| Bringin' It All Back Home | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1985 | |||
| Genre | Texas blues, African folk music | |||
| Length | 35:17 | |||
| Label | Rounder [1] | |||
| Producer | Dan Doyle | |||
| Johnny Copeland chronology | ||||
| ||||
Bringin' It All Back Home is an album by the American musician Johnny Copeland. [2] [3] It was released in 1985. [4] Copeland supported the album with a North American tour. [5]
Copeland recorded the album in March 1984 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, where he collaborated with African musicians. [6] [7] It was produced by his manager, Dan Doyle. [8] Bringin' It All Back Home is considered the first time an American blues musician recorded an album in Africa. [9] Copeland decided to record there after his 1982 tour of the continent; many of the album's songs were inspired by the trek. [10] [11] Copeland included African percussion and the kora on many of the tracks. [12]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [13] |
| Robert Christgau | B+ [14] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [15] |
| MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide | [4] |
Robert Christgau wrote that the band "finds a groove somewhere between an airborne Congolese rumba and a Gulf Coast shuffle with some tricky dance figures thrown in." [14] The Chicago Tribune noted that "African rhythms and instruments wind their way in and out of Copeland's more familiar Texas blues, sometimes seeming exotic, other times seeming perfectly normal." [16] The New York Times stated that Copeland "sings with a strong, persuasive urgency," and concluded that he "comfortably extended his reach by working with an African rhythm section." [17]
The Globe and Mail determined that "the singer-guitarist's music at its best moves, and the accompanying horn and rhythm sections here prove a cumbersome weight on the motion." [18] The Toronto Star deemed the album "compelling listening, an almost off-handed synthesis of African roots music and raw, elemental blues." [10]
All tracks are written by Johnny Copeland except where noted
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Kasavubu" | 5:20 | |
| 2. | "The Jungle" | 3:29 | |
| 3. | "Ngote" | T.P. Polyrhythmo | 8:15 |
| 4. | "Djeli, Djeli Blues" | Djeli Mousa | 1:09 |
| 5. | "Djeli, Djeli Blues" (Continued) | Mousa | 2:12 |
| 6. | "Abidjan" | 3:37 | |
| 7. | "Bozalimalamu" | 3:14 | |
| 8. | "Same Thing" | 3:53 | |
| 9. | "Conakry" | 4:08 | |
| Total length: | 35:17 | ||
Musicians
Technical
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