Highlife Saturday Night: Popular Music and Social Change in Urban Ghana

5. “We Were the Ones Who Composed the Songs”: The Promises and Pitfalls of Being a Bandsman, 1945–1970

183 In 1950, a young Charles Kofi Mann left his hometown of Cape Coast for Takoradi,arapidlygrowingcitythatservedasthelocusofthecolony’srail and harbor works. Like a number of young men before and after, he made the move in hopes of finding employment, earning money, and charting a future.1 Unfortunately, Mann’s arrival in Takoradi was marked not by opportunity, but by obstacles and hardship. Without friends or family to lean on, he spent his days searching for work and a place to live. After scouring the city center without much success, Mann descended on the harbor, where he secured a steady stream of odd jobs, found friends, and became immersed in his new urban environs. For the next year he loaded and unloaded cargo, cleaned ship decks, and assisted with various maintenance tasks on and off the docks. One day a British captain impressed with Mann’s work ethic and array of skills offered him a position aboard a ship bound for Nigeria. Convinced that he had finally found his lucky break, Mann eagerly accepted the offer and began a four-year stint at sea. Mann’s new work allowed him to overcome adversities, acquire a steady income, and claim status as an independent and autonomous person . After a few years, however, he came to the realization that it would not enable him to secure enduring recognition as a successful adult man. Although his long trips abroad garnered good money, they left him few opportunities to accrue or develop property, reconnect with his family in Cape Coast, or enhance his position in Takoradi’s hierarchies of age, five “We Were the Ones Who Composed the Songs”: The Promises and Pitfalls of Being a Bandsman, 1945–1970 184 Highlife Satur day Night gender, and social standing. With an eye on his long-term prospects, he started to consider other possible lines of work. One afternoon, he ventured into a Decca record store, where he heard a recording of a young highlife guitarist named King Onyina. It was, in Mann’s recollection, a life-changingevent.ImmediatelyimpressedbyOnyina’ssoundandstyle, he decided to purchase a guitar and dedicate his free time to learning the instrument. A few years later, he abandoned his work at sea, moved to Tarkwa, and joined Kakaiku’s Band as a full-time guitarist.2 Mann stayed with the group for several years, but eventually returned to Takoradi and formed his own highlife ensemble. In 1966, his newly named Carousel Seven Dance Band became the resident band at the city’s most prominent nightclub, effectively launching what would be a long and illustrious career.3 Over the next several decades, Mann became one of Ghana’s most successful highlife musicians. He recorded numerous albums, won accolades for his energetic performances, and traveled outside of Ghana to perform in North America and Europe. In rather remarkable fashion, Figure 5.1. Sign for C. K. Mann Street (now C. K. Mann Avenue) in Takoradi, September 2005. Photo by the author. 185 “We Were the Ones Who Composed the Songs” Mann used popular music to fuel his personal transformation from a marginal youth into a widely recognized figure of stature and authority. In fact, his onstage performances provided him with fame, fortune, and renownasoneofGhana’snationalicons.4 The fullextent of his success, as a musician and man, became evident during one of our phone conversations in 2005. Eager for our first meeting at his Takoradi home, I called Mann to verify driving directions from Accra. With a hint of prideful laughter, Mann insisted that I would have little trouble finding his house after arriving in Ghana’s fourth-largest city. “Anyone in Takoradi can direct you to where I live” he exclaimed, “I live on C. K. Mann Street!” (see Figure 5.1).5 In many ways, Mann’s rags-to-riches narrative exemplifies the possibilitiesthatmadehighlifesuchapopularandcontestedmedium .Bymastering the terrain of urban Ghana’s Saturday Nights, he found economic security, permanently altered his identity, and became a widely regarded social figure. In the decades surrounding Ghana’s independence, several young men pursued similar paths,deciding to becomehighlife musicians in order to enhance their personal prospects for the immediate and distant future. Very few, however, proved able to replicate Mann’s eminence and outcome. Although highlife was extremely well liked by audiences and government officials, it was rarely a kind occupational sphere. Many musicians, in fact, recall highlife’s period of prominence—the decades before and after...