Watch Out!

ジミヘンやディープ・パープルに影響を受けたジンバブエの知られざるヘヴィーロック!激レアな7インチをコンパイルしたサイケロック・ファン待望の一枚。

アメリカでヒッピー時代が終焉を迎えた頃、第二の60年代が始まった。現在のジンバブエ、当時のローデシアでは、若者たちがヒッピーの理想とヘンドリックスやディープ・パープルのサウンドにインスピレーションを得たロックンロールのカウンターカルチャーを生み出していったのだ。シーンの若者たちは、その影響力を肌で感じていたため、自分たちの音楽を「ヘヴィー」と呼び、その予想通り彼らの音楽はザンビアからナイジェリアまで広く響き渡っていく70年代半ばの絶頂期、ヘヴィロック・シーンは、あらゆる人種や社会的背景を持つ何万人もの若い進歩主義者を結集させた。ローデシアではアフリカにおける白人支配の最後の砦の一つであり、ヘヴィロック・ミュージシャンたちは人種隔離法や秘密警察に抵抗し、民主的な変革を求めて立ち上がっていった。ウェルズ・ファーゴはそんなシーンの最前線に立ち、このアルバムのタイトル曲「Watch Out」はカウンターカルチャーのアンセムとなっていく。ロックとファンク、そしてジンバブエの民族音楽的なメロディーを織り交ぜたこれらの楽曲は、彼らがリリースした45回転レコードから選曲されたもの。当時はジンバブエ以外では流通しなかったものだという。それらの楽曲をまとめたものを2017年にUS〈Now-Again〉が復刻し、大いに話題となったが、そのレコードもすでに廃盤。それ以来となるリイシューはまさに歓喜だ。

Set against the backdrop of a turbulent civil war, Rhodesian combo Wells Fargo emerged at the vanguard of their country's mid-'70s heavy rock scene. In retrospect, the irony of the band's name is not lost on founder/drummer Ebba Chitambo, who first saw it printed on the side of a stagecoach in an American cowboy comic book. Attracted to the Western outlaw image, he was at the time unaware that his funky guitar rock outfit would be sharing their name with a major American financial institution. Along with his like-minded bandmates, guitarists George Phiri and Handsome Mabhiza, and bassist Never Mpofu, Chitambo took inspiration from guitar-based English and American acts like Deep Purple, Jethro Tull, and especially Jimi Hendrix. Melding South African sensibilities with hard rock influence Wells Fargo quickly became a leading light of the country's burgeoning heavy rock movement thanks in particular to their politically charged signature song "Watch Out." The covertly coded independence anthem quickly became a live favorite and, as the single snuck through Rhodesian radio sensors, a national rallying cry for the emerging counterculture. During their '70s rock reign, Wells Fargo were signed to Afro Soul, a South African label run by liberal white Rhodesians sympathetic to the band's plight. While a long-player never materialized, the band released a smattering of singles throughout the decade and they're collected here for the first time. Wells Fargo and other acts of the heavy rock movement generally treated records as promotion for their concerts, and what appears on disc is truly a document of a tight live combo preserved in the amber of their moment in time. There are no overdubs and what few guitar effects (wah, echo) there are were obviously part of the band's live gig as they barrel through highlights like "Love of My Life," "The Crowd," and the funky "Love Is the In Thing." Curiously, all but one track are sung in English, marking the dichotomy between white rock's influence and the nation's battle to end white rule. When independence was finally won in 1980 and Rhodesia became modern-day Zimbabwe, Wells Fargo shifted their musical focus to more traditional African themes, but Chitambo always saw them as a rock band first, and the 11 tracks featured here are a direct document of this unique period in time. ~ Timothy Monger