Highlife Series, No. 1: Bobby Benson, "Taxi Driver"
Toyin Falola
Highlife was made in Ghana. Praise the Lord!
It is distinguishable from other genres of music with its peculiar jazzy horns, guitars, melodies, storytelling, and rhythms. The genre was borne out of a past filled with traditions. There are stories, fables, fabu around highlife. As I was enjoying my Star beer at the beach with Kofi Ayindoho, one person walked to me and said “Do you know the first person to play highlife was a fish who became a man?” “Yes”, I said, “it was me!”
Local mores in Ghana tell us that the first “native” highlife band was formed by soldiers who had fought in the Second World War, redefining the sounds that they were exposed to. The name “highlife” itself was coined because the sound was played to elites, and back then, the poor people used to stay outside to listen to the bands. Kwame Nkrumah later adopted this genre of music as Ghana’s official music.
Are you interested in the stories or the music?
To make my friends from Ghana so angry, I will start the Series in Nigeria. Next time, they will not demolish our embassy.
Legend has it that it was Wole Soyinka who composed “Taxi Driver”, and Bobby Benson turned it into a great hit, one of the greatest moments in highlife story….to annoy our friends from Ghana by giving credit to their imitators!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu5Bav_ySW0
Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju
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Assensoh, Akwasi B.
Let's remember that the government of the late President Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah promoted highlife music (just as the government promoted and popularized soccer) and, therefore, made the musical genre very popular. By the way, I supervised a doctoral dissertation on an aspect of historicity of highlife music, which was revised and published in July 2018 as: "Female Highlife Performers in Ghana: Expression, Resistance, and Advocacy" by Nana Abena Amoah-Ramey. Later, I was invited to write a foreword to the book, and I did! It has a succinct but useful history of the origins of highlife music. The music's enthusiasts can take a look at the book.
A.B. Assensoh.
Sent: Saturday, August 29, 2020 5:37 AM
To: dialogue; Yoruba Affairs
Subject: [External] USA Africa Dialogue Series - Highlife Series, No. 1: Bobby Benson, "Taxi Driver"