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On the 22nd of December, Papa Appiah's album Suicide Note (An Africoblues Album) was finally released and went on sale on CDbaby and Spotify.
What is Africoblues? It's quite simple. It's Afrobeat and romance. This is an album that features the very best of Ghanaian musicians including multi-instrumentalist Kwame Yeboah, ace guitarist Alfred Kari Bannerman, top vocalist Paulina Oduro and percussionist Nana Tsiboe. There was a guest appearance from Reggie Tsiboe of "Boney M" and "Love Brewed in the African Pot" fame, on vocals.
The horn section was arranged and performed by Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Terry Townson, ably assisted by trombonist Julian Gomez Filidor and saxophonist Marco Antonio Hernandez Aviles. Mention should be made of the support of sound engineering maestro Adam Ellis, singer Carol Leeming and especially Mellow Baku who speaks no Fante but managed to sing all the Fante lines in "Oguaa Cedi" beautifully.
The Suicide Note album consists of eight songs that tell a love story. It opens with "Adobea", who would wake up early in the morning to go to the market to sell. The path to the market lay by my farm. And so as she often passed by my farm, I'd invite her to join me in singing a song of love.
But perhaps I'd taken her for granted, believing she was there for the taking from the way she seductively wriggled her bum and smiled as she passed by my farm. I was soon to realize, that she was merely being nice and not necessarily asking for it. So while I quickly fell in love with her, she needed more convincing, hence "African Woman", where I make her aware of my frustration and plead with her to tell me she loves me too.
Finally she gives an answer, but not nearly what I wanted to hear. For she told me we should continue to be "Just Friends," as she was struggling to actually get herself to love me and yet did not want to compromise the good friendship that had developed between us. I was livid, for I'd rather she hated me so I'd know she felt something stronger about me. All I really wanted was love.
She finally gives in and we have a humorous description of a bedroom encounter in "Oguaa Cedi". This song was based on a little joke that used to make the rounds amongst adults in Cape Coast when we were kids. A man gets up to go to the toilet after a bout of sex. The woman enquires whether he has finished.
"Why do you ask!!??" The man barked
"Oh I just wanted to know whether I could dress and go" the woman responded
"Oh bloody hell, lie down there, we're going to do it all night long. Oguaa Cedi is not a joke!!"
The relationship develops on the blind side of her very strict parents. Her father had been known to chase off potential suitors with a double-barrelled gun. When I wanted to see Adobea, I would have to wait till her parents had gone to bed, then climb through her window. Soon I had had enough of this "Window Love". I implored Adobea, as she was no longer a little girl, to go with me to see her parents so we could marry.
But she was very reluctant to do that. And I soon realized that the problem was not just the double-barrelled gun under her father's bed, but perhaps, that she did not love me enough or thought I had not the financial wherewithal to want to marry a girl like her. For soon she started to find excuses for avoiding me amidst rumours there were interests from some opulent sources. I was deeply hurt, and hence "You'll See Me No More".
If we but knew what lay in store tomorrow On this earth there would be no more sorrow We'd fold our arms and go afloat Wherever the wind of fortune blowed......
Our relationship deteriorated even further, and the last I saw her, she was at the train station. I helped her unto the train, but she did not even look back to wave goodbye.
On my way home I met an oldie Who the love of God had blessed She said boy, you got to believe And The Lord will do the rest........ So if she comes looking for me I'll be in the church down the road, With my troubles The Lord to see That same "tradition of old"
Soon I was overwhelmed by my depth of depression. And after calls and letters had been persistently ignored, I wrote to Adobea one final time, thanking her for her love, and that whatever would be would be. It did sound like a "Suicide Note", I must say.
Hence the song arrangement - Adobea, African Woman, Just Friends, Oguaa Cedi, Window Love, You'll See Me No More, Old Tradition, Suicide Note.
So don't be surprised that a title track is a last song. There is some design to the madness.
