Baba N'gani

Haruna Ishola Adebayo was born in 1919 in Ijebu-Igbo, in what is now known as Ogun State, Nigeria. His interest in music was awoken by his father, who was a native doctor and a singer. He started earning a living as a musician from 1944, and recorded his first record, titled "Orimolusi Adeboye" in praise of the Oba (ruler) of Ijebu-Igbo, in 1948. Sales were however disappointing, and it wasn't until 1955 that he made another recording, this time for Decca Records, but in praise of the same man, who in the meantime had passed away. The record proved to be the key to fame.

In 1969 he teamed up with juju-master I.K. Dairo to create their own record company, Star Records. They were the first African musicians to do so. His biggest hit on this label was the 1971 album "Oriki Social Club", which sold over 5 million copies.

Haruna Ishola, nicknamed Baba N'gani Agba, reached an almost mythical status, even during his lifetime. He was made a Member of the Order of Niger (M.O.N.) by the then president Shehu Shagari in 1981.
Haruna Ishola died on November 9, 1983.

The lp I am posting here contains a collection of tracks from the late 1960s. Technically Star Records could record tracks of up to 7 minutes. In the early 1970s, with the introduction of larger reels came the evolution into longer tracks, as in the lp I have posted earlier.

SRPS 39 (new link Febr 24, 2012)