Colin Shamley
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Colin Shamley | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Port Elizabeth, South Africa |
| Genres | Folk, Rock, Alternative folk |
| Labels | 3rd Ear Music |
Colin Shamley was a South African musician based in Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha) and a leading voice during apartheid's years of South African music as well as popular for alternative folk music during the 1970s.[1] His successes include "Katrina's Theme" from the film Katrina, "Colonial Man" and "Moonlighter".[2][3] He released an album in 1980 called Born Guilty that was very controversial as it spoke out against the injustices that occurred in South Africa. Colin Shamley performed in festivals, concerts and clubs for more than 30 years.
Biography[edit]
Colin Shamley was born in Port Elizabeth as the youngest of three children. At the age of three, his family moved to Malawi, which is wear Shamley learned to play the guitar through a crippled African singer.[2] He played alongside his brother Des and another individual on the weekends and played at parties after his brother had given him his first guitar.[4] When he turned sixteen, he performed his first public gig at the Zomba Sports Club.
Early Career[edit]
In November 1963, the family moved back to Port Elizabeth and Shamley started working at General Motors as a motor mechanic.[5] By 1966, Shamley had left his job as a motor mechanic and started writing music and performing in coffee bars.[4] Shamley struggled to make a living and was denied performing at certain venues due to the anti-government songs he performed, whereupon he decided to be a travelling musician.
By 1968, Shamley moved to Hillbrow, to move away from police pressure, and stayed at a hostel for a change to play at the Troubadour now under new management as well as Nite Beat.[6][5] During this period, he also performed at several festivals in all the major cities.[2] He struggled to receive radio airplay, or have his songs recorded as the lyrics were anti-governmental and publishers did not want to attract attention.[7] Only after the performance of one of his own compositions "Raga-muffin Girl" at a folk festival in Durban did Shamley start garnering attention from publishers.
After the Troubadour closed, the musicians that performed there either scattered to perform elsewhere or quit. Shamley moved back to Port Elizabeth and performed at the Marine Hotel to a crowd that praised his singing. During this time, Shamley also created the theme and title music for the film Katrina.[8] By 1974, Shamley started performing at outdoor festivals where rock acts were frequent and had to make adjustments to fit into the bill.[9] As these festivals became more tedious, Shamley started working on a series of farms to get away from music for a while.
After working on a few farms, Shamley returned to perform at Mangles to a few sold-out venues.[7] At the same time, Shamley got involved with the American Randy Speer that wanted to promote the musician.[10] In an attempt to go to America, he organised performances for small out-of-town shows, private shows and South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) to appear for a half-hour television special that was very successful.[10]
In London, before moving on to America, Shamley performed at a Folk club called Dingwalls where he was met with silence from the audience.[4] During the second half of the 1970s, Shamley went to America rented a flat and worked at a shop in New Jersey and performed in several clubs in New York's Greenwich Village, Brooklyn and in New Jersey.[4]
Later Career[edit]
After returning to South Africa in 1975, Shamley created a group called Boot alongside Les Kemsley (drummer) and Barry Langton (vocals and bass).[11] The group did a few concerts in Pretoria and Johannesburg and played at the Market Café Theatre.[12] However, the band's expenses became too exorbitant, and the band disbanded with Shamley moving to Cape Town to work on some plays at the Space Theatre.[4] During this time Colin Shamley also accompanied Mungo Jerry on their tour of Zimbabwe.
