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Underground > Radio & Music >

"Blaxploitation" Music

19:27 / 10.07.03

I just watched Jackie Brown, and really loved the music in the film. Anyone know of good albums or songs that are in a similar 70's style as most of the music in this film?

20:58 / 10.07.03

The most blindingly obvious OSTs are Isaac Hayes' Shaft and Curtis Mayfield's Superfly, both of which are fantastic albums in their own right.

07:44 / 11.07.03

Kinda stating the obvious, but you should just pick up the soundtrack. It's a great album, and maybe a compilation-style soundtrack album will let you pick out the specific names you want to hear more of.

08:10 / 11.07.03

Bobby Womack's "Across 110th Street" from the soundtrack is taken from a film of the same name, though that's the standout track. His output is a bit patchy - despite having the voice of a gravelly soul angel - so you're best of with a "Best of" compliation, I think.

I'd also recommend any Curtis Mayfield LP from this period - you can get 'em cheap on CD now, as well as The Impressions LP's - Curtis's earlier band. I seem to remember The Delfonics being the big soul group in Tarintino's films, but I know nish about them.

I think Tarintino's chice of soundtrack has been a key factor in the "coolness" of his films - very staged but still brilliant. Al Green's "Let's Sta Together" liliting away in the background in Marsellas Wallace''s bar. Total soul magic. His output is well worth checking out.

Regrettable Juvenilia

10:04 / 11.07.03

If you're talking Seventies soul, you're talking Hot Buttered Soul. Even though I think it was released in 1969 - but hey, that makes it the blueprint, right?

Four tracks, three of them past the ten-minute mark. All of them utterly fantastic, and goddamn but with the weather as it is right now, I need to dig out my tape of this, or maybe even go buy it. Everything about this album is flawless, from the music to the title to that photo of Hayes' big beautiful bald dome. YES.

It's a little annoying the way everyone thinks of Isaac Hayes as being just about sex, and in a 'comedy' way to boot (which is why even though a lot of the stuff he did in South Park was funny, I wish he hadn't done it). This is serious music, not in a joyless muso zzzzzzz way, but in an oh-my-god-this-is-fucking-amazing-you-cannot-fuck-with-Isaac-Hayes way. It's also weird that so many people over at the Amazon entry for the album seem to think it's great 'make-out' music - most of this record is tragic! 'Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic' is the only song that's actually about sex - the rest are about heartbreak of one kind or another, and they all contain the quality that makes so much black American music so great: infusing tales of personal struggles with an anguish that draws on the wider context of political and historical struggle.

Worth noting that Hot Buttered Soul is also one of the most heavily sampled albums I know of, and by the best artists in hip-hop. I believe Public Enemy built 'Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos' around a piano loop from 'Hyperbolic...', while the Wu-Tang Clan liked 'Walk On By' so much they made a song that was basically just RZA and Ghostface rapping over the top of the arrangement - and sounding like they were about to burst into tears - then invited Hayes to come and sing on it as well ('I Can't Go To Sleep').

10:59 / 11.07.03

Big up ya status Flyboy, for your Ike synposis.

Issac Hayes is soooooo not a comedy pimp. Check out "By the time I get to Phoenix" - it's a fucking awesome love song, a soul journey. Also if you see it, check out an LP called "Wattstax" which has Ike doing a 25 minute version of "Ain't no sunshine" - fucking amazing.

The classic all time Ike break is off of "To be Continued" - used loads in cut ups and mix, can't remember title - "Ike's Mood's", maybe?

Also, if it's seventies soul, you're after, you can't go wrong with any of Stevie Wonder's albums. Might be a bit later than what your looking for, but you should just buy them anyway. Especially "Songs in the Key of Life". Not owning this album should be a capital offence.

lord nuneaton savage

11:15 / 11.07.03

Hayes' 'Black Moses' is Fucking unmissable as well. The awesome, surging 'Your Love is so Doggone Good' is one of the most 'Fucking hell, Yes!' tracks ever.

12:21 / 11.07.03

Blaxploitation music owes a LOT to Herbie Hancock's "Headhunter" album (1968?) and, coming out the other end, check out his soundtrack to "Death Wish," from 1973. Not quite part of the genre, but fantastic urban music for a hot summer is Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On."

