Best of the Classic Years

1	Sunny Ti De Medley: Sunny Ti De 5:30
2	Sunny Ti De Medley: Bombibele Horojo 5:26
3	Sunny Ti De Medley: Oro Towo Baseti 3:37
4	Sunny Ti De Medley: Ko Salapata 1:56
5	Sunny Ti De Medley: African Beats Lu Nsere 1:11
6	Synchro System Complete Original Version 18:12
7	Ibanuje Mon Iwon 13:56
8	Afai Bowon 7:04
9	Ogun Party, Pt. 1 8:59
10	Adena Ike 5:36

Barnes & Noble

The casual worldbeat fan might assume that King Sunny Ade's "classic years" were his '80s tenure with Island Records, when the Nigerian juju ambassador was being groomed to succeed Bob Marley as a Third World musical messiah. If so, they'll likely never take so much pleasure in being wrong. This is King Sunny from the vaults -- 1967 to 1974 -- and it's cause for rejoicing. However well intentioned was Chris Blackwell's anointing of the guitar wizard, King Sunny's famous '80s albums, including the landmark Synchro System, were at best a Western approximation of the rippling Afro-psychedelia that was all the rage in Lagos during the '70s. These tracks are the real, uncut stuff, compiled from the local African Sounds label, and represent the music as it was meant to be heard. Case in point: the glorious, luxurious 19-minute "Synchro System," which sprawls through changes in rhythm, tempo, and guitar texture and bears little resemblance to the truncated track that would make King Sunny a name in the West. Not that fans will be confused -- the trademark juju panoply of talking drums, traps, shakers, cowbells, bass, and seemingly dozens of guitars is already in place, making a spongy bottom for King Sunny's feathery vocalizations. The pedal steel guitars that gave the King's '80s hits their spectral resonance are less evident, hinted at with a preponderance of echo-heavy slide guitar. Contemporaneous with the militant shuffle of Fela Kuti's Afrobeat, Sunny's juju is a lithesome cousin, floating on a head of syncopated steam that would burn all night long. Its ghostly, slo-mo funk intrigues and insinuates once more on this welcome historical gem. Mark Schwartz

All Music Guide

If you want to delve into Ade's work before Island tried to make him into a star in the 1980s, this is the perfect place to start. The tracks here, recorded between 1969 and 1974 for the Nigerian market, are the work not of a master in the making, but already formed. The easy groove of juju is apparent; the lengthy conversations between guitars and percussion are absolutely glorious. The band stretches out well, sliding from one piece to another, as on "Sunny Ti De," which lasts a wonderful 18 minutes, the lengthy five-minute introduction establishing the mood before vocals enter. While the recording quality is a bit hazy on some of the material, there's no denying the power of the music, including Ade's own guitar work, which is never less than glorious. Those who only know his later work will miss the pedal steel, which only appears on the 18-minute "Synchro System" (a track Ade would re-record a decade later), where it takes off smoothly like an airplane and the band churns behind. It's fresh, it's glorious, and the players are loving every second of it. Indeed, their joy is absolutely palpable throughout this disc -- they're having a blast. And so will the listener. This is Ade at a very early peak. Chris Nickson