Funky Soundtracks
("Blaxploitation")
 "Stickin' it to 'The Man' like no other brother can...""Hotter'n 'Coffy,' meaner'n 'Foxy Brown,' Pam Grier is Sheba, Baby--Queen of the Private Eyes""On the streets or on the sheets, he's a Savage!""'Dolemite' is my name, and f***in' up muthaf***as is my game." |
The sensational term blaxploitation has been applied equally to milestones in Afro-American movie-making as well as to camp, "kung-fu" action romps set in the ghetto or Africa. Pam Grier...Dolemite..."Huggy Bear." Afros...hot pants...martial arts...guns...Black-Power icons...orange leather trenchcoats. Even "Blacula" has been shown on the African Heritage Movie Network (thank you!), but "Legend of Dolemite" may never be. Probably more enduring than the films themselves are the soundtracks, many of which are inspired funk classics. Funky soundtracks, mostly from 1970 to 1975, involve a wide range of top soul and soul-jazz artists such as Charles Earland, Monk Higgins, J.J. Johnson, Grant Green, Donald Byrd, James Brown, and even Rudy Ray Moore. (Johnny Pate's released STs are three of the very best.) Moreover, there are great "covers" of funky-soundtrack tunes by Funk Inc., Reuben Wilson, Merl Saunders, Barbara Mason, and others. Some soundtracks are highly original "out jazz" or electronic excursions; some feature basic jazz, funk, or soul combos, and some are polluted with string sections. Some have Motown or Buddah soul hits, and many have extremely hip, funky instrumentals featuring "waka-waka" guitar, conga, and occasionally vibraslap (the "rattlesnake" effect). Plenty of non-soundtrack albums, such as Monk Higgins' Little Mama, reflect the 1970s groove at least as well as the soundtracks. Conversely, plenty of would-be soundtracks are not really funky, particularly from the later 1970s. "Claudine" may be a great movie, but Gladys Knight & the Pips, who also did the soundtrack for "Pipe Dreams," never quite get into "Superfly" mode. Honorable mention: "Cooley High" (Motown hits plus a few short cuts), "Short Eyes" (Curtis Mayfield, 1977 prison flick), "Big Time" (Smokey Robinson, 1977). Funky soundtracks may have run their course in a few short years, but hardcore fans can stake new territory in "brownsploitation," the equivalent (and usually weirder!) genre of films made in India and Pakistan. Look out, Avenging Disco Godfather, Shiva's got Christie Love! |
Funky Soundtrack LPs
| Rating | |
| 7 | William Arkush or uncredited: TNT Jackson; Roger Corman; 1974 |
| 8 | Roy Ayers: Coffy; Polydor PD-5048; 1973 |
| 8 | Badder Than Evil: Gordon's War; Buddah BDS-5137-ST; 1973 (Al Elias, Andy Badale, Horace Ott, Harvey Fuqua, New Birth, Barbara Mason, Sister Goose & the Ducklings) |
| 7 | Blowfly: Blowfly at the Movies; Weird World WW-2024 (party-rap spoofs of ST classics) |
| 7 | Ed Bogas & Ray Shanklin: Black Girl; Fantasy 9420; 1972 (w/Merl Saunders, Betty Everett, Sonny Stitt..) |
| 7 | James Brown/Fred Wesley: Black Caesar; Polydor PD-6014; 1973 |
| 8 | James Brown/Fred Wesley: Slaughter's Big Rip-Off; Polydor PD-6015; 1973 |
| Roy Budd/Three Degrees: Diamond Shaft; Bradleys (also as Diamonds) | |
| Solomon Burke: Cool Breeze; MGM I-SE-35; 1972 | |
