Live!

I enjoy the misc. it’s funky and fun. I’m not a fan of his voice. Sounded like he was mostly yelling.

Too boring, just not my cup of tea with this funky jazz or what it is

Fela, Fela, Fela. Always so fun to listen to his records. I wish I could have seen one of these live performances in person; what an energy they must have had. The music is fun, engaging, enlightening and inspiring. Usually always puts me in a good mood.

tons of great fela live ones. i'd have preferred one w/o the insanely long drum solo at the end. love both baker and allen. still

Pretty solid, but not sure why a live album was chosen as their only album on the list.

будто в прокуреном джазовом баре

Absolute vibe

Enjoyed

phenomenal at times, but some of the jams are not that interesting and pretty long

I can respect that it was good music, it just wasn’t my thing.

Day1013 - sounds like it would have been a good night to be in berlin

I was already familiar with this album. It has a really great beat throughout. It is a nice melding of styles into something that is completely its own thing. My only real gripe is that the whole thing sounds kind of the same. Don't get me wrong, I like it, but it kind of seems like 45 minutes of the same thing. I would listen again but have to be in the mood.

Have the album. Very good album but certainly not my favorite Fela Kuti album. Ginger Baker is just too much for me.

Easy listening

Really good of course - there's so much texture and detail in every moment. I hate to say it but I think ending on a very long drum solo is a downer? Drum solos are technically impressive but you don't close with it - need to cleanse yourself with some normal instruments after. I wonder if Ginger Baker was an asshole offstage. 4 stars because I heard the other Fela album first so this one was less exciting.

Pretty good stuff had never heard of this one before, but it is going to get added to the rotation. Plus, it has Ginger Baker.

Funky jazzy afrobeats. Actually rather good and beautifully played live

Another live album… eurgh… To be fair, this was pleasant enough. I am encouraged to listen to his studio albums as a result of it, but probably won’t listen to this one again

The individual tracks are too long to retain interest.

But boring.

Getting marked down for the bonus track 16 minutes drum solo

Some exceptional drumming

Thoroughly enchanting listen. Great for unwinding one’s brain after a stressful day at a seasonal farm inhaling the exhaust of one’s tractor-driven kids ride.

Really fun album. I think better than his Zombie album. The drum solo is fun for about 10 minutes, but drags on the last 10 minutes. 4.5 out of 5.

I've never heard of Fela Kuti. I have heard of Ginger Baker as a drummer with Cream and probably others. I know he's supposed to have a rep as a great drummer. Looks like the original album only had four songs so I'm going to review just those four songs Curious how this goes... Most of this is pretty fun and energetic. The funky horns and drumming gives me some James Brown vibes. But combine that with a jam band and jazz and African beats. And lyrics in an african I wish these all weren't so long. I'm not sure if listen to them very often because of this. But I ended up liking 2 out of the 4 songs on this one - the first 2 songs "Let's Start" and "Black Man's Cry" Liked songs on Spotify: 2/4 Rating: 3/5

Tho this doesn't prove that Ginger Baker is the great drummer of the 20th century (he's not - Tony Williams almost certainly is), it does prove that he could 'hang.' Most 'rock' musician can't transition from their home genre to other expressions. Shit, most can't e'en play their base genre, which is the unadulterated blues, i.e., I'm thinking of Clapton. But Ginger could, & he should be celebrated for that. Yet, Live! isn't all or at all 'bout Ginger - it's 'bout Fela & the band that redefined international music. It's weird to review an album like it. To some degree, it's just another Fela release, & I don't know enuf 'bout his catalogue to judge it relatively. All I know is what I hear - & that's the magic of a master arranger whose rhythms are a conscience.

++: Let's Start, Black Man's Cry, Ye Ye De Smell +: Egbe Mi O (Carry Me I Want to Die) 9,0/10

Nice sound and some jams

Fela Kuti is one of the most important artists of the rock era, popularizing the Afro-Jazz scene and creating some extraordinarily euphoric dance-inducing protest music. This album is one of many classics from the 1968-75ish era. Give it a listen.

