Hugh Masekela was an old collaborator of Abdullah Ibrahim. He is reported to have been initially inspired in his musical growth by Trevor Huddleston, a British priest working in the South African townships who financed Masekela's first trumpet. Masekela played his way through the vibrant Sophiatown scene with The Jazz Epistles and to Britain with King Kong, to find himself in New York in the early 1960s. He had hits in the United States with the pop jazz tunes "Up, Up and Away" and the number one smash "Grazin' in the Grass".
A renewed interest in his African roots led him to collaborate with West and Central African musicians, and finally to reconnect with South African players when he set up a mobile studio in Botswana, just over the South African border, in the 1980s. Here he re-absorbed and re-used mbaqanga strains, a style he has continued to use since his return to South Africa in the early 1990s.
In the 1980s, he toured with Paul Simon in support of Simon's then controversial, but highly critically acclaimed, album Graceland, which featured other South African artists such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Miriam Makeba, Ray Phiri, and other elements of the band Kalahari, which Masekela recorded with in the 1980s. He also collaborated in the musical development for the Broadway play, Sarafina! He previously recorded with the band Kalahari.
In 2003, he was featured in the documentary film Amandla!, about how the music of South Africa aided in the struggle against apartheid. In 2004, he released his autobiography, Grazin' in The Grass: The Musical Journey of Hugh Masekela, which thoughtfully details his struggles against apartheid in his homeland, as well as his personal struggles against alcohol addiction from the late 1970s through to the 1990s, a period when he migrated, in his personal recording career, to mbaqanga, jazz/funk, and the blending of South African sounds to an adult contemporary sound through two albums he recorded with Herb Alpert, and notable solo recordings, Techno-Bush (recorded in his studio in Botswana), Tomorrow (featuring the anthem "Bring Him Back Home"), Uptownship (a lush-sounding ode to American R and B), Beatin' Aroun' de Bush, Sixty, Time, and most recently, "Revival".
Essential recordings include:
* "Bring Him Back Home"
* "Coal Train (Stimela)"
* "Ziph'nkomo"
* "Don't Go Lose It Baby"
* "Ha Le Se Li De Khanna (The Dowry Song)"
* "Bajabule Bonka"
* "Grazing in the Grass"
* "U-Dwi"
* "The Joke of Life"
* "The Boy's Doin' It"
His song, "Soweto Blues", sung by his former wife, Miriam Makeba, mourns the carnage of the Soweto riots in 1976.
Hugh Masekela is the father of Sal Masekela, host of American channel E!'s Daily 10 show, along with Debbie Matenopoulos.
For the Love of You
Hugh Masekela Lyrics
Jump to: Line by Line Meaning ↴
'Til you've learned the meaning of the blues
Until you've loved a love you've had to lose,
You don't know what love is.
You don't know how lips hurt
Until you've kissed and had to pay the cost,
Until you've flipped your heart and you have lost,
Do you know how a lost heart fears
At the thought of reminiscing,
And how lips that taste of tears
Lose their taste for kissing?
You don't know how hearts burn
For love that can, not live yet never dies.
Until you've faced each dawn with sleepless eyes,
You don't know what love is.
You don't know what love is
You cannot truly understand the essence of love
'Til you've learned the meaning of the blues
Until you've experienced the feelings of sadness and longing associated with the blues
Until you've loved a love you've had to lose
Unless you've been in a love that you had to let go of
You don't know what love is
You cannot comprehend the true nature of love
You don't know how lips hurt
You are unaware of the pain caused by passionate kisses
Until you've kissed and had to pay the cost
Unless you've experienced the consequences of loving intensely
Until you've flipped your heart and you have lost
Until you've taken a chance on love and suffered heartbreak
You don't know what love is
You cannot truly comprehend the depths of love
Do you know how a lost heart fears
Are you aware of the fear a broken heart feels
At the thought of reminiscing
When thinking about past memories
And how lips that taste of tears
And how lips that have experienced sorrow and pain
Lose their taste for kissing
No longer find joy or satisfaction in kissing
You don't know how hearts burn
You cannot comprehend the intense longing and desire in someone's heart
For love that can, not live yet never dies
For a love that cannot exist yet remains eternally present
Until you've faced each dawn with sleepless eyes
Unless you've endured nights of restlessness, unable to sleep due to love
You don't know what love is
You cannot truly understand the true essence of love
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HOAGY CARMICHAEL, JOHNNY MERCER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@maliklanga6534
THIS IS AWESOME! Bra Hugh's version is out of this world... Thanks utubesucks2003
@deborah5125
This song reminds me of my late brother while I was 11 years old playing it with love and passion, and so do I love it as well . MD Maruma
@mahlasela37
Thank you Hugh for the wonderful music. Your life was indeed a blessing. We miss and love you.
@samuellange3067
Bra Hugh you have given us so so much. The JazzWorlld has lost an icon. Your music will always live on in our hearts! We commemorate the anniversary of your homegoing! Sam The Sambaman
@w3mq
I remember listening to this selection on a cheap boom box that I bought back in the Summer of 75. It really brings back such good memories. John Lucien was great back then too.
@robmartin2575
Wow Who Knew!!! Great version of an Isley Brothers song I loved!
@emmanuelgbeho947
Sept 2021, still listening. R I P Hugh Masekela.
@mthunzizwane5803
Love it ❤️
@vusimkhize5340
Great version of this song. Awesome stuff!
@chrishanidistrictmunicipal9067
Oh , those glorious, deeply spiritual days at Cala. You kept us going and WE WERE NOT AFRAID BECAUSE THE EMANCIPATION OF THIS COUNTRY needed your sound. Prince Q