| Jerry Butler/Jerry Peters: Melinda; Pride | |
| 6 | Donald Byrd/The Blackbyrds: Cornbread, Earl, and Me; Fantasy F-9483; 1975 |
| 7 | Vic Caesar: Bare Knuckles ST; Gucci G-303; 1977 (funky Moog/funk) |
| 7 | Dennis Coffey & Luchi de Jesus: Black Belt Jones; Warner Bros. WS-7771; 1974 |
| 5 | Don Costa/Lou Rawls: The Soul of Nigger Charley; MGM 1-SE-46-ST; 1973 |
| Bobby Davis Orchestra: Hit 'em Hard; Bobby Davis Enterprises BDE-100; 1972 | |
| 7 | Nat Dove & the Devils: Petey Wheatstraw; Magic Disc MD-112; 1977 |
| 7 | Charles Earland: The Dynamite Brothers; Prestige P-10082; 1974/1973 |
| 6 | Ernie Fields, Jr.: Avenging Disco Godfather; [unreleased?]; 1977 (w/Rudy Ray Moore, Carol Speed) |
| 8 | Friends of Distinction/Blood Hollins/Weldon Irvine/Zulema: Honey Baby, Honey Baby; RCA Victor APL-1-0994; 1975 (comp. Michael Tschudin/arr. Carl Maults-By) |
| 6 | Marvin Gaye: Trouble Man; Motown/Tamla T-322-L; 1972 |
| 8 | Grant Green: The Final Come-Down; Blue Note BST-84415; 1972 |
| Herbie Hancock: Death Wish; Columbia PC-33199; 1974 | |
| 5 | Donny Hathaway/Quincy Jones: Come Back Charleston Blue; Atlantic/Atco SD-7010; 1972 |
| 5 | Isaac Hayes: Shaft; Stax/Enterprise ENS-2-5002; 1971 |
| 5 | Isaac Hayes: The Men; Stax/Enterprise |
| 5 | Isaac Hayes/The Movement: Tough Guys (from "Three Tough Guys"); Stax/Enterprise ENS-7504; 1974 |
| 6 | Isaac Hayes: Truck Turner; Stax/Enterprise ENS-2-7507; 1974 (2-LP; good for "Breakthrough") |
| 7 | Monk Higgins/Alex Brown/Barbara Mason: Sheba, Baby; Buddah BDS-5634-ST; 1975 |
| 7 | Willie Hutch: The Mack; Motown M-766-L; 1973 |
| 7 | Willie Hutch: Foxy Brown; Motown M-811; 1974 |
| 7 | The Impressions: Three the Hard Way; Buddah/Curtom CRS-8602-ST; 1974 |
| 6 | Luchi de Jesus: Detroit 9000; 1973 |
| 8 | Luchi de Jesus: Friday Foster; AIP; 1975 (w/Pam Grier, Eartha Kitt, Scatman Crothers, Yaphet Kotto, Ted Lange; ST released CD-only) |
| 7 | J.J. Johnson/Bobby Womack: Across 110th Street; United Artists UAS-5225; 1972 |
| 7 | J.J. Johnson/Joe Simon: Cleopatra Jones; Warner Bros. BS-2719; 1973 |
| J.J. Johnson: Willie Dynamite; MCA MCA-393; 1974 | |
| 7 | Quincy Jones: $ ("Dollar"); Warner Bros./Reprise MS-2051; 1972 |
| 7 | Quincy Jones: The Lost Man; Uni 73060; 1970/1969 |
| 7 | Don Julian: Savage!; Money MS-1109; 1973 |
| 9 | Don Julian & the Larks: Shorty the Pimp; Money (45 only, other ST cuts appear on 2 LPs) |
| 5 | Hubert Laws Group: A Hero Ain't Nothin' But a Sandwich; Columbia 35046; 1978 (jazz) |
| 6 | William Loose & William A. Hardcastle: The Big Bird Cage; AIP; 1972 (Roger Corman women-in-prison flick w/Pam Grier; great exotic but probably unreleased ST) |
| 5 | Galt MacDermot: Cotton Comes to Harlem; United Artists UAS-5211; 1970 |
| 5 | Taj Mahal: Brothers; Warner Bros. BS-3024; 1977/1976 |
| 5 | Soul Mann & the Brothers: "Shaft"--Music from the Movie; Pickwick SPC-3290 (single-LP interpretation of the ST by Sy Mann) |
| Bill Marx: Scream, Blacula, Scream (and other titles);; 1973 | |
| 9 | Curtis Mayfield: Superfly; Buddah/Curtom CRS-8014; 1972 (arr. cond. Johnny Pate) |
| Curtis Mayfield: Let's Do it Again; Curtom CU-5005; 1975 | |
| Curtis Mayfield: A Piece of the Action; Curtom CU-5019; 1977 | |
