Bringin' It All Back Home is an album by the American musician Johnny Copeland.[2][3] It was released in 1985.[4] Copeland supported the album with a North American tour.[5]
Production
Copeland recorded the album in March 1984 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, where he collaborated with African musicians.[6][7] It was produced by his manager, Dan Doyle.[8]Bringin' It All Back Home is considered the first time an American blues musician recorded an album in Africa.[9] Copeland decided to record there after his 1982 tour of the continent; many of the album's songs were inspired by the trek.[10][11] Copeland included African percussion and the kora on many of the tracks.[12]
Robert Christgau wrote that the band "finds a groove somewhere between an airborne Congolese rumba and a Gulf Coast shuffle with some tricky dance figures thrown in."[14] The Chicago Tribune noted that "African rhythms and instruments wind their way in and out of Copeland's more familiar Texas blues, sometimes seeming exotic, other times seeming perfectly normal."[16]The New York Times stated that Copeland "sings with a strong, persuasive urgency," and concluded that he "comfortably extended his reach by working with an African rhythm section."[17]
The Globe and Mail determined that "the singer-guitarist's music at its best moves, and the accompanying horn and rhythm sections here prove a cumbersome weight on the motion."[18] The Toronto Star deemed the album "compelling listening, an almost off-handed synthesis of African roots music and raw, elemental blues."[10]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Johnny Copeland except where noted
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