12th October, 2012
Having produced hit albums of the likes of Evangelist Ebenezer Obey, Pastor J.A. Adelankun a.k.a. Ayewa, Good Women Choir and others, Pastor Paul Tao-Elshadai, music instructor at The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Redeemed Camp Headquarters, spoke with P.M.NEWSEntertainment about his job with music stars, the Nigerian music industry and other issues
Pastor Paul what has been happening to you?
I have been playing music.
Secular music?
No, though I play secular music, right now I am into full gospel music.
Can you give an insight into how the phenomenon known as Pastor Paul started?
That’s a long story, because I used to be with a band called Deciders in the late 70s in Ajegunle. I later pitched my tent with another band known as Roots Foundation.
What was your position in the two bands.
I was the lead guitarist in the two bands and all the bands I have played for.
Why did you leave?
Though the groups were very successful, especially Roots Foundation because when an American group called The Delegations came to Nigeria, we were the opening acts. We were seven but we had some problems.
Monetary?
Oh yes, I was cheated by other members of the band so while I was still thinking of what to do, I was invited by Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey.
How did he invite you?
I was at home sleeping one day when a friend who was a member of the Deciders band came in the middle of the night to invite me to Decca Studio where Ebenezer Obey was recording an album titled Eyi yato. He sent the man with a driver in a Mercedes Benz car, popularly known as ‘O bokun.’ It was irresistible. My friend told me that Obey was looking for me and he had told him about my potential.
What happened in the studio?
I did a dry rehearsal with the band and from there we recorded the album and with God on our side, it became an instant hit. Commander Obey was so dazed that he had no choice then but to ask me to join his band, because I was able to blend into a 32-man band.
Did you join the band?
I was skeptical a bit because of my experience in the other band, because before I left Roots Foundation, the founder of The Punch Newspapers, Chief Olu Aboderin had promised to sign on the band under Skylak Records and buy us three Volkswagen Beetle cars, but my friends collected four cars and one bus leaving out two other members. So I left in annoyance and joined Obey’s band in 1981.
How much were you paid for recording the album with the band as a session man?
Well, money was good then. I was paid about N500 then. It was good money at that time; you could eat in a canteen to your satisfaction at that time with N5.
How did you spend the money?
As a young man now, I just bought some clothes and other things.
So you pitched your tent with Obey out of annoyance?
Yes and no, but I was hopeful because Ebenezer Obey was one of the greatest juju stars at that time and I thought I would make a good living out of it. We started with the promise of a Datsun car because all the old members I met had Datsun cars. When I joined the band, Obenezer Obey was recording records upon records to the level of recording three albums in a year. Band members were complaining of too many records in a year but were doing it and all the records were always selling. To be candid, no car came in but we were well paid. It was interesting and it was good because we were paid per show, so something must come into our purse weekly. However, youthful exuberance or whatever you call it set in. One was doing big boy without having any future plan, so everything was just like going on very fine.
How did you meet Ayewa?
I met Ayewa (Pastor Adelakun) in 1984 when he came for a programme held by Evangelist Bola Odeleke at Yaba. He loved the way I played the guitar and invited me to come and help him in recording the album, Amono Tete Mabo, which I did.
When and how did you leave Obenezer Obey’s band?
In 1992, when I decided to leave at the request of God, (there was no fighting) I had to tell him that God asked me to serve Him but before then I had produced a lot of gospel songs like Ayewa’s Amona Tete Mabo, Sola Rotimi’s Father Bless My Home and Good Women’s choir’s Baba Mo Dupe.
How much were you paid for the production?
Ayewa sought my assistance and I helped him to produce the album.
So you were not paid for Amono Tete Mabo?
It was another sacrifice.
So, after Amono Tete Mabo, which other album(s) did you produce?
I produced other albums but I may not remember all their names. I remember that of Rev. Sola Olarotimi Father Bless My Home, Ba mi wo lawoye and they were indeed all very successful albums. I also produced the album of Good Women’s Choir of Ibadan led by D. O. Fasoyin, I produced Baba modupe lati ori mi de isale. After that Lekan Ogunbawo and other radio presenters nominated me as best gospel music producer of the year 1987. Though I did not receive any plaque, I was nominated at that time as there was nothing like award then.
Producing for Ayewa, Adelakun, Sola Olarotimi, Good Women’s Choir, those were the hit those days.
What was in your mind when you were producing them?
You see, it is very easy to have a very large heart, larger intentions, having good aspiration of wanting to do something that could be beneficial both financially and otherwise. But because of the love of God, one will now play low in the area of money especially when the people that called you like Ayewa, Sola Rotimi, Good Women’s Choir were not financially buoyant then. I mean they did not have money and it will be a surprise to you that the Good Women’s Choir’s album is still selling day in day out, yet the members are not as rich as you think. So I did all the jobs to propagate the gospel.
With the works of Ebenezer Obey, Sola Rotimi, Ayewa, Good Women’s Choir and others, will you say you hold the ace in production of gospel and juju music?
By the grace of God, because before then, the youths did not believe in the guitar. Everybody wanted to be a singer or at most play the keyboard. The youths were not able to get people to teach them or to love the guitar very well but God endowed me to play the guitar and when I started playing, people began to really love it and the albums were selling. Thank God for that, I have imprinted guitar in the hearts of youths and it became very popular and people began to admire guitar.
