Morocco

:(This page is about the African country. For the British indie rock band of the same name, see Morocco(2)).
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco (المملكة المغربية (Arabic) al-Mamlakah al-Maghribiyah, ⵜⴰⴳⵍⴷⵉⵜ ⵏ ⵍⵎⵖⵔⵉⴱ (Berber)), is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to the east, and the disputed territory of Western Sahara to the south. Morocco also claims the Spanish exclaves of Ceuta, Melilla and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, and several small Spanish-controlled islands off its coast. It spans an area of 446,300 km2 (172,300 sq mi) or 716,550 km2(276,660 sq mi),, and with a population of roughly 37 million Citizens. Its official and predominant religion is Islam, and the official languages are Arabic and Berber (Tamazight);  French and the Moroccan dialect of Arabic are also widely spoken. Moroccan identity and culture is a mix of Arab, Berber, African and European cultures. Its capital is Rabat, while its largest city is Casablanca.
== Links to Peel ==
During the 1950s and '60s, Morocco became a popular destination for expatriate writers, artists and musicians from the US, Britain and continental Europe, including Beat Generation authors like William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg. Musicians who went there included Davey Graham, whose influential guitar tuning DADGAD was inspired by the modal structure of Moroccan music, and Robin Williamson, who moved to the country after the Incredible String Band had recorded its first LP and then split up. He too was fascinated by Moroccan music and intended to stay there, but due to the Labour government's restriction on taking money out of the country during Britain's financial crisis (the limit was £50) had to return to Scotland after a few months. He brought back a number of Moroccan musical instruments - flute, oud, gimbri and drums - and, after reforming the ISB with Mike Heron, played them on live gigs and on LPs like The 5000 Spirits Or The Layers Of The Onion, which Peel featured heavily on the Perfumed Garden. An academic article has explored Moroccan influences in their music. 
By the late 1960s Morocco was part of the "hippy trail", with many rock musicians visiting the country. Graham Nash described going there as a tourist in Crosby, Stills, & Nash's 1969 hit single "Marrakesh Express". The Rolling Stones also spent time there, and Brian Jones of the group recorded some Moroccan native music, which Peel enthused over (after hearing the tapes) in his International Times column in 1968 ("an amazing ritual...based on the Rites of Pan and even more ancient magic rituals...."), although the resulting album Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Joujouka wasn't released until 1971. Peel doesn't seem to have played anything from it on the radio, but the album was chosen by Joe Boyd for his Record Box as well as for the 2017 V&A LPs exhibition of items from Peel's collection. 
Peel did play a Moroccan tune on his Night Ride show via the BBC Archives in 1969. Four years later, he played a track from Moroccan rock band, Nass El Ghiwane, on his radio show in 1973. 
Whilst presenting Where It's At in 1976, Peel admitted on Programme 5: Is There Rock On The Moon?, that he had two singles by a group from Morocco who had attempted to infuse rock with their traditional music. The group who he maybe talking about was probably Nass El Ghiwane.
In the 80's, he played some tracks from Dissidenten's album 'Sahara Elektrik', which had songs sung by Moroccan group, Lemchaheb. 
Moroccan music was rarely played by Peel in the 90's, but in the early 00's, he did play some tunes from the compilation album, Tea In Marrakech, which had not only Moroccan artists, but also other ethnic North Africans. He nominated the album as one of his records of the month for February 2001 (Peel's Record Box). 
Peel also played more of Nass El Ghiwane's music in 2004, who are often described as "Morocco's answer to the Beatles or the Stones".
== See Also ==
* Countries 
== External Links ==
* Wikipedia
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