We simply do not deserve Fela Kuti. There are few better Highlights: Black Man's Cry, Ye Ye De Smell

I'm an amateur drummer who gets bored if the drums become too... Self-centered. But this is all around great. It's quite the experience even in 2026, can hardly imagine how this hit back in 1971

Endelig noe originalt. Men å ha en 15 minutter lang trommesolo som eget spor på plata blir litt for originalt for min smak.

This was fun — I liked the live aspect and Fela is/was a very entertaining performer. I think the only downsides were that the music itself was a bit repetitive and the drum solo at the end wasn't really my thing.

i can't believe this is the fela kuti album the book guy picked, fela is so important and i could not give a fuck about ginger bakers long ass boring solos

I wanted to like this more than I actually did, I think. The repetitive bassline on "Black Man's Cry" drove me crazy. Loved the looooong drum section.

There's something about a great live album that really gets me going, and this one from Fela Kuti is no different. It's less of a collection of songs and more like an ongoing jam, with an audience of 150 packed into Abbey Road Studios and grooves that just don't stop. About half way through, Fela Kuti brings in legendary drummer Ginger Baker, and an already electric performance starts to really blow the roof off the place, resulting in a listening experience that transcends the continental boundaries. All in all, this is the music of togetherness, of a wartorn country that is able to express itself for once without fear, and I'm blown away by the technical prowess on display here. Superb.

I liked the studio album by Fela Kuti a little more than this one, but it’s still quite good.

That was a nice listen. I find the comment that Ginger Baker was on “only” two songs considering that equals about 40% of the album length!

This is a great jam! However, recorded parties rarely make you feel frenetic… it’s not the same if you weren’t there.

Great percussion. This was a very high quality live recording for the time. Not a big fan of long duration from solos though.

Fela Kuti ! Enfin, j'attendais un de ses albums ! Alors, c'est encore un live, je sais pas pourquoi on a autant d'albums live dans la liste, mais qu'importe, on a du Fela Kuti ! On parle quand même d'un gars qui a une discographie longue comme le bras, sans grosse baisse de régime. Fela Kuti, c'est tout simplement le fondateur de l'afrobeat, mélange de jazz et de funk avec des influences musicales africaines, selon l'origine de qui le pratique (si j'ai tout bien suivi). On parle aussi d'un gars qui a passé son temps à défier la dictature militaire dans son pays (avec des conséquences parfois funestes...) et qui a même tenté de présenter sa candidature à la présidentielle du Nigéria. Bref, Fela Kuti, c'est le goat et je chante ses louanges dès maintenant, parce que je suis pas certain d'avoir un autre album de lui dans la liste. Et donc ce live, c'est avant tout une énergie monstrueuse. Fela Kuti est à fond, suivi par son groupe qui l'est tout autant. C'est simple : j'ai déjà écouté beaucoup de ses albums studios, mais jamais un live. Et je dois dire que l'énergie est décuplée dans le contexte d'un concert. C'est une folie. On a aussi la présence de l'ancien batteur de Cream, bien annoncée dès la pochette, mais il ne vole certainement pas la vedette (et il n'était clairement pas là pour ça), il est même assez discret. Ah et aussi, à la fin, il y a un solo de batterie qui dure presque 17 minutes, mais qui étais pas sur le disque original et qui n'est même pas issu du même concert (il date de 1978, si je ne m'abuse). Je ne le compte pas dans ma note, parce qu'il casse un peu l'énergie de l'album, en plus. Bon, par contre, il va falloir qu'on m'explique. Parce que je n'en suis qu'à mon troisième album d'un artiste africain et sur les trois, deux impliquent un invité blanc (le premier étant l'album d'Ali Farka Touré). Est-ce que Robert Dimery a peur que les lecteur refusent d'écouter un artiste africain si ça n'implique pas au moins un blanc ? Trouve-t-il que ça ne ferait pas sérieux ? Tant de questions qui resteront sûrement sans réponse.

