He sold 55 million copies of records, was in the 'top 10' in the US, UK and Germany for months on end, travelled and performed all over the world, but never forgot his homeland, Kenya. This is the musical and human story of folk-pop singer-songwriter Roger Whittaker, who passed away in recent days at the age of 87, far from what he called 'my land' and to which he dedicated several songs, including one for a seaside place he loved so much, Shimoni.

Whittaker was born in Nairobi in March 1936, when Kenya was in the hands of the British Empire and his parents had recently moved there to run a farm. It was here that young Roger experienced his carefree childhood years and learned to play the guitar to accompany his violinist grandfather.

After his studies in Cape Town and the composition of his first songs, it became clear that the career of the 'Kenyan born' would take an international route, under the banner of 'easy listening': catchy songs that play on the radio, are sung in the shower, cheer up American truck drivers, English waiting rooms and German beer halls. Motifs that easily linger in the memory and that even if they disappear after a while, they leave no great void, except perhaps to return to bring back an emotion, a farewell (as in the case of his biggest hit 'The Last Farewell', 11 million copies sold) or a declaration of love. Like Roger's for Kenya, in the song 'My land is Kenya', published in 1982.

MY LAND IS KENYA
 

You only got one mama
You only got one pa
You only got one life to live
No matter who you are
You can go the whole world over
Every city has its dawn
But everybody liveth has one place where he was born

And mine is Kenya, so warm and wild and free
You'll always stay with me here in my heart
My land is Kenya, right from your highlands to the sea
You'll always stay with me here in my heart, here in my heart.

You only got one childhood
And the memories that spring
When you see your house, the tree you climbed
And all those precious things
The faces of the friends I had
The images that flow
When I close my eyes in the land I love
The land I was born

My land is Kenya, so warm and wild and free
You'll always stay with me here in my heart
My land is Kenya, right from your highlands to the sea
You'll always stay with me here in my heart, here in my heart