Francis Bebey

Francis Bebey studied at University of Paris. The recorded working language is French. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are makossa, electronic music and jazz. Employment is recorded with UNESCO. Works named in the authority record are Agatha Moudio's Son. Distinctions recorded are Grand prix littéraire en poésie d'Afrique noire.

Francis Bebey was born in Douala, Cameroon, on 15 July 1929. Bebey attended college in Douala, where he studied mathematics, before studying broadcasting at the University of Paris. He moved to the United States and continued to study broadcasting at New York University. In 1957, Bebey moved to Ghana at the invitation of Kwame Nkrumah, and took a job as a broadcaster.

In the early 1960s, Bebey moved to France and started work in the arts, establishing himself as a musician, sculptor, and writer. He was also the first African musician to use electric keyboards and programmable drum machines which he set alongside traditional African instruments. His most popular novel was Agatha Moudio's Son. While working at UNESCO from 1961 to 1974, he was able to become the head of the music department in Paris. This job allowed him to research and document traditional African music. Bebey released his first album in 1969 and would go on to release over 20 albums on Ozileka, between 1975 and 1997. His music was primarily guitar-based, but he integrated traditional African instruments and synthesizers as well. His style merged Cameroonian makossa with classical guitar, jazz, pop, and electronics, and was considered by critics to be groundbreaking, "intellectual, humorous, and profoundly sensual". He sang in Duala, English, and French. Bebey helped launch the career of Manu Dibango. He also had a major role in popularizing the ndehu, a one-note bamboo flute created by the Central African pygmies. Bebey conducted field research among pygmy tribes, focusing especially on their musical traditions.

Bebey wrote novels, poetry, plays, tales, short stories, and nonfiction works. He began his literary career as a journalist in the 1950s and at one time worked as a journalist in Ghana and other African countries for the French radio network, Société de radiodiffusion de la France d'outre-mer (SORAFOM). Bebey wrote poetry, including "Black Tears" (1963), a poem dedicated to the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. His first novel, Le Fils d'Agatha Moudio (Agatha Moudio's Son), was published in 1967 and awarded the Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire in 1968; it remains his best-known work. His novel, L'Enfant pluie (The Child of Rain), published in 1994, was awarded the Prize Saint Exupéry. In addition to exploring childhood and adult experiences in his works, Bebey also wrote tales drawn from the African oral tradition.

• Concert Pour Un Vieux Masque, LP, Philips, 1968 • Savannah Georgia, LP, Fiesta Records, 1975 • Guitare D'Une Autre Rime, LP, Ozileka, 1975 • La Condition Masculine, LP, Ozileka, 1976 • Fleur Tropicale, LP, Ozileka, 1976 • Je Vous Aime Zaime Zaime, LP, Ozileka, 1977 • Ballades Africaines, LP, Ozileka, 1978 • Priere Aux Masques. LP, Ozileka, 1979 • Un Petit Ivoirien, LP, Ozileka, 1979 • Afrikanischer Frühling, LP, Marifon, 1980 • Haïti - Guitar Music Trio, LP, Ozileka, 1981 • Bia So Nika, LP, Ozileka, 1981 • Africa Sanza, Ozileka, 1982 • New Track, Ozileka, 1982 • Pygmy Love Song, LP, Editions Makossa, 1982 • Super Bebey - Vingt Plages Ensoleillées, 2xLP, Ozileka, 1983 • Sanza Nocturne, Ozileka, 1984 • Akwaaba: Music For Sanza, Original Music, 1984 • Le Solo De Bruxelles, LP, Ozileka, 1985 • Heavy Ghetto, Anti Apartheid Makossa, LP, Ozileka, 1985 • Si Les Gaulois Avaient Su!, LP, Blue Silver, 1986 • Baobab, LP, Volume, 1988 • African Woman, LP, Volume, 1988 • World Music Guitar, CD, Ozileka, 1992 • Sourire De Lune, CD, Ozileka, 1996

• Rire Africain, Ozileka, 1981 • Nadolo / With Love - Francis Bebey Works: 1963–1994, CD, Original Music, 1995 • African Electronic Music 1975–1982, LP/CD, Born Bad Records, 2011 • Psychedelic Sanza 1982–1984, LP/CD, Born Bad Records, 2014 • La Condition Masculine, CD, Sonodisc

Source: • La Radiodiffusion en Afrique noire, 1963 (English translation: Broadcasting in Black Africa) • Le Fils d'Agatha Moudio, 1967 (English translation: Agatha Moudio's Son) • Embarras & Cie: nouvelles et poèmes, 1968 • Trois petits cireurs, 1972 (English translation: Three Little Shoeshine Boys) • La Poupée Ashanti, 1973 (English translation: The Ashanti Doll) • Le Roi Albert d'Effidi, 1976 (English translation: King Albert) • Musique de l'Afrique, 1969 (English translation: African Music: A People's Art) • Le Ministre et le griot, 1992 (English translation: The Minister and the Griot) • L'Enfant pluie, 1994 (English translation: Rain Child)

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