Featured Artists: Thomas Mapfumo, drums, vocals/Robert Nekati, bass, vocals/Patrick Kabanda, drums/Daram Karanga, trumpet/Wilson Jubane, guitar/Abdulah Musa, guitar/Joshua Hlomayi Dube, guitar/Robson Boora, sax

"The Lion of Zimbabwe," Thomas Mapfumo, is Zimbabwe’s biggest star, one of the most legendary and best-selling African artists of all time. In 1973, Mapfumo helped form the Hallelujah Chicken Run Band and, for the first time, began to shift his music away from Western-influenced rock and explore the traditional music of his Shona people, transcribing the scale of the traditional instrument mbira (or thumb piano) to guitar with his guitarist Joshua Dube. The HCR Band was one of the first to develop the staccato style of guitar for which Zimbabwe is known today, and was also one of the first modern groups to sing in the traditional Shona language – a major act of liberation and an act of protest against the Rhodesian government. This compilation presents 18 of the Hallelujah Chicken Run Band’s biggest and most influential hits, recorded from 1974–1979 and all painstakingly remastered. A series of singles in Shona by the HCR Band recorded by Teal Records (many of which are found here) produced eight gold records in a row beginning in 1974! Take One is a wonderful mixture of songs of liberation alongside poignant love songs. Carefully prepared 24-page booklet is absolutely overflowing with a complete history of the band (edited by renowned critic Banning Eyre), a full detailed discography, and numerous extremely rare photographs and artifacts.
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Artist biography from last.fm