| 6 | Rudy Ray Moore/Soul Rebellion Orchestra: Dolemite; Generation International LP-2501; 1975 (w/Arthur Wright, Ben Taylor, Mary Love) |
| Rudy Ray Moore: The Human Tornado (Dolemite 2); 1976 | |
| Ohio Players: Mr. Mean | |
| 6 | Osibisa: Superfly T.N.T.; Buddah BDS-5136-ST; 1973 |
| 6 | Gene Page/Hues Corporation/The 21st Century Ltd.: Blacula ST; RCA Victor LSP-4806; 1972 |
| 8 | Johnny Pate/Four Tops: Shaft in Africa; ABC ABCX-793; 1973 |
| 8 | Johnny Pate: Brother on the Run; Perception PLP-45; 1973 |
| N/A | Johnny Pate: Bucktown; 1975 (unreleased) |
| 5 | Gordon Parks: Shaft's Big Score; MGM 1-SE-36-ST; 1972 |
| 7 | Melvin Van Peebles/Brer Soul/Earth, Wind & Fire: Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song -- an Opera; Stax STS-3001 |
| 3 | Melvin Van Peebles: Watermelon Man; 1970; Beverly Hills |
| 5 | Melvin Van Peebles: Don't Play us Cheap; Stax STS-2-3006; 1972 (2-LP) |
| 6 | Bernard Purdie: Lialeh; Bryan BRS-102; 1974 |
| 8 | Leonard Rosenman: Beneath the Planet of the Apes; Bell/Amos AAS-8001 |
| 7 | Roger Hamilton Spotts: Tongue; Chocolate Cities CCS-1000; 1975 (funk/sex/blues/Moog) |
| 5 | Mavis Staples/Curtis Mayfield: A Piece of the Action; Curtom CU-5019; 1977 |
| 7 | Edwin Starr: Hell Up in Harlem; Motown M-802V1; 1974 (w/Dennis Coffey, Mike Melvoin..) |
| 5 | The Superdudes: Super Bad!; Pickwick SPC-3354; (jacket: "Soul Makossa Played & Sung by the Ghana Soul Explosion!"; covers of "Superfly T.N.T." & "Are You Man Enough?" from "Shaft in Africa") |
| 5 | Booker T. & the MGs: Uptight; Stax STS-2006 |
| Coleridge Taylor-Perkinson: The Education of Sonny Carson; Paramount PAS-1045; 1974 | |
| Johnnie Taylor: Disco 9000 (aka Fass Black) | |
| Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee: Book of Numbers; Brut 6002-ST | |
| 5 | Barry White/Gene Page: Together Brothers; 20th Century Records ST-101; 1974 |
| 5 | Various: Black Fist; GRT/Happy Fox HF-1101; 1977 (Sam & Jus' Us, Velvet Fire, Paul Humphrey, Jesse James) |
| 3 | Various: Shaftman; Funky Finger 67-71 (compilation/spoof) |
| 9 | Various: Super Bad Super Black--Can Ya'll Dig That?; Waste Management/Black Label WM-3091 (2-LP compilation of radio spots for 54 STs) |
Funky Soundtrack 45s
| Rating | |
| 6 | The Bar-Kays: Son of Shaft/Sang & Dance; Volt VOA-4073 (from Do You See What I See) |
| Brinkley & Parker: Don't Get Fooled by the Pander Man/Pander Man; Darnel DA-1111; 1974 (not a ST, but sounds like one) | |
| Dennis Coffey: Theme from Black Belt Jones; Warner Bros. | |
| 9 | Don Julian & the Larks: Shorty the Pimp Parts 1 & 2; Jerk 202 (Money M-607; 45 only, other ST cuts appear on 2 LPs) |
| 7 | Joe Simon & the Mainstreeters: Theme from Cleopatra Jones/Joe Simon: Who was that Lady; Polydor/Spring SPR-138; 1973 |
| 7 | Isaac Hayes: Theme from Shaft/Theme from The Men (instrumental); Stax/Enterprise; 1977 |
| Stargard: Which Way Is Up | |
| 8 | Uncredited: Come Back Charleston Blue (3 versions); Warner Bros. W-Blue (promo; radio spots for the film) |
| 8 | Uncredited: Three Tough Guys (2 versions); Paramount WLC-1586 (promo; radio spots for the film) |
Possible STs, Artist Unknown
ST LP (if any) info wanted -- Artist: Title; Label Catalog#; Year
Hip Wax