The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hi all,

I recently discovered the remarkable JOE series of 78s which HMV released for the Ethiopian market during the 1950s. While I admit that African music in general does not do much for me, I had absolutely no idea of how great most of these records were (and still are!) until some uploaded digital transfers of them popped up in my YouTube recommended music feed about two months ago.

However, I am at a loss as to obtaining more information about the JOE series itself, as well as getting further knowledge of who the musicians were who recorded for the label and what their songs are about. Does anyone on this Forum speak Amharic/Somali (or at least know someone who does) who might be willing to translate some of the songs? Does anyone reading this actually own any JOE 78s that they would be willing to transfer and upload? And finally, does anyone know if the entire JOE series is available for listening anywhere else other than YouTube?

Further reading about Somali 78s can be found here https://excavatedshellac.com/2020/07/15 ... 8-rpm-era/, as well as an mp3 sample of JOE 46 ("Dahier", by Ahmed Ahwad & Choir).

Any and all help in this matter is GREATLY appreciated. Thanks!!

UPDATE: A playlist of eight currently digitized JOE records can be accessed at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... wlmmh6YwJUU

Paul Vernon had a bunch of articles about ethnic music recording in the 78rpm era. Just google for that, and you may find something interesting. At least some years ago these articles could be found... I printed some of them in the late 90s.

I have a number of African covers, mostly HMV and Columbia, in reserve for a future CLPGS "Covers Covered" article.