Anthony Bird, better known as Tony Bird (1945 – 17 April 2019) was a Malawian born South African

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

singer-songwriter known for his

Dylanesque ''Dylanesque'' is the twelfth studio album by English singer Bryan Ferry, released on 5 March 2007 by Virgin Records. The album consists of cover versions of ten Bob Dylan songs and one traditional song that Dylan himself covered on his first ...

vocals and for his songs describing life in colonial Africa from a progressive anti-colonial point of view.

Biography

Tony Bird was born and grew up in the former colonial city of Zomba in

Nyasaland Nyasaland () was a British protectorate located in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasala ...

(now

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

) in Southern Africa. In 1970 he relocated to

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

where he made his first solo performances at the Space Theatre. Bird's unique style was reviewed favorably by the local press and promoters. He recorded two albums in the 1970s, the eponymous ''Tony Bird'' (1976) and ''Bird of Paradise'' (1978). In the 1980s Bird moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and toured internationally with

Ladysmith Black Mambazo Ladysmith Black Mambazo are a South African male choral group singing in the local vocal styles of ''isicathamiya'' and '' mbube''. They became known internationally after singing with Paul Simon on his 1986 album ''Graceland'', and have won m ...

, who covered his song "Go Willie Go". In the late 1980s Bird settled permanently in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In 1990 Bird recorded his comeback album ''Sorry Africa'', on

Rounder Records Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by Al ...

in the US and

Mountain Records Mountain Records is a record label started in Cape Town, South Africa in 1980 by Patrick Lee-Thorp. The record label produces mostly South African music and is known as the home of Cape Jazz recordings, having issued a number of albums by such nam ...

in Europe and Africa. The album was recorded at the Chocolate Factory in London and features guest musicians such as guitarists

Arlen Roth Arlen Roth (born October 30, 1952) is an American guitarist, teacher, and author. From 1982 to 1992, he was a columnist for ''Guitar Player'' magazine. Those ten years of columns became a book, ''Hot Guitar''. His father Al Ross (Abraham Roth) ...

and José Neto. ''Sorry Africa'' includes one of Bird's most popular songs, "Mango Time", which describes the happiness of the mangoes being ripe, once a year. The ''Boston Phoenix'' acoustic music critic Jon Herman once described Bird as possessing "a voice from Mars." Bird died 17 April 2019 following a battle with cancer.

Discography

Albums

* ''Tony Bird'' (

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

, 1976) * ''Bird of Paradise'' ( Columbia, 1978) * ''Sorry Africa'' (Rounder, 1990)

Singles

* "She Came From the Karoo"/"Old Man's Song" (CBS, 1976) * "Song of the Long Grass"/"Grinding Stone" (CBS, 1976) * "Bird of Paradise"/"The Cape of Flowers" (CBS, 1978) * "She Loves Someone"/"The Cape of Flowers" (CBS, 1976)

External links

* The African Activist Archive Project website includes video of the television sho
South Africa Now – Show #N108
20 September 1989, produced by Globalvision that includes a cultural segment with an interview of and performances by Tony Bird.

References

1945 births 2019 deaths Male singer-songwriters 20th-century Malawian male singers Columbia Records artists 20th-century South African male singers Malawian people of European descent Malawian emigrants to the United States {{Africa-musician-stub