Biography of miriam makeba albums
Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba was born in March 4th, in 1932 Johannesburg, during a time of economic depression. Her mother, a domestic worker, was imprisoned for six months for illegally brewing beer to help make ends meet, and Miriam went to prison with her as she was just 18 days old. She grew up in Nelspruit where her father was a clerk with Shell Oil.
Makeba’s mother was also a sangoma, or a practitioner of herbal medicine, divination and counselling in traditional Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and Swazi (Nguni) societies of Southern Africa. Her father died when she was five years old, Miriam was sent to live with her grandmother at a compound in Riverside, Pretoria. From a young age, Makeba loved to sing at church, and performed her first solo during the 1947 Royal Visit. Miriam began her working life helping her mother clean houses. In the 1950s, she lived in Sophiatown when it was a vibrant place and one of the few areas where all races could mix. It was the scene of kwela music, marabi and African jazz and big band music became popular.
Miriam Makeba began her music career singing for her cousin’s band, the Cuban Brothers, but it was only when she began to sing for the Manhattan Brothers in 1954 that she began to build a reputation. She toured South Africa, Zimbabwe (former Rhodesia) and the Congo with the band until 1957. After this Makeba sang for all-women group, the Skylarks, which combined jazz and traditional African melodies. Makeba’s appearances in the films Come Back Africa (1957) and as the female lead in Todd Matshikiza’s King Kong (1959) cemented her reputation in the music industry both locally and abroad. She later married her King Kong co-star, Hugh Masekela, in 1964. Makeba arrived in New York in November 1959, later resigning herself to exile after South Africa refused to renew her passport.
King Kong was about a boxer who kills his sweetheart and later dies in prison. The musical, public
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A singer, actress and civil rights campaigner, Miriam Makeba was one of South Africa's most legendary performers, popularising her native music all over the world and so revered she became known as Mama Africa. Born in Johannesburg, her mother was a "Swazi sangoma" (herbal healer) whose imprisonment for selling home-made beer meant that Miriam spent the first six months of her life in jail. Her music career began in the early 1950s when she joined the jazz group Manhattan Brothers, leaving them for an all-female group The Skylarks mixing jazz with traditional South African songs. She effectively made her name, though, with the 1956 hit single Pata Pata and her fame grew after she appeared in an award-winning anti-apartheid film Come Back Africa. She followed this by appearing in a Broadway-inspired South African musical, King Kong, where she met and worked with the great trumpeter Hugh Masekela. On a trip to London she met Harry Belafonte, who facilitated appearances for her in America, where she subsequently became a big star, singing with Belafonte at John F. Kennedy's 1962 birthday party at Madison Square. Testifying against apartheid before the United Nations got Makeba banned from her own country, but she was welcomed all over the world and ended up with passports in nine different countries. She continued to campaign against the apartheid system - often in concerts with Belafonte - and sang traditional songs in Zulu, Sotho, Swahili and Xhosa and had an international hit with the Xhosa language Click Song. Her refusal to wear make-up or curl her hair for performances helped give rise to the Afro fashion, although her l
Miriam Makeba discography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a discography of South African musician Miriam Makeba (1932–2008).
| Miriam Makeba discography | |
|---|---|
| Studio albums | 23 |
| EPs | 3 |
| Live albums | 5 |
| Compilation albums | 19 |
| Singles | 16 |
Studio albums
Live albums
Compilations
- The Best of Miriam Makeba (LP) Canada: RCA Victor LSP-3982, 1968
- Harry Belafonte and Miriam Makeba (2xLP) RCA International (Camden) PJL2-8042, 1975
- Miriam Makeba (LP) Italy: Record Bazaar RB 254, 1980
- The Queen of African Music (CD) Verlag Pläne 831 655–938, 1987
- Africa (CD) Germany: Novus 3155-2-N/ND 83155, 1991
- Miriam Makeba and The Skylarks: Volume 1 (as Miriam Makeba and The Skylarks; Remastered from 78/45 RPM recorded between 1956 and 1959) (CD) TELCD 2303, 1991
- Folk Songs from Africa (CD) SAAR CD 12514, 1994
- En public à Paris et Conakry (CD), 1996
- Hits and Highlights (CD), 1997
- Miriam Makeba and The Skylarks: Volume 2 (as Miriam Makeba and The Skylarks; Remastered from 78/45 RPM recorded between 1956 and 1959) (CD) TELCD 2315, 1997
- The Best of Miriam Makeba (CD) BMG/RCA, 2000
- Legend (CD) Next Music CDSL21, 2001
- Mama Africa: The Very Best of Miriam Makeba (CD), 2001
- The Guinea Years (CD/LP) STCD3017/SLP48, 2001
- Mother Africa: The Black Anthology (CD), 2002
- The Best of Miriam Makeba: The Early Years (CD) Wrasse WRASS 088, 2002
- The Definitive Collection (CD) UK: Wrasse WRASS 062, 2002
- Her Essential Recordings (2xCD) Manteca MANTDBL502, 2006
- Mama Afrika 1932–2008 (CD) Gallo, 2009
Extended plays
- Makeba – Belafonte (as Miriam Makeba and Harry Belafonte) (Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM) Germany: RCA Victor EPA 9035, 1961
- The Click Song (Vinyl, 7", EP) France: London RE 10.145, 1963
- Chants d'Afrique (Vinyl, 7") France: RCA Victor 86.374, 1964
Singles
- "Duze" (1956) (10-inchshellac78 rpm mono Gallotone GB.2062)
- "Pass Office Special" (1957) (10-inch shellac 78 rpm mono Gallotone GB.2134)
Miriam Makeba (March 4, 1932 - November 9, 2008)
Zenzile Miriam Makeba, nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer and civil rights activist known for becoming the first African artist to globally popularize African music.
Makeba was born in Johannesburg, South Africa on March 4, 1932. Her professional career began when she was featured in the South African jazz group the Manhattan Brothers in the 1950s and made her U.S. debut on November 1, 1959 on The Steve Allen Show. While traveling to London she met Harry Belafonte who helped her gain entry into the US as well as fame there. She tried to return to South Africa in 1960 but discovered that her passport was cancelled, making her an exile. Later that year she signed with RCA Victor and released Miriam Makeba, her first U.S. studio album.Throughout the 1960s she spoke out against apartheid in South Africa. In 1968 she met and married prominent civil rights leader and Black Panther Stokely Carmichael, who she would go on to divorce in 1973. Makeba continued on in her activism and music career and in 1990 she would return to her home country of South Africa on a French passport after much persuasion by Nelson Mandela. Makeba died on November 9, 2008 after falling ill while taking part in a concert organised to support writer Roberto Saviano in his stand against the Camorra, a mafia-like organisation local to the Region of Campania. She was a strong supporter of human rights and continued her activism to her last breath.
Black power records at the National Archives related to Miriam Makeba focused on FBI investigations into her marriage to Carmichael.Records Relating to Miriam Makeba
Record Group 47: Social Security Administration
Motion Picture Films from the "Social Security in Action" Television Program Series, ca. 1958-ca. 1966 National Archives Identifier 11301, Local Identifier 47-SSA
Selected Records
Miriam Makeba ( NAID 11582)
Record Group 65: Federal Bureau of Investigation
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