Ambrose Campbell

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Ambrose Campbell
Campbell in January 2006.
Campbell in January 2006.
Background information
Birth nameOladipupo Adekoya Campbell
Born(1919-08-19)19 August 1919
Lagos, Nigeria
Died22 June 2006(2006-06-22) (aged 86)
Plymouth, England
GenresHighlife, jùjú music, jazz, rock, etc.
Occupation(s)Singer, bandleader, guitarist
Instrument(s)Guitar, percussion
Years active1946–1990s
LabelsMelodisc, Columbia

Ambrose Campbell (19 August 1919 – 22 June 2006) was a Nigerian musician and bandleader. He is credited with forming Britain's first ever black band, the West African Rhythm Brothers, in the 1940s, and was also acknowledged by Fela Kuti as "the father of modern Nigerian music".[1] Campbell worked with British jazz musicians in the 1950s, and later toured and recorded with Leon Russell in the US, where he lived for thirty years.

Biography

He was born Oladipupo Adekoya Campbell in Lagos, Nigeria, into a Christian family; his father was a preacher. Campbell sang in the church choir, and also, nicknamed "Ambrose", started performing palm-wine music against the wishes of his family, who kicked him out of the house when they discovered what he was doing. For a while, he lived under the protection of nationalist leader Herbert Macaulay and worked as a printer, as well as a musician.[2] He met guitarist Brewster Hughes in Lagos, and performed with him in the Jolly Boys Orchestra.[3]

Soon after the start of

VE Day celebrations in Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus in 1945.[1] He said:[4]

"People didn't know what was going on but they joined in. I suppose it was curiosity. Everybody had been waiting for that day so everybody was happy and jumping around and dancing and kissing each other, so we thought we'd join the celebration. We had a huge crowd following us around Piccadilly Circus. You could hardly move."

In 1946, Campbell and Brewster Hughes, after his release from prison, formed a professional band, the West African Rhythm Brothers. They were employed to provide music for theatre performances by the black ballet company,

78 rpm records for the Melodisc label owned by Emil Shalit, and became a well-known figure in Soho.[2] He appeared thinly disguised as the character "Cranium Cuthbertson" in Colin MacInnes's 1957 novel City of Spades; MacInnes became godfather to Campbell's first son.[4]

In the 1960s, the Abalabi club moved and became the Club Afrique in

Nashville, Tennessee, in 1982 and remarrying.[4]

He returned to Britain in 2004, to live in

Honest Jon's Records included some of Campbell's Melodisc recordings on a compilation CD, London Is the Place for Me, Vol.3. Campbell died in Plymouth in 2006 at the age of 86.[1][2][5]

Collaborations

With Don Preston

  • Been Here All The Time (Shelter Records, 1974)

With Leon Russell

References

  1. ^
    Allmusic.com
    . Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e Wilmer, Val (8 July 2006). "Obituary: Ambrose Campbell". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  3. ^
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/100490. Retrieved 6 September 2013. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  4. ^ a b c d Williamson, Nigel (22 January 2006). "Deep roots". The Observer. Observer Music Monthly. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  5. ^ "Ambrose Campbell Funeral". 27 January 2007 – via YouTube.

External links

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