ABOUT THIS ITEM

"Nigeria Rock Special" shines a light on the flipside to the well-documented sounds of highlife and Afro-beat coming out of Nigeria in the 1970s – young bands caught up in the wave of psychedelic and progressive rock that was sweeping Europe and the States in the late 60s and early 70s. As time goes by the many layers of musical output that formed around the world throughout the 1960s and 70s continue to be peeled back to reveal many welcome surprises. The explosion of rock'n'roll that erupted out of the USA in the 50s seemed to fan out around the globe from its epicentre and by the mid 1960s kids all over the world were picking up guitars and checking themselves in mirrors. Nigeria was no exception. Spurred on by Cream drummer Ginger Baker's visits to Lagos and his band Airforce (featuring many Nigerian musicians), the sound of fuzzed out rock reverberated around the Universities and nightspots of Lagos and Ibadan. The craze that followed hit the youth and student population of Nigeria hard - mixing fuzz-guitar and heavy African rhythms with elements of Led Zeppelin, Traffic and the Chambers Brothers. 15 of the best cuts from the scene are available here for the first time in 30 years.