Mississippi US Vinilo y CD

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Rail Band are one of the most legendary bands in Malian musical history, and like all great legends their greatest moment was fleeting. This incredibly heavy, soulful and hard-grooving record was released in 1973, when the official orchestra of the Malian State Railway decided to enter the studio and lay down their potent blend of Western funk and surf, Mande tradition and Afro-Cuban percussion. The band was led by trumpet and sax player Tidiani Kone and Djelimady Tounkara on guitar, but in the iteration captured on this album they also featured future stars Salif Keita and Mory Kante on vocals. Shortly after, Keita and Kante eloped to embark on hugely successful solo careers, but for a brief moment in 1973 one of the greatest African guitar bands of all time created a perfect storm of West African storytelling and smoking hot grooves.

Review: It's amazing to think the now-legendary Fred Cole and his Weeds comrades were forced to change their band name for fear of marijuana references. Rising to prominence in the mid-late-1960s, long before the main man would find himself on the honorary list of garage rock greats (not that this period didn't contribute to that), management and labels deemed it a much better idea to release his music under The Lollipop Shoppe, which is how Just Colour saw the light of day.
One quick listen proves how unsuitable that decision was, with the contents of this highly sought after boxset anything but the bubblegum those misguided but powerful minds wanted to cash in on. Presented with two reconfigured 7" singles alongside the full album - the idea being to give fans all the essential cuts in one - it's a stunning way to remember we should never, or rarely, listen to The Industry.