a song about it." Collinet likewise observes that Mapfumo might't sing anything he wants : "Clearly he can't sing 'Down with President Mugabe' - but he wouldn't want to. He supports the present government." Notwithstanding, that would shortly vary.

Mapfumo freed a album Corruption inside 1989. It criticized Mugabe & his government, sustaining which Mapfumo was becoming extra & further enlightened. Mugabe wasn't happy by using Mapfumo, either, & Mapfumo became a target of government harassment. Mapfumo was accused of existence exposed by having the stolen-car ring. Items had pinching sufficiency that Mapfumo moved to Oregon in the late 1990s, where he lasts okay,.

Thomas Mapfumo tours internationally, & however sings & speaks retired just about a problems of Zimbabwe. His chimurenga style of music influenced a freshly generation of Zimbabwean musicians, including the Bhundu Boys and Stella Chiweshe.

Chronology of bands

Zutu Brothers (Cyclones?) - 1961 Cosmic 4 Dots Springfields 1964 - 1967 Hallelujah Chicken Process Band - 1972 Acid Band - 1976 Blacks Unlimited - 1978

Partial discography

The Springfields

(singles)

"You Can't Say Goodbye" "Chemtengure" "Kiss Me" / "Talking String" "Kunaka Wakanaka" "Shungu Duzino Ndibaya" "Valley of Lost Souls" / "Sunday Morning" "Lonely Avenue" "Springfields Go Latin" / "Instrumental Kuwela"

The Hallelujah Chicken Run Band

(singles) "Taranbana" / "Mary" "Shumba Inobva Mu Gomo" / "Amalume" "Chandiparapata" / "Muwuyi Amuka" "Ngoma Yarira" / "Murembo"

Thomas Mapfumo and the Acid Band

Hokoyo 1978

Thomas Mapfumo and the Blacks Unlimited

Gwindingwi Rine Shumba 1980 Ndangariro 1983 Mabasa 1984 Mr Music 1985 Chimurenga for Justice 1986 Zimbabwe/Mozambique 1987 Varombo Kuvarombo 1988 released as Corruption 1989 Chamunorwa 1989 Chimurenga Masterpiece 1990 Shumba - Vital Hits of Zimbabwe 1990 Hondo 1992 A Singles Collection 1976-1986 1992 Chimurenga International 1993 Sweetly Chimurenga 1994 Chimurenga Varieties 1995 Chimurenga Forever - A Better of Thomas Mapfumo 1995 Roots Chimurenga 1996 Afro hairdo Chimurenga 1996 Chimurenga Movement 1997 Chimurenga African Spirit Movement too freed when A Lion of Zimbabwe 1997 ''Chimurenga '98 1998 Survive at El Rey 1999 Chimurenga Explosion'' 2000 by having Wadada Leo Smith and N'Da Kulture Dreams and Secrets 2001 Chimurenga Collected 2001 Chimurenga Rebel / Manhungetunge 2002 Toi Toi 2002