for this album, ebo joined forces with 12-piece band ‘the pelikans’ — from the cape coast region of ghana — led by bessa simmona, with rhythm guitarist fifi orleans lindsay. a genuine ‘holy-grail’ of ghanaian music and one of ebo’s most saught-after.
the album was released on the small abookyi label. named after a nightclub they played in called pelikans, and sung in english and fante, this was the first album where ebo sang on tracks, such as the classic ‘come along’, on which he also plays keyboard. this song clearly defined a new direction in highlife and has become a ghanaian funk anthem. ‘come along’ formed the basis of sadat x’s ‘remember that’ hip hop jam from 2011.
this official mr bongo re-issue is packaged in our new & improved heavyweight ‘tip-on’ sleeves, printed in japan, pressed on high quality vinyl, audio restored to the best of our ability, with label designs and artwork as per the original release.

known for housing a famous beastie boys sample, the reissue of the 1975 funk and fusion classic funk factory brings peerless polish and american players together for a groovy, eccentric journey. it was an album cut from this lp that captured a particular corner of the music-geek imagination for more than 40 years: “rien ne va plus,” from the self-titled 1975 album, had its reckoning with the canon when the dust brothers sampled major chunks of it for beastie boys’ “car thief.” “rien ne va plus” is a banger, all post-head hunters springy synth-bass. as for the rest of the album, funk factory can stray pretty far into the cheerier excesses of prog-jazz. it emphasizes the alluring strangeness of its more experimental moments, like the hallucinogenic haunted-house tour of “lilliput” or the banshee james brown vocal riffs on “horsing around.” “rien ne va plus” remains the top highlight. this album is proof that a core of musicians schooled in jazz but culturally steeped in the folk and classical traditions of eastern europe could, at least once, put out something that fit well with the crossover sound of the times while being unafraid to dive into freeform weirdness.
pressing on 180 gram audiophile vinyl.