William Osale was a fingerstyle guitarist who performed and recorded in Kenya during the 1950s and 60s. Osale was a rural musician who played in the ‘sukuti’ style – a rhythmic style of finger-style playing invented by George Mukabi that results in a light, ‘bouncy’ sound.
In his “A History of Kenyan Guitar Music: 1945-1980”, John Low writes, “Some rural finger-stylists like George Mukabi and William Osale also had success in the towns, providing Swahili versions of songs that they might sing in local languages back home. The appeal of their songs lay in the fact that many town dwellers had (and still have) strong links with the land, and the themes of these songs, often conservative and sometimes nostalgic, reminded them of the old values.”
This beautiful record appears to be a love song written in a blend of Swahili and Luo languages about a person named Rosi Oyiero. Transcribing did not seem to be very successful – as the resulting translations were spotty.
The best I can work out is toward the end of the song, we hear: “Rosi Oyiero ninulia sana” which translates to “Rosi Oyiero, I cry a lot for you.”
If you speak Swahili/Luo and can help better translate, please comment!
Recorded in late 1950s or early 1960s (that’s a total guess)
Released as NCHI CH 128 (Matrix AMX 464)
Credits:
William Osale – guitar, vocals
Unknown Artist – bottle, harmony vocal
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