Right outta the gate the music hit me. I had never heard of Fela before, nor did I listen to much jazz, and I didn't know Afro Beat. This is the first 5 I'm giving because it truly feels like it belongs in this list. I don't want Bowie, Dylan, or anybody else I've heard of 1001 times already. GIVE ME MORE LIKE FELA, THE PEOPLE NEED IT. 5/5 - It made me feel something.

Good album

They do the thing they want to do, and we get to listen. Wie einfach, wie mitnehmend. Gefällt mir gut

Padre, lo de jazz

Ok. Let’s start was better than the others. I guess.

love it just sounds so fun

The instrumentals were good ig. Did not really in off all of the songs were SO long I was over it by song 3.

Groovy and fun but not really my thing. This shit would go hard if it was live though I can't lie, I think I'd be super into it.

soms mocht het wat minder uitgesponnen zijn

Many moons since I heard Zombie by Fela Kuti. Live! (or Fela With Ginger Baker Live!) is a step up from what I remember. And given the release year, I'm not surprised in the slightest. 1971 was a juggernaut. Let's Start is cool as heck. I love how Kuti introduces the crowd, and the listeners at home, to the track by reading what I assume is its name in Yoruba. That part being left in the album is something you wouldn't often hear in professional live recordings in more recent years. The song itself explodes into life from the get-go, featuring a slew of excellent instrumentals underlaid by that catchy repeated bassline. We're immersed into the setting by the surround-sound mixing. The singing is pretty incredible too. Spirited, soulful, bluesy. We then embark on the first of four consecutive tracks well over 10 minutes in length. And to its credit, Black Man's Cry uses that time to great effect. Just when I worried the entire album would consist of one-chord jams, the horns and bass butt in with a descending Latin-esque chord progression that re-ignites my harmony brain. And while the vast majority of the song's solo section sticks to just one chord, that by no means acts against it. The bassline keeps everything tied down while the keyboard and drums go absolutely ham. I wonder if early Steely Dan – think Your Gold Teeth and the rest of Countdown To Ecstasy in particular – took inspiration from this record. Ye Ye De Smell (very roughly, "You're Being a Bad Friend") has some great vocal improv throughout, accompanied by plenty of textural ups and downs to keep the track sounding dynamic. Incredible drum solo at around 9 minutes in. Egbe Mi O (Carry Me) has a goofy melodic hook in the beginning section that I suspect will take a couple more listens for me to really jibe with. The solos are great, though. And that extended outro clearly excites the crowd – rightfully so. The grand finale track is a 16-minute drum solo, which definitely lacks some of the staying power that the others emanate. It's still cool though. Would've been a blast to hear it in person. I don't have much to comment on – I'm typing this at the 8-minute mark and all I can say is that I'm impressed the percussionist is hitting all those drums with different timbres in such quick succession. A cool track, and though a clear step down from its predecessors, it also isn't actually part of the original track listing. So it doesn't mar my rating much. 4/5 Key tracks: Let's Start, Black Man's Cry

Never heard of this band, so I wouldn't have picked this album as something worth listening to. Wow! Amazing drum work, especially track 4 - Ginger Baker and Tony Allen Drum Solo. 16 minutes of perfection!

Ik ging hier negatief in tbh want waarom zijn er zo ontzettend veel saaie live albums op deze lijst. Maarrr dit is wel een uitzondering. Dit is gewoon een mega funky groove, en dat vind ik wel leuk. Yeyeyey

Guess these are all amazing musicians, but this is not really my thing to be honest. Ginger Baker well known for his role in Cream but it is quite different style. It indeed swings great but the singing/shouting is not really enjoyable for me. And I skipped the 16 minute drum solo as I guess you had to be there…

It's alright, jazzy but with a flavour I quite liked

There's some really cool drum parts here from Ginger Baker here and the music is mainly cool but it's more like something you would find edgy and fun at a coffee shop but slightly banal and formless in headphones.

Afrobeat is never gonna be my favorite jazz or jazz adjacent genre, but this was funky, dance-y, and plenty jammy enough to while away an hour or so of my afternoon. It's good, probably even great, just other stuff I'd rather listen to.

