Wordpress Banner 08 09

The Second Disc

Expanded and Remastered Music News

  • Home
  • News
    • Classic Rock
    • Rock
    • Pop
    • Jazz
    • Popular Standards/Vocal
    • R&B/Soul
    • Country
    • Folk
    • Cast Recordings
    • Soundtracks
    • Everything Else
      • Classical/Opera
      • Disco/Dance
      • Funk
      • Gospel
      • Rap/Hip-Hop
  • Features
    • Release Round-Up
    • Giveaways!
    • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Classic Rock
    • Rock
    • Pop
    • Jazz
    • Popular Standards/Vocal
    • R&B/Soul
    • Country
    • Folk
    • Cast Recordings
    • Soundtracks
    • Everything Else
      • Classical/Opera
      • Disco/Dance
      • Funk
      • Gospel
      • Rap/Hip-Hop
  • Release Calendar
    • Coming Soon
    • Now Available
  • About
  • Second Disc Records
    • Full Catalog
  • Contact

/ News

Hard-Hitting "Sweet Sweetback" Returns To Vinyl For Stax 60th Campaign

August 3, 2017 By Joe Marchese 1 Comment

BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM

Upon its release in 1971, there was nothing quite like Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song.  The low- budget, independently-made film - written, directed, edited, composed by and starring Melvin Van Peebles, and rated X "by an all-white jury" as its tagline proclaimed, ushered in the blaxploitation genre in shocking and often graphic fashion.  Prior to the film's release, the multi-hyphenate Van Peebles realized that the best way to spread the word about his groundbreaking work was via music.  And so, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song: An Opera - A Film of Melvin Van Peebles - The Original Cast Soundtrack Album arrived on Stax Records, the Memphis record label that was home to some of the country's most important African-American musical artists.  (Indeed, it was home to some of the country's most important musical artists, period.)  As part of the label's 60th anniversary celebration, Sweet Sweetback has returned to vinyl in a new 180-gram edition cut in Memphis at Ardent Studios and pressed at Memphis Record Pressing.

The album, as hinted at by its cumbersome title, isn't a conventional soundtrack album - rather, it's an audio-vérité mélange of dialogue, sung and instrumental music, and effects.  It initially functioned as a teaser for the film and now serves as a souvenir and fascinating audio document in its own right.  It was composed by Van Peebles, who couldn't read or write music but could hum his concepts to musicians who could bring them to life.  In this case, the musicians were the young members of Earth, Wind and Fire.  Their work on Sweet Sweetback roughly coincided with their debut Warner Bros. album, which was released in February 1971.  (The movie arrived in theatres that April, with the soundtrack having preceded it into stores.)  The soundtrack was jointly credited to EWF and Brer Soul, which was the name assumed by Van Peebles for his 1968 A&M Records LP of the same time.  That album introduced Van Peebles' proto-rap style of speak-singing, which can be heard on such Sweet Sweetback tracks as the funky organ-and-brass explosion of "Hoppin' John."  The music and dialogue (which jumps out of both speakers in a very discrete stereo presentation) are appropriately raw and gritty for Van Peebles' dark story of the titular character (portrayed by the writer-director) on the run from the police.

For all of the free-form, sonic experimentation and coarse language on the soundtrack, there's plenty for straight-ahead soul, R&B and even hip-hop fans to savor.  The driving "Come on Feet" has the EWF horns in full force, while the band shines even more on the irresistible, even breezy, saxophone-led jazz groove of "Sweetback's Theme."  The first few tracks on the second side have a more typical structure than the first, with brief snippets of dialogue (identified as "Voices") accompanying each track.   "Mojo Woman," sung by an unidentified female vocalist, is a smoking slab of R&B.  "Sanra Z" begin as a meditative piece, highlighted by low, funereal brass, until the jarring introduction of an electric guitar; it then transforms into a workout for the group.  Threads of gospel and spirituals run through the score, as well, from the very first track in which the strains of "Wade in the Water" are juxtaposed with an explicit sex scene depicting the underage Sweetback losing his virginity to a prostitute ("Sweetback Losing His Cherry").  The raucous, anthemic chants of "Won't Bleed Me" are accompanied by EWF's surging Latin rhythms.

The 180-gram vinyl LP is housed in a sturdy gatefold jacket replicating the original Stax release, right down to the misspelling of A&M publishing concern "Almo" as "Alamo."  The inner sleeve happily bears new liner notes describing the album and film's history penned by LA Weekly columnist Jeff Weiss, as well as an appreciation from Melvin's son, Mario Van Peebles, who followed in his father's footsteps in integrating music into such films as New Jack City.  Audio quality on the vinyl is exceptional; the pressing is quiet and detailed.

More than 45 years after the release of Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, many of its themes are still sadly relevant today.  Its soundtrack doesn't have the accessibility of its Oscar-winning successor Shaft, also released on the Stax label, but it does offer a hard-hitting journey through the mind of the visionary writer-director and musical artist Melvin Van Peebles.  As a lost chapter in the career of Earth, Wind and Fire and a snapshot of a groundbreaking moment in cinema history, it's a welcome addition to the Stax 60th anniversary collection.

Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song: : An Opera - A Film of Melvin Van Peebles - The Original Cast Soundtrack Album (Stax LP STS-3001, 1971 - reissued 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side One

  1. Sweetback Losing His Cherry
  2. Sweetback Getting It Uptight and Preaching It So Hard The Bourgeois Reggin Angels in Heaven Turn Around
  3. Come On Feet
  4. Sweetback's Theme

Side Two

  1. Hoppin' John/Voices
  2. Mojo Woman/Voices
  3. Sanra Z/Voices
  4. Reggins Hanging On in There as Best They Can/Voices
  5. Won't Bleed Me
  6. The Man Tries Running His Usual Game But Sweetback's Jones Is So Strong He Wastes the Hounds (Yeah! Yeah! And Besides That Will Be Coming Back Takin Names and Collecting Dues)

Categories: News, Reviews Formats: Vinyl Genre: R&B/Soul, Soundtracks Tags: Earth Wind and Fire, Melvin Van Peebles

Avatar photo

Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with Real Gone Music, has released newly-curated collections produced by Joe from iconic artists such as Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Chet Atkins, and many others. He has contributed liner notes to reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, and Andy Williams, and has compiled releases for talents including Robert Goulet and Keith Allison of Paul Revere and the Raiders. Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray. Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

Connect With Joe: FacebookTwitter

You Might Also Like

  • Philip Bailey State of the HeartWalking on the Chinese Wall: SoulMusic Records Collects Philip Bailey's First Three Solo Pop Albums
  • StreamThe Weekend Stream: December 10, 2022
  • My Best Friends Wedding OSTRelease Round-Up: Week of July 1
  • Watermelon Man OSTSay A Little Prayer: Real Gone's July 1 Slate Includes Melvin Van Peebles' "Watermelon Man," "My Best Friend's Wedding" Soundtrack, and Two Rock Rarities

Comments

  1. Zubb says

    August 3, 2017 at 10:29 pm

    Great soundtrack and a good movie, even though it is pretty sexually explicit.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Upcoming Releases

  • Grateful Dead Wake of the Flood
    Wake of the Flood: 50th Anniversary Edition
    Grateful Dead
    September 29, 2023
  • HAIM Days Are Gone 10
    Days Are Gone: 10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
    HAIM
    September 29, 2023
  • Steely Dan Aja
    Aja
    Steely Dan
    September 29, 2023
See Full Calendar

Connect

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 4,621 other subscribers

Popular

  • Jimi Hendrix Experience Hollywood Bowl
    Wild Thing: The Jimi Hendrix Experience's "Hollywood Bowl 1967" Chronicles Never-Before-Released Gig posted on September 19, 2023 | under News
  • Dire Straits Live 1978 1992 vinyl packshot
    Twisting by the Pool: Dire Straits Offer Expanded, Unreleased Material for Live Box Set posted on September 18, 2023 | under News
  • Replacements Tim Let It Bleed
    Release Round-Up: Week of September 22 posted on September 22, 2023 | under Release Round-Up

Comments

  • small faces here come the nice2
    Return To Itchycoo Park: Small Faces' "Here Come The Nice" Deluxe Box Set Arrives In January [UPDATED 12/3] 84 comments | by Joe Marchese | posted on December 3, 2013 | under News
  • the beatles u s albums box2
    British Invasion! The Beatles Unveil "The U.S. Albums" Box Set in January 69 comments | by Joe Marchese | posted on December 12, 2013 | under News
  • Rolling Stones in Mono
    Out of Their Heads: Stones Plan Mono Box Set 47 comments | by Mike Duquette | posted on August 10, 2016 | under News

Music Resources

  • Addicted to Vinyl
  • Crap from the Past
  • Discogs
  • Film Score Monthly
  • IMWAN Forum – From the Vaults
  • MusicTAP
  • Musoscribe
  • Pause & Play
  • Popblerd
  • Popdose
  • Record Racks
  • Slicing Up Eyeballs
  • Steve Hoffman Music Forums
  • Ultimate Classic Rock
  • Vintage Vinyl News
  • Viva La Mainstream
  • Wolfgang's Vault

Labels of Note

  • Ace Records
  • Analog Spark
  • Bear Family
  • BGO Records
  • Big Break Records
  • Blixa Sounds
  • Cherry Red Label Group
  • Craft Recordings
  • Demon Music Group
  • Friday Music
  • Funky Town Grooves
  • Iconoclassic Records
  • Intervention Records
  • Intrada
  • Kritzerland
  • La La Land Records
  • Legacy Recordings
  • Light in the Attic
  • Masterworks Broadway
  • Now Sounds
  • Omnivore Recordings
  • Real Gone Music
  • Resonance Records
  • Rhino Entertainment
  • Rock Candy Records
  • SoulMusic Records
  • Sunset Blvd. Records
  • Supermegabot
  • Varese Sarabande
  • Vinyl Me, Please
  • Wounded Bird
Copyright © 2023 The Second Disc. All rights reserved. · Site by Metaglyphics

The Second Disc is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk.

Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy