Etubom Rex Williams was born in Etinan, in AkwaIbom State in the 1930s. His father was a teacher and the founder of the Salvation Army in his town. He started out in music in the 1950s, first playing in the Salvation Army Band. It was through the Salvation Army Band that he learnt to play the trumpet and the proper structure of music. It was at Enugu, where he was working in a radio station, that he met the great musician, E.T Mensa.
"Etubom Rex Williams occupies the genuine space of legend of Nigerian Highlife. His incredible professionalism, vast body of work and huge personality, established him as a veritable force of the genre quite early in his career. A case quite similar to another teenage prodigy of Highlife Music, Sir Victor Uwaifo. However any accolades he earned were well deserved and based on a platform of hard graft and genuine love for his art. He like Uwaifo, straddles the Inter-generational gap between the old masters of Highlife such as Bobby Benson, E.C.Arinze, Inyang Henshaw, Dr Victor Olaiya etc and the latter generation of Eddy Okweddy, Orlando Owoh, Tunji Oyelana, Eric Akaeze, Osayomore Joseph et al." - Ed Keazor, Music in Africa
The highly sought after album has been remastered by Noah Mintz at Lacquer Channel Mastering, with art restoration completed by Steve Lewin.
beautiful album of highlife work from Etubom Rex Williams – served up with songs that are maybe a bit shorter than some of the more guitar-jamming material of the genre, but in a way that also offers up even more great focus on the vocals! The tunes have an appeal that goes beyond the boundaries of language – and grooves are usually gently-tripping, with guitars serving up both the rhythm and melody – peppered with occasional saxophone solos after the initial vocal passages, in ways that only deepen the soul of the songs! Titles include "Wara Di", "Nwop's Special", "Mfon", "Akpaisong", "Ebono Ke Ima", "Uwa Idem Mi", "Yak Nkese Eno", and "You Are My Heart