Yellow Fever/Na Poi

1	Yellow Fever 15:22
2	Na Poi 1975 Version 13:32
3	Na Poi, Pts. 1-2 25:17
4	You No Go Die... Unless 7:34

Barnes & Noble

"Na Poi" is one of the most sex-obsessed grooves in Fela Kuti's sex-obsessed repertoire. He recorded it twice; both versions are featured on YELLOW FEVER/NA POI. The first, recorded in 1972, is rough and rambling, the longest piece Africa 70 had attempted up to that time. "Na Poi 75," rerecorded a few years later for YELLOW FEVER, is tighter, especially Tony Allen's beat-juggling drumming, and "Yellow Fever" itself is even better -- a stripped-down groove with daredevil horn work and ferociously satirical words about Africans bleaching their skin. Mark Schwartz

All Music Guide

A condemnation of African skin-bleaching, "Yellow Fever" likens the practice to real diseases sweeping through the continent, employing a dark, percolating groove as a backdrop. "Na Poi," originally recorded in 1972 and banned by the Nigerian Broadcasting Company, is featured here in a re-recorded version known as "Na Poi 75." An open expression of the sexual practices within his then-flourishing Kalakuta Republic compound, it is an intensely funky major-key jam driven by its clamorous horns and staccato bassline. Na Poi features the original 25-minute "Na Poi," a considerably starker arrangement with extended drum breaks, solos, and chanting. "You No Go Die...Unless" is a kind of comfort jam to the thousands of rural villagers who moved to Lagos in search of wealth generated by the mid-'60s oil boom, punctuated by a quirky, clipped beat and Yoruba lyrics. Not one of Kuti's best releases, but, as with all his material, it's worth hearing. Jim Smith