Saturday, May 1, 2010

Okay, but really, what does Bob Marley have to do with Burro Batteries?




Well, for starters Rita, his widow, now lives not far from Burro headquarters in Koforidua, Ghana. You may think coincidence but here in the Eastern Region, when you get out in the sticks, you think clearer. I mean get away from the city and the paved roads and the sounds of honking cars and careening trucks, when you summit a ridge line, push in the clutch and ease it out of gear you simply survey the scene around you and take a deep breath. The air is thick and moist but energizing. Then it hits you, you can almost hear the soulful Reggae ebbing through those humid hills. “could you be, could you be loved?” You feel the rhythm and listen closer, “
Don't let them change ya, oh! -
Or even rearrange ya! Oh, no!
We've got a life to live.
They say…

Well you have to be there to actually know what they say but sensing the ethos of the region we have developed a little credo here at Burro—everyone deserves to not worry and “Be Happy!”

Well, maybe Bob M. didn’t write the song but he knows what the yearning is. So your asking yourself how did Andrew and Ankrah do it? How did they break all know sales records in the company history? Well, deep magic—harmonizing with the musical soul of the hills. All right enough. But picture our green Tata with two loud speakers mounted to the top traversing a red dirt road along a ridgeline, the lush green valley’s surrounding us below

then ts.ts…ts.ts…ts.ts…tomp…ch.tu.tu.tomp.tomp…sprroooinng (psychedelic whirl)… “Steer it up, Lidle Darlin” (HaHa, serious that’s how it goes, listen yourself. First the rain maker, then bongos, then some metallic bow strum). So the effect? First, little kids run out to the road from behind the brush and chase the car laughing and trying to jump in the back of the truck, then adults stand up straight from being bent over pulling up cassava. Ankrah gets on the horn (oh, yeah this is all playing holding the microphone up to our inside car speakers) and tells them all to stop what they're doing and come to the chief's house or some main gathering place where we'll have some screaming deal for them that is going to change their life. Anyway it’s a lot of fun and we’re just trying to share Burro Brand fun with villages all over Ghana.

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