A. B. Crentsil
{{Short description|Ghanaian musician (1943–2022)}}
{{sources|date=May 2010}}
{{Use Ghanaian English|date=July 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = A. B. Crentsil
| image =
| caption =
| image_size =
| birth_name = Alfred Benjamin Crentsil Jr
| birth_place = Prestea, Gold Coast
| birth_date = 1943
| death_date = {{death date and age |2022|7|13|1943|7|18|df=y}}
| origin =
| genre = Highlife
| website = [http://www.ghanabase.com/abcrentsil ghanabase.com/abcrentsil]
}}
Alfred Benjamin Crentsil (1943 – 13 July 2022) was a Ghanaian musician. He was one of the "big three" of contemporary Ghanaian vocalists.{{cite book|last=Graham|first=Ronnie|author2=John Collins|title=Africa, Europe and the Middle East: Volume 1 of World Music|editor-last=Ellingham|editor-first= Mark |editor2=Orla Duane |editor3=Vanessa Dowell|publisher=Rough Guides|year=1999|pages=496|isbn=978-1-85828-635-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gyiTOcnb2yYC&pg=PA496&dq=%22A.+B.+Crentsil%22+%22big+3%22&cd=1#q=%22A.%20B.%20Crentsil%22%20%22big%203%22|accessdate=May 10, 2010}} Crentsil won the Fontomfrom Evergreen Award, an honor bestowed upon a musician with 15–20 years of continuous music experience.{{cite web|first=Isaac|last= Yeboah|url=http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/entertainment/AB-Crentsil-to-kill-a-fowl-over-Lifetime-Achievement-Award-437341 |title=AB Crentsil to 'kill a fowl' over Lifetime Achievement Award|website= GhanaWeb|date= 9 May 2016}} He died on 13 July 2022.{{Cite web |date=2022-07-13 |title=Highlife legend AB Crentsil is dead |url=https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Highlife-legend-AB-Crentsil-is-dead-1581056 |access-date=2022-07-13 |website=GhanaWeb |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Tali |first=Selorm |date=2022-07-13 |title=BREAKING: Highlife legend AB Crentsil reported dead |url=https://www.pulse.com.gh/entertainment/music/highlife-legend-ab-crentsil-reported-dead/gx3g5sn |access-date=2022-07-13 |website=Pulse Ghana |language=en}}
Family life
Biography
Alfred Benjamin Crentsil Jr was born in Prestea, Gold Coast (present-day Ghana), to Alfred Benjamin Crentsil Sr and Esi Yaaba in 1943. He was always known as AB junior until his father died in 1984, when he assumed the AB Crentsil name. His primary and middle school education was at the Takoradi Methodist Primary and Rev Cleveland Middle School respectively. After his middle-school examinations, AB worked as an electrical apprentice under his father, who was Works Superintendent of the technical branch of Ghana Railways at Takoradi.{{Citation needed|date=January 2020}}
While in middle school, Crentsil was introduced to the guitar and became proficient in playing guitar, singing along when playing it. He was simultaneously working as an electrician and playing with the Strollers Band. Crentsil has played with the El Dorados, the Sweet Talks – which latter group in the 1970s, under the joint leadership of Crentsil and Smart Nkansah, and were the resident band at The Talk Of The Town Hotel in Tema, with Crentsil as a lead singer[http://www.clear-spot.nl/item/348200/sweet_talks_party_time_in_hollywood.html "Sweet Talks – Party Time in Hollywood"], Clear Spot. and then finally the Ahenfo Band.
Crentsil opened a 16-track recording studio in 1990.Craig Harris, [http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ab-crentsil-mn0001661131/biography A.B. Crentsil biography] at AllMusic. "Devil" is among his best-known songs.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5rh-BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA136&dq=A.+B.+Crentsil+devil#q=A.+B.+Crentsil+devil|title=Witchcraft, Witches, and Violence in Ghana|first=Mensah|last=Adinkrah|date=30 August 2015|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=9781782385615|accessdate=5 July 2017|via=Google Books}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://www.ghanabase.com/abcrentsil/default.asp A B Crenstil HomePage] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180805112918/http://www.ghanabase.com/abcrentsil/default.asp |date=5 August 2018 }} on Ghana Base Music
- [http://www.hiplifelovers.com The #1 Site for Ghana Music] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912122632/http://hiplifelovers.com/ |date=12 September 2017 }}
- {{discogs artist|A.B. Crentsil}}
{{Authority control}}
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Category:Ghanaian highlife musicians
Category:People from Western Region (Ghana)