Old brown-eye is back

12:22 / 11.07.03

You might also want to consider most anything by Marvin Gaye, from What's Going On all the way to the end of the decade. The ultimate soul heartbreak album has to be Here My Dear, which was recorded as aural alimony after his divorce from Anna Gordy, a fact very much relected in the grooves. I've just put it on, and it's fucking horrible - Marvin, his voice pristeen as ever picking apart their relationship song by song.

Sly Stone's There's a Riot Goin On is as good as anything recorded in the seventies, and anticipates the darksome political content of Superfly, Across 110th Street and like by about a year. It's not so much in the content of the songs themselves as in their tone - vocals are slurred to the point of incoherence, instruments drift in and out of the mix, songs ramble on, get tired and die. The last track sees the now-fucked-out-of-his-mind-on-coke Sly explicitly shitting on his own hippy legacy by stretching out and slowing down Thank you (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) to a ten minute funeral march.

I've always been especially partial to Parliament, but I can see why the P might be an acquired taste. As with Big Isacc, it's easy to see George Clinton as a comedy figure due to his tendancy to act as if he was out of his goddamned mind, but don't be fooled - his little funk symphonies put him right up there with Ike or Stevie.
Of course there's always the possibility that he really is out of his goddamned mind, which would explain why the whole P-Funk fantasy world (the mother ship, Dr Funkenstein, Sir Nose etc etc) is so layered and so much fun.

Other blaxploitation soundtracks . Truck Turner by Ike Hayes, Slaughter's Big Rip Off and Black Caesar by James Brown, Trouble Man by Marvin Gaye, and probably countless more. Also, seek out the work Lalo Schifrin and Quincy Jones, specifically Dirty Harry and They Call Me Mr Tibbs.

12:23 / 11.07.03

And I'm glad Isaac Hayes is Chef. Before South Park he was mainly known as a Scientologist, and those people have no fun at all. That's no way to end up. Anyway, all struggle and no play makes Jack a Socialist Worker.

Old brown-eye is back

12:27 / 11.07.03

Headhunter, schmeadhunter. Jazz fusion owes a lot to Herbie Hancock. The Mahavishnu Orchestra and Weather Report owe a lot to Herbie Hancock. Soul and Funk don't owe nothing - in fact, if anything it's the other way around.

No star here laces

12:42 / 11.07.03

As Jackie herself recommends in the film - get a best of the Delfonics.

Also, Kenny Dope has collected a lot of the jazzier (and dare I say more fusion-y) 70s soul and funk rarities in a series of incredibly good collections - either Favourite Grooves or Strange Games and Funky Things should be available from an HMV near you.

There is a bit of a Philly Soul thing going on in the Jackie Brown soundtrack, if I remember rightly. There is a Philadelphia records boxed set if you want to be completist (and it's probably worth it) or there's a comp called TSOP - The Sound of Philadephia with classics like Love TKO, Lets clean up the ghetto etc.

If you don't own any Philly Soul, shame on ya. Go buy.

12:44 / 11.07.03

I can't recommend Curtis Mayfield enough. The man was a genius, the soundtrack to "Superfly" was absolutely fantastic, somehow acknowledgeing the seductiveness of the life of the dealer, while still mourning the situation that forces people into that life.. Sly and the family Stone is always worth listening to, especially in the summer. And for the more left-field, but still damn funky, Parliament. P-funk, uncut funk, the bomb! Also Bill Withers, Al Green, the Blackbyrds or any of the Blaxploitation compilation albums that you can normally pick up cheap, they'll act as a good introduction.

14:34 / 11.07.03

I dunno. A couple of these suggestions don't seem to fit the request at all. Stevie Wonder and blaxploitation? Al Green? Hmm. We're moving into a more general soul area now.

If you're buying up a pile of Hayes' albums then you'll also want to get The Isaac Hayes Movement, which is pretty much as good as anything else he's recorded. The cover of Something works in a similar way to the one of Walk On By on Hot Buttered Soul, where the basic structure of the track's altered in a subtle way that manages to compeltely alter - improve - its feel and effect.

Old brown-eye is back

15:30 / 11.07.03

Slap me, but I'm guessing the reason that the discussion hasn't really been about Blaxploitation per se is either that no one really knows about these films or because their sountracks - at least for the most part - aint actually all that interesting. Have you actually heard Shaft? It blands me out every time. As Mr Shoelaces points out, the thing that prompted the thread in the first place - the Jackie Brown soundtrack - actually has more than just one type of music on it. There's Philly soul, sleazy funk (from a dodgy Italian horror flick), and even a bit of psychedelia thrown in towards the end - and if Tarantino can pick and choose, I don't see why we shouldn't as well. You know, within reason.

