The SongarkiveSweet Mother
Highlife song of praise for a mother’s care, recorded by Prince Nico Mbarga with his band Rocafil Jazz and released in December 1976 on Rogers All Stars, an Onitsha label, after EMI had turned the demo down in 1974. Reported as the best-selling single by an African artist, and so widely sung that it is often treated as a folk song, though its author is on record.
Renditions
Lyrics
Attribution
- Prince Nico Mbarga
Written by Prince Nico Mbarga, reportedly inspired by his own mother’s sacrifices in raising her children after their father died, and recorded with Rocafil Jazz. Released December 1976 on Rogers All Stars. Sources agree on authorship; they differ on the recording studio.
Context
Evidence
Contest this record
Oral history is contested by nature. If you know a different origin, propose it and it will be held beside this one. If you have a source for or against what is here, add it: archival documents, a recorded interview with an elder, a church record, a sworn affidavit.