A. B. Crentsil

Alfred Benjamin Crentsil, known as A. B. Crentsil, was a Ghanaian highlife singer, guitarist and bandleader. He co-led the Sweet Talks, one of the leading highlife bands of the 1970s, and was counted among the "big three" Ghanaian highlife vocalists of his generation. He died on 13 July 2022.

Early life

He was born Alfred Benjamin Crentsil Jr in 1943 in Prestea, in the Western Region, to Alfred Benjamin Crentsil Sr and Esi Yaaba, and was known as "A. B. Junior" until his father's death in 1984. He attended Takoradi Methodist Primary School and Rev Cleveland Middle School. After middle school he trained as an electrician under his father, who was works superintendent at the technical branch of Ghana Railways in Takoradi.

Bands

He learned the guitar in middle school and played with the Strollers Band while still working as an electrician. He then sang with the El Dorados before joining the Sweet Talks, which he led in the 1970s with Smart Nkansah. The band was resident at the Talk of the Town Hotel in Tema. He later led the Ahenfo Band.

Music

His best-known songs include "Devil" and the controversial "Moses". In 1990 he opened a 16-track recording studio. He won the Fontomfrom Evergreen Award for long service to music, as well as lifetime achievement awards at the MOGO Awards in 2015 and the Ghana Music Awards in 2016.

Family

He and his wife Elizabeth had eight children.