''Bringin' It All Back Home'' is an album by the American musician

Johnny Copeland John Clyde Copeland (March 27, 1937 – July 3, 1997) was an American Texas blues guitarist and singer. In 1983, he was named Blues Entertainer of the Year by the Blues Foundation. He is the father of blues singer Shemekia Copeland. In 2017, Cop ...

. It was released in 1985. Copeland supported the album with a North American tour.

Production

Copeland recorded the album in March 1984 in

Abidjan, Ivory Coast Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, ...

, where he collaborated with African musicians. It was produced by his manager, Dan Doyle. ''Bringin' It All Back Home'' is considered the first time an American blues musician recorded an album in Africa. Copeland decided to record there after his 1982 tour of the continent; many of the album's songs were inspired by the trek. Copeland included African percussion and the kora on many of the tracks.

Critical reception

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

wrote that the band "finds a groove somewhere between an airborne

Congolese rumba Congolese rumba is a popular genre of dance music that originated in the Congo basin during the 1940s, deriving from Cuban son. The style gained popularity throughout Africa during the 1960s and 1970s. It is known as Lingala in Kenya, Uganda, ...

and a Gulf Coast shuffle with some tricky dance figures thrown in." The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' noted that "African rhythms and instruments wind their way in and out of Copeland's more familiar

Texas blues Texas blues is blues music from Texas. As a regional style, its original form was characterized by jazz and swing influences. Later examples are often closer to blues rock and Southern rock. History Texas blues began to appear in the early 1900 ...

, sometimes seeming exotic, other times seeming perfectly normal." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' stated that Copeland "sings with a strong, persuasive urgency," and concluded that he "comfortably extended his reach by working with an African rhythm section." ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' 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." The ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'' deemed the album "compelling listening, an almost off-handed synthesis of African roots music and raw, elemental blues."

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians *

– guitar, vocals * Michael Merritt – bass *

Jimmy Wormworth James Edward Wormworth III (born August 14, 1937, in Utica, New York) is an American jazz drummer. He was described by Leonard Feather in 1960 edition of ''The Encyclopedia of Jazz'' as "One of the most promising young drummers on the New York scen ...

– drums * Jimmy Hyacinthe, Joel Perry, and Malina – guitars * Halial, Jean-Claude Kungnon, and Souliman Moamed – percussion * Koffi Assalé –

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

* Bert McGowan –

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

* Emmet King – trombone * Ben Bierman – trumpet * Ken Vangel – piano * Djeli Mousa – kora (tracks 4 and 5) Technical * Dan Doyle – producer,

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

* Émile Valognes and Pamphile de Souza – recording engineers * Dominique Samarcq – mixing engineer *

George Peckham George "Porky" Peckham (born 1942, Blackburn, Lancashire) is an English record engineer, widely recognised as among the most accomplished in the business. He has been responsible for producing the master discs from which many vinyl records have ...

– mastering engineer * Ken Vangel –

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

* Steve Billington – design * Albert Loudes – photography * Souleymane Coulibaly – technical assistance

References

{{reflist Johnny Copeland albums 1985 albums Rounder Records albums Texas blues albums Folk albums by American artists