Thomas Mapfumo & the Blacks Unlimited
Chamunorwa, Gramma Records 1989

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Thomas Mapfumo, front

Wanted to post this LP way earlier, however because of
a disturbing series of ticks and tacks straight from the
beginning, I posponed it a couple of times. Today I decided
to post it anyway and fade start past the disturbance. You
must know that we miss a couple of tones consequently.
It’s a shame our Thomas kept his handkerchief wrapped
around his microphone, other than that it sounds cristal clear.
Still, worth a couple of spins, I leave you with this ‘chimurenga’
from Zimbabwe which we didn’t have for quite some time.

tracks;

1 Hwahwa
2 Murambadoro
3 Chitima nditakure
4 Chamunorwa
5 Hurukuro
6 Nyama yekugocha

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31 thoughts on “Thomas Mapfumo & the Blacks Unlimited
Chamunorwa, Gramma Records 1989”

  2. One of my favorite albums of all time. This one sounds a little different from the version I have. Thanks so much.

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  3. hi moos,

    I have a pristine, never-played copy of this record. I’ll check it to see if the sound is any better, and let you know. I’ve had a technical issue holding up my recording/posting, but that should be resolved in a week or so.

    Cheers, and as always, thanks.
    Robert

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  15. thanks for this!

    you keep hitting the spot!

    there’s a different version of the first track, Hwa Hwa, on the “Hokoya!” Lp with “the Acid Band”

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  16. thanks for this!

    you keep hitting the spot!

    there’s a different version of the first track, Hwa Hwa, on the “Hokoya!” Lp with “the Acid Band”

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  19. Hi Moos, I loved the Chimurenga from Thomas Mapfumo &amp; the Blacks. It&#39;s been a while since I played some of his LP&#39;s. <br /><br />Can you please post Pozo Hayes &quot;Looking Over There&quot; 1985 album from Benin, please notify me if you can. Thanks<br /><br />Russell

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  20. &quot;<i>He would play up to five nights a week during busy times, offering extraordinary shows that combined hints of R&amp;B, African jazz, reggae, dance music, and mbira anthems. Performances would often begin in the evening and go until dawn</i>&quot; and &quot;<i>[..] dance marathons [..]</i>&quot;. [Read more: Thomas Mapfumo Biography http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608003428/

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  24. Congratulations to the Dutch speed skating team! They have been amazing. Too bad the Americans couldn&#39;t make a decent showing. Apparently there are a number of serious problems in the US Speedskating Association that contributed my country&#39;s dismal performance in this sport.<br /><br />As always, thank you, Moos, for giving us such great music to enjoy!

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  26. This is fantastic! I do believe some of these tracks sound better than they do on my Chimurenga Forever CD. Great encoding!

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  30. A little history on this album that I picked up from his biography. Thomas Mapfumo had signed a deal with Island Records (Mango imprint), and this was to be the second album they were releasing (the first was Corruption). They sent him brand new tapes to record on, but by the time he got them, he’d already recorded the album. Island was not satisfied with the quality of the recording, so when Thomas Mapfumo was next on tour in UK, they made him revoice the whole album. On the second song Murambadoro as it is heard here, the drums and bass were recorded on the same track, and so for the island remix, they completely did away with them and replaced it with just a 4 on the floor drum beat that is not typical of Mapfumo at all, and never replaced the bass guitar parts.

    Hence this Zimbabwe vinyl pressing sounds quite different from the Island (Mango) CD that was released in the west. The Island engineers did a good job of making the sound cleaner without taking away from the spirit of the music, except on Murambadoro.

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