In 1952,
Pete Seeger and his fellow members of
the Weavers adapted the South African song
"Mbube" into
"Wimoweh" and were rewarded with a Top 20 hit for their trouble. Afterwards,
Seeger was approached by a South African who suggested he have a look at
the Reverend H.C.N. Williams and
J.N. Maselwa's book
African Folk Songs, containing 40 more examples of songs collected in South Africa. He employs ten of them on this album, joined by
the Song Swappers, a youthful American chorus. As with
"Wimoweh," he has, to one extent or another, "
Seeger-ized" the songs, first adding his own banjo or guitar accompaniment, and then transposing the keys in some cases, arranging them, and, for three, providing English lyrics. The result, as with
"Wimoweh," is a sort of American/South African hybrid in which tribal vocal music is rendered, sometimes phonetically, by people unfamiliar with the culture and country of origin of the music. It is not unpleasant for all of that, although none of the songs has the appeal of
"Wimoweh." Folkways, in addition to focusing on American folk music, has released many albums of indigenous music from countries around the world. This is not quite that, but rather an example of folk music developing in front of the listeners' ears. (It should be noted that on this,
Seeger's first recording of
"Abiyoyo," he and
the Song Swappers only repeat the title word over and over. It was not until 1958, on the album
Sleep-Time: Songs & Stories [later reissued as
Abiyoyo and Other Story Songs for Children], that
Seeger introduced his story-song
"Abiyoyo" employing the same tune.) ~ William Ruhlmann
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