Africa comes to Real World: revisiting albums by six legendary artists

“It was the dream studio environment I had always wanted,” says Real World founder Peter Gabriel, whose original vision included open-plan rooms designed for peak communication — crucially, there would be no separation between artist and producer/technician — and a production team at the top of their game. 

“When you’re working with people from all over the world, suddenly music rather than language becomes the central communication tool. We wanted Real World Studios to be a great place for that to happen.”

Over the course of several years, from 1989 to 1997, recording sessions by six African acts turned out albums that, today, are widely regarded as classics: Songs for the Poor Man by late Tanzania-based icon Remmy Ongala & Orchestre Super Matimila. Faso Denou by spectacular percussion troupe Farafina from Burkina Faso. Dead Men Don’t Smoke Marijuana by the late beloved Sierra Leonean singer/guitarist S.E. Rogie.  

The legendary Master Musicians of Jajouka journeyed from their village in Morocco’s southern Rif mountain range to record Jajouka Between the Mountains, the album they would later deem their personal best. Nigeria’s King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal I magicked the fizzing, beats-driven Talazo Fuji Music Party! in a recording session done on-the-fly, and against the clock. Senegalese A-lister Omar Pene & Super Diamano delivered Direct From Dakar in the cathedral-like Big Room, with its vast windows, wrap-around console desk and tranquil water view.

Each artist was made to feel part of the recording process: physically, psychologically and professionally. 

“The musicians were integral to the production team,” says Gabriel, who co-founded the WOMAD festival in 1982. “This made it harder for the engineer but it meant you got a great feeling and better performances.”

Essential to the quality of each recording, to facilitating peak performances, were the world-class and increasingly world-renowned producers in situ at the Studios, and/or convening for the celebrated Real World Recording Week: Tchad Blake (Tom Waits, U2). Daniel Lanois (Bob Dylan, Brian Eno). Peter Walsh (Scott Walker, Pulp). 

So it was for Farafina, who’d only just KO-ed the crowds at the 1992 WOMAD festival when they rolled in to Real World for Recording Week — a seven-day extravaganza of recording sessions by artists made album-ready by intensive touring. Recording Week was a musical holiday camp, a creative safe space free from the demands of major labels and A&R departments. Musicians and producers lived on-site, connecting, collaborating, eating together. Exploring the possibilities of performance. 

Daniel Lanois was unaware of Farafina and their aural might (just as Farafina were unaware of Lanois) when he found himself producing one-half of the seminal Fasou Denou in the oak-panelled Wood Room (the American-Panamanian drummer Billy Cobham produced the other half).

“Farafina’s sound came at you like a moving building,” remembers the French-Canadian Lanois, a multiple Grammy-winner. “Their tapestry of melodies and textures had a real rock energy. You’d think it couldn’t possibly go any higher then up it would go another ten pegs. We all just went along for the ride.”

Longtime Real World engineer Richard Evans was there. “Dan is one of the finest producers I’ve worked with but this album in particular stands out,” he says. “Within ten minutes of walking into the studio he had the band bouncing off the walls, believing that they were making the album of their career. And they were! 

“Recording Week was like that,” he continues. “You’d get a gigging band in terrific shape coming into a place with highly competent people and great acoustics and equipment, needing to record an album really quickly. This sense of urgency gave a real positive energy.”

An upbeat ambience was a priority for Tchad Blake, producing S.E Rogie’s mellow, heartfelt Dead Men Don’t Smoke Marijuana in the Big Room and the smaller upstairs Work Room, Peter Gabriel’s personal studio, over several weeks in early 1994.

“For music like this the most important thing is to get your energy in a positive state,” says the Texan-born Blake, a multiple Grammy winner. “Especially in the Big Room. It was a lot of fun to be in the same space as Rogie and [English bass player] Danny Thompson, feeling the emotion. 

“You can’t troubleshoot sounds easily until after the fact so it’s a trade-off,” he continues. “But I’m one of those people who’ll just keep going if something goes wrong. I know I can add an arrangement change or find a little sound — a drum, a bell — that works in a really cool way.” 

In this instance, runnings were smooth: “Rogie was like a long lost granddad. I loved the man. We would sit down and he’d let me know what he wanted to convey with each song. Nothing fancy. He was all about telling stories from home in Sierra Leone and making great music. 

“With the right sound, which we got, it was an unbeatable combination.” 

Rogie was particularly enthralled by Blake’s signature recording device — a dark grey Surrealist stylisation of a human head (with ears but no eyes), inside of which two microphones create the 3D effect of being at the same place as the recording.

“When I first put the binaural dummy head in front of him he roared with laughter,” remembers Blake of Rogie, who passed away later that same year. “He told me it was definitely a friendly spirit from his village.” 

That same 1995 Recording Week saw Dave Bottrill invited to produce King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal I following the band’s storming live debut at WOMAD. Space was at a premium and timing was tight. The subsequent eight-hours-late arrival of Wasiu Ayinde and his 16-strong line up meant Bottrill had to think fast.

“We didn’t have time to experiment,” he says. “I ran around the Big Room placing microphones. There were percussion instruments I’d never seen before. I’d ask where the sound came up then go, ‘Okay, I’ll put a microphone here, and over here’. 

The studios’ extraordinary technology has always been at the service of the musician. “My goal was never to let the technology overwhelm the performance,” continues Bottrill, “and with such incredible equipment it didn’t. Luckily the band was so fit from touring we knew we could just set them up and let them go. They were awesome. Everybody — me, the band, the band’s entourage, a small audience of friends and other musicians there for Recording Week — was dancing, digging it. 

“It was an eye-opening experience for me, a real learning curve. It could have been a nightmare, but somehow the whole thing just took off.” 

Peter Walsh had recently completed front-of-house mixing for Peter Gabriel’s Secret World live tour and co-producing the Grammy-winning album Secret World Live when he took part in the 1995 Recording Week. He found himself in the Big Room with Senegalese superstar Omar Pene, a singer and bandleader then at the height of his career. 

“I remember that Omar and I seemed to hold each other in high regard, and also that his band had a lot of musical elements,” says Walsh of Super Diamono, which was touring as an eight-piece and had expanded to include two UK-based horn players. 

“At that point they were like an engine, percussive and rhythmic. My job was to simplify, to make them more palatable for home listening while keeping the authenticity, to recreate the excitement of a live show while making the flavours more distinctive.” 

“But I remember the Big Room was full of screens and microphones and with the lights turned down, looking out over the millpond at dusk, just felt incredibly intimate. It was the kind of experience we live for.”

Real World Studios has long been a landmark location for capturing the outstanding performances at the heart of great music. And indeed, great African music. From Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone; Morocco, Nigeria and Senegal: six acts. Six classic albums. 

If ever proof were needed, this is it.

Words by Jane Cornwell

All six albums in the Africa Sessions at Real World series will be released on coloured LP and CD on 24 June 2022. They are available to pre-order now via the Real World Store individually, or in a specially priced bundle deals which include a Real World Studios ‘Blueprint design’ limited edition bag or t-shirt.

Order on CD & LP