The Brotherhood Youth Fellowship Choir - Untitled (Nigeria, 1970s - My Joy is so Great in Olumba)

Описание: If you were to listen to this without knowing anything else, you might say Southern Africa because of the "harmolodics." In fact it's from Nigeria, and specifically from a somewhat obscure Christian cult known as the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star, which coalesced in the 1950s around its charismatic founder Olumba Olumba Obu, who among other things claimed to be the Holy Spirit incarnate sent as the latest installment of God on Earth.

The Brotherhood never confirmed his death (which wasn't obviously supposed to happen), but the Church, or what is left of it, is now being run by his son, and has some influence, as I understand, in Nigerian politics, presumably due to the substantial wealth it's managed to squeeze from its followers.

But cults often produce beautiful music, as we know from the Family Jams and Father Yod. Not just this song, but the entire Brotherhood album (more of which I'll be posting), is quite remarkable, and offers a glimpse of the transcendent spirituality its creators apparently experienced in worshiping their idol. Recording date is uncertain -- late 60s, early-mid 70s?

More on the Brotherhood: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother...
And a somewhat fractured account of a former member who broke away from what he now calls the "Brotherhood of Lucifer": http://newsexpressngr.com/news/detail...

Props to http://wrldsrv.blogspot.com for putting this into circulation.