Francis Bebey R.I.P

Farewell to Cameroon's avant-garde music sage

Paris 

31/05/2001 - 

You don't have to be a committed African music fan to hum the chorus to Agatha or La Condition Masculine, which just goes to show what a huge impact Francis Bebey, writer, poet, musicologist, sage and all-round humorist made on the international music scene.

Throughout his consistently varied career Cameroonian superstar Francis Bebey got to indulge most of his multiple facets, writing songs, poetry and researching music as well as fronting UNESCO's media sector (before he resigned from his high-flying job to devote himself full-time to music, that is). Even if you cast a brief glance back over the career of "Bebey-the-musician", you'll find an astonishingly eclectic array of work to remember the man by!

Bebey, a fiercely independent songwriter and musician keen on breaking new ground and broadening horizons, was one of the first people to adopt the home studio as a modus vivendi - and that was back in the days before home studios had properly been invented! Back in the 70s the forward-thinking Cameroonian opted out of the professional studio system and banished 'artistic directors' from his life, transforming his tiny Parisian apartment into an experimental music laboratory. Slaving away over synthesisers, Moogs and various rhythm boxes, Bebey established a reputation as a pioneer of new sounds as he fused his velvet-soft or cheekily bantering vocals with catchy rhythms and electronic beats.

The technology of the day was basic to say the least and listening to Bebey's early albums today will provoke condescending smiles and raised eyebrows from modern techno fans. But no-one can deny the extent of Bebey's musical ambition. In any case, the Cameroonian humorist generally limited his basic electro accompaniment to comic numbers or songs where the lyrics were of primary importance. After all, when it came to stirring up a real musical sensation Bebey would whip out his 12-string guitar and impress everyone with his acoustic skills.

Like many other African musicians of his generation such as his compatriot Manu Dibango, Bebey drew his musical inspiration from three principal sources: French chanson, American jazz and traditional African music. In an interview he gave to the monthly music mag. "Afro-Music" in 1977 Bebey emphasised the importance of the latter, however.

"I do listen to a lot of jazz,"Bebey admitted, "But it's not my real source of inspiration. In fact, I think it's fair to say that our American brothers looked to Africa for inspiration when they created jazz in the first place. Personally, I prefer to draw inspiration from the original source – that's to say, the forests of my native Africa. If you ask me, one of the greatest musical riches we have in the world today is the voice of the African Pygmies. I've spent a lot of time listening to the incredible voices of those little men and I'm currently trying to find a way of working them into modern music. Even though it's not exactly on the same scale, this sort of musical 'integration' is very similar to what Bela Bartok was attempting to do (in the realm of classical music)."

And just to think, this interview came out a full twenty years before Deep Forest came up with the idea of fusing Pygmy vocals with electro beats! The thing is, back in those days there were very few African musicians who believed in the potential of their traditional heritage. "You have to remember," Bebey pointed out tactfully, "that we were a colonised people! For decades on end we were taught to despise our traditional cultural values. These days it seems to me that young Africans are slowly rediscovering their history. But it's a process that will require a lot of time. Looking at things from a purely musical point of view, young singers and musicians are finally giving up their habit of copying what's going on in America and discovering the wealth of African sounds." At that very moment Bebey's own son, Toups, was crawling around amongst his father's synthesiser wires, soaking up African influences for the future.

Keeping his distance from the media spotlights, Francis Bebey represented a still point of wisdom in the madly spinning music world. Ferociously independent and unwilling to make any kind of compromise to the demands of record companies or show bizz, Bebey devoted himself to music with a passion. Because for him, music was not a profession one fell into, but a heartfelt vocation. Music was an integral part of Bebey's life in the same way literature and poetry were.

Twenty years before his death Cameroon's national music sage declared, "I've always given priority to writing exactly the kind of music I wanted to write when I wanted to write it. I've thrown myself into it body and soul and followed my instincts. And if there's a public out there willing to follow me down the roads I choose to travel - however tortuous and stony they may be - then I consider myself a happy man! And if there isn't, too bad, I'll continue my route alone!" Needless to say, that's something the late great Bebey never had to do.

Jean-Jacques Dufayet

Francis Bebey's last albums:
Diblye (Next Musique, 1997)
Travail au noir (Newt Musique/Sonodisc, 1997)
Works 63-94 (Original Music, 1995).