Nevertheless, in the same year, Spear informed Shamley that the recording for his album could go ahead and Shamley moved back to Johannesburg. He started recording the album Born Guilty through 3rd Ear Music recording it at Emcee Studios in Hillbrow under the guidance of David Marks.[2]
For the next ten years, Colin Shamley did a variety of jobs to earn a living while creating music during his career. He was a thatcher, a builder and a mall DJ. He did banjo commercials for flea collars, acted and drove trucks, fixed guitars, built roofs and fitted cladding in factories.[4] He erected horse stables, sold seafood, managed a farm in Nelspruit (now Mbombela), he did water diving, performed at flea markets and did voiceovers for documentaries and furniture commercials.[4] Shamley also created music for unsuccessful movies, starred in Duckland as an oversized fox playing the guitar and played a crippled friend of a gung-ho veteran in a Greek tragedy.[4]
Throughout his career, Colin Shamley made numerous non-commercial recordings mainly for the South African Folk Music Association.[5] His recordings were also used in films, most notably for Katrina, and he received some radio play and had some exposure from television documentaries.[4] Shamley was one of the leading musicians in the development of alternative music culture in the 1970s in South Africa.[2]
His recordings were not aimed at radio play or records but rather the publicity they garnered from newspapers.[13] Many of the songs he performed were explicitly aimed at exposing the atrocities that occurred in the country.[14] A song called "SB Man" references the Special Branch (SB) apartheid government's police services. The song discusses how journalists, activists and musicians that publicly criticised the regime were harassed by Special Branch operatives.[15][16]
Death[edit]
Shamley suffered from emphysema for a long time and passed on the 13th of May 2021.[2] He was married to Aletta Bezuidenhout and is survived by three children.[17]
Archive
Shamley donated his archival material including photographs, vinyl records, letters and documents, to the Hidden Years Music Archive, preserved at the Documentation Centre for Music, Stellenbosch University in 2017.
Discography[edit]
Colin Shamley produced an album through 3rd Ear Music called Born Guilty in 1980.[2] Musicians that performed on the album are Colin Shamley (Voice & Guitar), Kendall Kay (Drums), Ash Kelly (Bass), John Galenakis (Piano & Keyboards), Johnny Boshoff (Bass & Brass Arrangements), Jethro Butow, Barry Langton, Mike Dickman (Guitars), John Oakley-Smith (Piano), Assie O'donnell, Malie Kelly (Backing Voice), Seth Adamson (Pedal Steel), Mike Faure (Tenor Sax), Eric Norgate (Trumpet) & Ron Franchitti (Alto Sax).[18]
| Track Listing | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "Looking Back" | 3:44 |
| 2. | "Dancer" | 3:32 |
| 3. | "Can't Go On" | 3:00 |
| 4. | "Vague Sketches" | 2:48 |
| 5. | "Colonial Man" | 5:28 |
| 6. | "Baby's Trip" | 2:36 |
| 7. | "Summerville Station" | 3:36 |
| 8. | "Dirty Weekend" | 4:15 |
| 9. | "Poolroom Regret" | 2:30 |
| 10. | "Stopping Time" | 5:58 |
Reference List[edit]
- ↑ Knapp, Andrew (23 February 2023). "A Tribute to Colin Shamley". Loving the Music. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Opperman, AJ (19 May 2021). "Folksanger Colin Shamley oorlede". Die Burger. p. 8.
- ↑ "From the Music Capitals of the World". Billboard. Vol. 81 no. 16. 19 April 1969. p. 71.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 "Colin Shamley - Notes by David Marks for the HYMAProject". 3rd Ear Music. 23 February 2023.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Colin Shamley Biography". Hidden Years Music Archive. 28 February 2023.
- ↑ "Advertisement for Colin Shamley". The Rand Daily Mail. 26 February 1970. p. 16.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lucey, Roger (2012). Back in from the Anger. South Africa: Jacana Media. p. 134. Search this book on
- ↑ Daniel, Raeford (17 July 1970). "Talent in Folk show". The Rand Daily Mail. p. 8.
- ↑ "The greatest line-up". The Rand Daily Mail. 13 April 1976. p. 3.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lee, Donve (2017). Syd Kitchen: Scars That Shine. South Africa: Tracey McDonald Publishers. Search this book on
- ↑ "Advertisement for Colin Shamley". The Rand Daily Mail. 30 December 1975. p. 7.
- ↑ "'Mail' show has Boot and all". The Rand Daily Mail. 14 October 1976. p. 2.
- ↑ Marais, Chris (5 February 1981). "A decade of Shamley's songs and words". The Rand Daily Mail. p. 12.
- ↑ Dubow, Saul (2014). Apartheid, 1948-1994. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. p. 124. Search this book on
- ↑ "The 'special branch'". South African History Online. 13 January 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
- ↑ "Songs that tell South Africa's history part 1: before 1980". Superlinear. 23 September 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
- ↑ De Beer, Diane (18 September 2007). "The Garbo Granny". Star. p. 3.
- ↑ "Colin Shamley - Born Guilty". Discogs. 23 February 2023. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
External Links[edit]
Colin Shamley at South African Music Archive Project
Hidden Years Music Archive Official Website
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