Fantastic stuff from Fela Kuti as usual, but Ginger Baker pushes it over the edge.

Love Fela!

big Susan day, un sis albums nepalidz

perfektā darba mūzika

No fav song

Certainly an album ever made

Monday, 21 September, 2026 Solid Afro beats! Don’t need ginger baker.

Groooooovy God forbid a white boy get a little (16 minute) drum solo. Ginger Baker on this album cover could literally be a time traveller from present day, is it just me? Fashion cycles right around Songs always start great, then settle into a long improvvy groove that does wear a bit thin but that’s the genre I suppose

Nice funky vibe, had me tapping along whilst I was driving Probably won’t be back though Songs are quite long 3

Quite possibly my favourite live album ever. Ginger Baker is phenomenal and Fela does what Fela does best. Love this album from start to finish.

Great

I’m gonna have to look into afrobeats more

Album #204: Fela Kuti – Live (featuring Ginger Baker) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ I love Fela Kuti, despite not knowing his discography very well at all. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a song of his that I didn’t like. This was a new album to me, and it’s no exception. It’s an absolutely immense mix of genres and polyrhythmic to its core. It’s endlessly groovy. A tremendous testament to the power of repetition and colour in music. The way a bassline can just be repeated for countless bars while all this other instrumentation colours in the landscape around you. It features musicians who are the best at their chosen field. Tony Allen and Afrobeat, and Ginger Baker on the drums. No wonder Ginger felt the need to travel to Africa in order to learn more about this style. This is the most expressive rhythmic music I can think of. It completely lacks any of the pretentiousness of jazz. It’s a feeling more than music to be pondered or studied over. It doesn’t get a five because, as much as the drum solo shows virtuosity, it doesn’t have Fela Kuti or his amazing band on it. But, up to that point, it’s a marvel of an album, as good as Fela Kuti’s Zombie, which is saying a lot.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Afrobeat, funk. Det här var en kul överraskning. Inte fantastiska låtar men en riktig trumm-bonanza som sprider sig från hörlurarna ut i hela kroppen. Helt omöjligt att inte sitta still med detta på och så är det genom hela albumet. Det är så man glömmer bort att spåren är mycket långa. Det här gillar jag skarpt det får bli en 4a för det här gjorde mig på bra humör. Saknar riktigt tunga enskilda spår för att få en femma. Bäst är Ye Ye Smell, Ginger Baker & Tony Allen Drum solo.

Fela Kuti har en massiv discography. Jeg har så langt bare hørt Zombie og Expensive Shit, men har til gjengjeld hørt dem mange mange ganger. Det ligger et eller annet sted mellom jazz og funk, men med afrikansk tilnærming som får det til å swinge på en måte vestlige musikere sjeldent klarer å nærme seg. Det er som om musikken klarer å omfavne alle nøyansene av konseptet gøy. Hvordan det da samtidig klarer å være veldig politisk, er intet mindre enn et mesterstykke. Denne skiva har kanskje ikke hooksa fra Zombie eller Expensive Shit, men det er like fullt et dokument på hvordan Kuti og hans ensemble er selve kremen av musikk.

Som med en del andre artister her så har Fela Kuti vært et navn å sjekke ut og det burde jeg også her gjort lenge før. Helt rått!

2.5 Stars - pretty abstract.

Instantly funky. Funky all the way through. Absolutely love the crowd participation and the bonus drum solo at the end. highlights: black man's cry ye ye de smell ginger baker and tony allen drum solo

Another live album. Not really feeling this one either. Not bad as such, but not sure it's a must listen to. Nothing that really jumps out as essential listening really.

