Fela Kuti - Army Arrangement

Fela Ransome Kuti & Africa 70's 1975 release
Army Arrangement
A Re-issue from Knitting Factory Records

Bill Laswell’s mix of Fela's 1985 album, Army Arrangement for the Celluloid label was an act of gross cultural-arrogance. With Fela in jail on trumped up currency-smuggling charges when the time came to make the final mix, the label approached Dennis Bovell . But Bovell was unavailable and so Celluloid house producer Bill Laswell was drafted in. Laswell was contemptuous of the album. In an interview with Musician magazine, he was quoted as saying: “All of Fela’s horn solos were abysmal (and) were erased…We mixed the LP in five minutes, as a favor…You can talk about Africa and fucking politics for days, but the fact is that keyboard player Bernie Worrell and drummer Sly Dunbar, drafted in by Laswell are high-grade musicians and Fela’s in jail.” Friends smuggled a cassette of Laswell’s version inside to Fela. Listening to it, he said later, was "worse than being in prison.” A Pulse Nigeria reviewer described Army Arrangement as a "riveting political critique of the Nigerian military government and laced with swashbuckling instrumentation". It was considered alongside Unknown Soldier and Beasts of No Nation as one of Kuti's trifectas; "three consecutive top quality, universally acclaimed and commercially successful albums"

Side One is Army Arrangement Instrumental 
Side Two is Army Arrangement Vocal

Brand New SEALED LP from Knitting Factory Records courtesy of Kalakuta Sunrise