As for comparing Stevie and Blaxploitation, I don't see why not. The best of the Bptn stuff (eg Superfly) is overtly political, and so is Mr Wonder's 70s output - albeit with more emphasis on the secret life of beans.

17:39 / 11.07.03

Thanks for all the suggestions. I already picked up the Jackie Brown soundtrack, and it's fantastic, and I'll check out the other suggestions when I get a chance.

17:57 / 11.07.03

Headhunters is a fucking great album, if only for the bassy might of Chameleon. It's 1973, and Hancock is dropping his chops on Rhodes, Clavinet, and ARP synths - anything but straight piano. Hancock is a genius musician - his early jazz is marvellous, subtle, tight arrangements with wonderful harmonies (Maiden Voyage, both the album and the track, is a particular favourite) and going into funk and fusion. That said, he's still a mighty pianist - the shots of him playing live on last week's South Bank Show, all on Hancock, were fab. Hope some of you saw that.

18:42 / 11.07.03

Have you actually heard Shaft?

Yeah. That's why I recommended it. I don't generally go around recommending things unless I've first heard them myself. I'm odd like that. And, for what it's worth, I really like it. It's definitely a soundtrack album in that it's largely instrumental and reflects the film's atmosphere perfectly, but I also think it works as a standalone.

19:03 / 11.07.03

blaksploitation

i have the first two compilations in this series, they tend to have consistantly funky tracks from a variety of artists. it's nice to have someone else do the crate digging for you. i couldn't find the first two anywhere online, you may want to try searching for them.

22:22 / 11.07.03

If you can find it, Ice-T put out a CD collection of some of the greatest hits of 70's black film music called "Pimps, Players, & Private Eyes." It's a good place to start.

22:26 / 11.07.03

Another band that kinda fits is War. Any 70's album. Just adding a little latin flavor!

03:58 / 12.07.03

Over at Aquarius they've got a disc on the front page (for now) called Super Bad Super Black: Can Y'all Dig That?. To cut-n-paste:

The lowdown on this disc is pretty simple: it's a collection of original radio spots for over fifty different classic (and not-so-classic) '70s blaxploitation flicks. Pretty much all of 'em feature a smooth-talking baritone dude talking up the movie's titular hero or heroine backed by snippets of dialogue, machine gun fire, and all kinds of scorching funk/soul soundtrack music. It actually sounds like the same guy doing the voiceover on about 90 percent of these! You get promo clips for the likes of Black Caesar, Trouble Man, J.D.'s Revenge, Truck Turner, Blacula, Dr. Black & Mr. Hyde, Ghetto Freaks, Sheeba Baby, Black Belt Jones, Trick Baby, Slaughter's Big Rip Off, Shaft, Coffy, The Mack, etc., etc.

Good enough for me.

Also search their page for Chains & Black Exhaust:
Here's the soundtrack to your wildest blaxploitation-fueled fantasies, baadasssss R&B with an acid rock edge. You'll never need to ask, "Mommy, what's a funkadelic?" after this.
"Chains & Black Exhaust" is a compilation of late sixties/early seventies raw, fuzzed-out funk put together by some young, devotedly-crate-diggin' Memphis DJs, who apparently don't think we need to know what exactly we're listening too, 'cause there's no artist info, no track listing, nothing -- heck, the title of the comp appears nowhere on it, even!

To anyone who knows this stuff, many of the tracks aren't much of a mystery, but it's a fantastic comp, regardless...

at the scarwash

21:58 / 12.07.03

Also almost-off-topic, but a great record is the Dan Nakamura-produced Bombay the Hard Way compilation of Bollywood soundtrack psychadelic disco funk. I think it definitely would appeal to the blaxploitaion afficionado.

20:38 / 17.07.03

also they have released "bombay 2, electric vindaloo"

the second volume has more turntablism and is by various artists rather than just dj shadow

19:23 / 24.07.03

Lovage: Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By is another Dan the Automator album that has a lot of blaxploitation influence, and besides that, is simply incredible. Every single track is brilliant.

19:40 / 24.07.03

The archetypal blaxploitation movies, and also soundtracks have got to be Shaft, Superfly, and Black Ceasar, though thats not to say there's not lots of lesser known but equally kickass movies and soundtacks out there (me I like Sweet Sweetbacks Baadasss song, just for the title really, also it's possibly a barbelith name waiting to happen)