Is that why the gospel music of today is not as popular as it used to be?
Thank you, it’s like there is something about guitar that is soulful. It commands inspiration by the listener. If you play guitar well, it really makes the music interesting. Today, music has lost its value, they no longer lay emphasis on guitar.
What about juju music?
It’s the same thing too, the musicians are not hardworking. I may not really blame them too. It’s due to the fact that things are not being done properly. There are no institutions that will help the youths discover themselves.
How did you learn guitar?
That is a 30 million dollar question. Nobody taught me the guitar, I learnt how to play it through inspiration by God. It may be strange to some people, I am sorry, if you want to love God love Him, He will teach you whatever He wants to teach you.
You mean you just bought a guitar and started playing it?
During my childhood days, I assisted an elderly person who gave me a small guitar, and from there I started practising on my own way back in Lagos (Ajegunle). I will say that I started playing guitar between the ages of 7 and 8 and from experience I know your ear can really train you.
Which of the guitars are you really good at playing?
There are two major guitars, one is called the bass guitar and the other is the lead guitar. The lead guitar could be used in three different ways, which could now give them different names, I’m good at playing the lead guitar.
A lot of people call themselves producers but who is really a music producer?
a music producer is somebody that has a wide knowledge and understanding of what music is or should be and he or she must have a good understanding of music.
How many people in Nigeria can you really refer to as music producers?
I have a good one in the person of Laolu Akins who is a bit older than me and there are other good ones, Oteger, Lemmy Jackson, Toks Shotade and others.
How about Lak Adeniran?
Lak Adeniran was an engineer; he was a great engineer, a genius we have lost.
How do you compare the producers of yesteryears and those of today?
The producer of yesteryears were more tactical and more practical. We knew what we wanted and we worked at it, telling the musician what to play. We were like making manifest of what was going to happen in the studio live during rehearsals. You arrange the music and tell the bass guitarist what to play, you tell the drummer where to come in, where to roll in and the pattern he’s supposed to use. You tell the singer where to come in, you tell the choruses, give arrangement of the cross line, the harmony. You design the music right from the rehearsal and the people rehearse it and perform it at the rehearsal level before going to the studios and reproducing the same thing that you have done at practice in the recording studio. You see, that was the beauty of the production with passion; it is a lot of work. Nowadays, one person will sit on a desktop and with a keyboard and play everything digitally and get all the people that will sing and sing on it. And you find out that sometimes, it comes out but most of it is cosmetic.
Can we say the advent of digital musical studio has eroded our music culture?
To answer your question, I will refer to the experience I had with an American white lady in New York. She came to our concert when I travelled there with Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey, we had a concert and when we finished she invited me over because she was so pleased with our music. She said the Americans lost their music culture because of the introduction of digital music. Now Nigerians are guilty of what she told me in 1986.
You said you did not make money playing and producing Obey and others, are you fulfilled?
Wonderfully satisfied. See, when you love music you are fulfilled when you are playing it; you are not really thinking about the money when you are playing it, normally your leader or your employer should be thinking about paying you very well. But that time there was no retirement benefit, we were spending the money the way it came.
What was the cause?
Because we really did not have managers then. The musicians at that time were playing for the passion, we were not having managers, we were not having professionals and some contracts signed were not followed up.
Do you think producers should now sign contracts with their artistes?
Yes, I will advise so and even try to enforce it.
Presently, what are you doing?
I’m now a pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, but yet producing some young gospel artistes that come over to me. For the record, I am also in the soft side of assisting people who have no money. Until I see somebody who has money to come and engage me, then I will make all the charges and request for what I need. For now, I assist the younger ones.
Can you still make those hits?
To God be the glory I am ever ready.
Are you now a full time pastor at RCCG?
Indeed, I am a pastor at RCCG, doing nothing else but ministering music in the Redeemed Christian Church of God.
How did you join the Redeemed Christian Church of God?
After working with Ebenezer Obey for 20 years I heeded God’s call.
Did you make money in Obey’s band?
Of course, indeed we travelled to different parts of the world, many countries and continents of the world and when I saw that nothing was forthcoming, I had no car, no land, I have not built a house and there was no retirement benefit, we just kept sharing the money we made from shows, so I had to turn to my God.
How much were you earning then?
We were sharing the money by grade. I was not a member of the group but I was well paid by the virtue of the work I did for Chief Obey. But I was spending the money the way it came and before you know it, the money was gone.
Is that why most band members do not have money?
The money being sprayed at parties on Juju, Fuji and other artistes are evil money, because band members can’t make a living out of it, it’s devilish… (laughs). Before you know it, you have finished spending the money.
Are you satisfied with the level you are now?
Well satisfied in God, yes, but I am not fulfilled yet. That does not mean that I’m hungry.
Do you still interact with Ebenezer Obey Fabiyi, Ayewa and others?
Yes. We still maintain close contact, even when Commander Ebenezer Obey started playing gospel music. We were attending shows together until he went back to secular music.
What have you done of late?
I participated in an album project of the Redeemed Christian Church of God‘s Praise team. Though the album did well in the market, pirates feasted on it. I also did a single on Nigerian Independence with the message of unity. Presently, I am a music instructor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God and I still assist the younger ones in music production, but if my attention is needed, I am ready as ever because the skill is still there.