Fela Kuti conga player and background singer Nicholas Addo-Nettey, or Pax Nicholas (he appeared on all of Fela’s Africa 70 albums between 1971 and 1978), released two LPs for the Tabansi Label with the Martin Brothers Band from Portharcort, Nigeria: 1971’s Mind Your Own Business and the aforementioned Na Teef Know De Road of Teef, in 1973. The latter, made with Africa 70 musicians and singers, is heavy Afro-funk, recorded in Cream’s Ginger Baker’s highly equipped Lagos studio, where many of Fela’s albums were also recorded. Fela was not amused at all about these kinds of things, even less when he heard how strong the Na Teef… album was. Reportedly, he said, “Don’t you ever, EVER play it again!” And so it was. Despite being a killer record, Na Teef… remained undercover for more than 30 years.
Had it not been for Frank Gossner (aka DJ Soulpusher of voodoofunk.com), a dedicated cratedigger – who, in 2005, found a copy hidden at a record store in Philly, tracked down Nicholas in Berlin, where he was now living, and brought Na Teef Know De Road of Teef to the attention of Daptone Records – the album would have stayed lost.
Instead, Daptone is proud to re-release the full-length, with its original cover art and tracklisting, marking the first proper and global release since the initial limited pressing some three decades ago.
PAX NICHOLAS
Nicholas Addo-Nettey was born in Accra, Ghana on August 7, 1954. From his early childhood on he was dedicated tomusic: he started singing in a gospel choir when he was only 6, and later on joined different traditional and cultural groups as a dancer and percussionist. In the 60s, Ghanaian youth were crazy about American soul music, and Nicholas was no exception to the rule. James Brown and Otis Redding were his idols, and by the age of 18 he started to perform himself. Shortly after, fellow musician Joe King Kologbo invited him to the Mecca of African funk music: Lagos, Nigeria. Nicholas was not only talented but also lucky. Kologbo introduced him to Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the undisputed Godfather of Afrobeat. He was able to convince the master of his skills as a drummer and singer and in 1971 became a full member of Felas legendary band Africa 70 as a conga player and background singer. The first record he appeared on was Lady– an international smash hit and one of Felas greatest. Nicholas was at the right place at the right time. In the 70s, stars like James Brown, B.B. King, Ginger Baker, Stevie Wonder and Manu Dibango came to Lagos to visit Fela’s Shrine Club to hear this new and incredibly heavy thing called Afrobeat.
As for Nicholas, in the 70s he experienced life in Fela’s Kalakuta Republic, a place where about 100 musicians, dancers, friends and family members of Fela lived, played, loved, and celebrated together. It was a property in Lagos that had been declared an independent state by Fela, in open defiance of the brutal dictatorship that was ruling in Nigeria at that time. The regime, which hated Fela for his radical messages and his popularity, attacked Kalakuta several times. In one of these raids, Nicholas was arrested with several other band members and remained in prison for nine months, where he was strongly mistreated. During another army attack in 1977, Fela’s mother was thrown out of an upstairs window and killed, and the whole compound was burned to the ground. The dangerous conditions became to much for Nicholas to bear. When playing at the Berlin Jazz Festival in 1978, he and other band members, including drummer Tony Allen, left Africa 70 because they didn’t want to go back to Nigeria. While Allen moved to Paris, Nicholas stayed in Berlin where he raised two sons and continues to play music to this day. Pax Nicholas now leads his own band, Ridimtaksi, which features West African musicians, continuing to play his own fresh take on Afrobeat.
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