I'm not really big on live albums. Most of the time I feel like they're meant for people who are already fans of the artist. But, this was fine. It was kind of nice to have it on in that background when I was doing other stuff, but that'd probably be the only scenario where I would listen to it again. However, the song that was just a drum solo for over 16 minutes got quite annoying around the 7 and a half minute mark for me. I considered knocking it down from 3 stars to 2 stars just because of that song, but thought that that didn't really make much sense, since I thought that the majority of the album was fine.

very very very funky, was shaking straight tail the entire time, bonus track was awesome

1) Ye Ye De Smell 2) Black Man's Cry 3) Let's Cry Least Favourite: None Of 'Em

toooooo funky

Lots of drums

Jamais écouté avant. Top : Ye Ye De Smell Flop : Egbe Mi O (Carry Me)

Second album proposé après ‘Zombie’ (noté 2/5 - partie instrumentale très intéressante mais l’entrée du chant gâche l’écoute). Dans ce second album les cuivres et les multiples chorus sont intéressants, mais l’accompagnement est un peu répétitif. Et les morceaux sont terriblement longs, en particulier les parties chantées. Pas sur que je le réécoute ! =>2/5

Really good afrojazz.

This was pretty fun.

Fela Fela is awesome-hope to get more of his records. Zombie is a really good one. Cool to hear all the energy on the live album. I didn’t love Ginger Baker’s drumming with Cream but I dig what he does on here. Tony Allen is so great.

Fela is awesome and this was great. Feel like i gotta knock it a half point for the drum solo but at least its at the end. Not the biggest fan of ginger baker but he was pretty harmless on this record. Although my favorite ones were the ones before he showed up

This was great until the last track. I don’t understand a long drum solo.

Talented but not my style

1 hour off live music, in just five tracks? Let's gooo Fela Kuti is the absolute god of afrobeat, let's face it, and this album shows why - is just a shame it gets bogged down in overlong drum solos at the end, just give me more Fela already

Pretty enjoyable and energetic live studio album. It flew by before I even knew things were over. I've already familiarized myself with Fela Kuti's career and story when I got one of his other albums, so I recognize his impact. Great musician and social figure.

energetic, but a little repetitive in a way that I wouldn't necessarily come back to.

A papá le gustaría mucho. Quizás otro disco me guste más, está bueno pero me aburre un poco.

Another bloody live album!! I dont need introductions to every song. I really dont enjoy the organ sound of ‘Let’s Start’ and it’s just too repetitive. As the song progresses it just makes me slightly anxious. I didn’t mind the vocal parts though. ‘Black Man’s Cry’ run time 11 minutes 38…….ffs. The more percussive bits are fine (the less keys the better on this I’m learning). However very few songs will ever need to be this long and this is not one of them. Half way in the keys take the fore and all hope is lost. It feels like a battle of attrition, rather than something to be enjoyed. ‘Ye Ye De Small’ brings Ginger Baker snd the promise therefore of more drums (after a minute chat about smelly people and the fact GB takes his bath). It delivers plenty of drums, but if i’m honest there’s not a huge shift from what has come before so another overlong meander that gets more annoying as the song goes on. I didn’t mind enjoy Ginger’s drumming though. The spoken intro to ‘Egbe Mi O’ says it means “Carry me, i want to die’ which unfortunately is pretty much how I feel at this stage and Ginger Baker agress😆) The drum duet bonus track is more enjoyable than the rest, but even as someone who generally enjoys a good drum break this is just too long

I really wanted to give this 2*. I really, really did. But that drum solo ruined me.

Were each of these tracks a nice trim 4 minutes, this could have got a really good score from me as I really enjoyed the funky rhythms. But everything just drags due to the live average of 12 minute extended jaminess of it all. Fela had a very engaging voice too, but no one needs a 15 minute drum battle on a live album. Nice to know Ginger Baker didn't really smell though. Really a 2.5, but getting a 3/5

tried my best to stay open minded but i really can’t deal with songs longer than 10 minutes. i liked the first few minutes of each one but some of them dragged on

A ferocious live statement - live-in-studio or not - and a pretty phenomenal example of afrobeat. Much more jubilant than Fela's other record on this list, and it shows. Great stuff.

Really good album. Jazzy, funky, soulful. Difficult not to move when its playing. I'd love it more if it was a studio album.

275.ok