Soundtracks — All Formats  

A groovy little soundtrack – put together by the DeAngelis brothers for one of the earlier pairings of Terence Hill and Bud Spencer – with a sound that's arguably better than most of their later soundtracks! There's plenty of playful elements in the mix – the kind of jaunty grooves that always seemed especially well suited to Hill's moments onscreen – but there's also some great 70s moments too, of the sort that push forward from mod 60s Italian comedy grooves, with some nice exotic and bossa touches on a few of the best tracks. Instrumentation is a lot richer than other Hill/Spencer scores – and the CD features a whopping 23 tracks that include "Flying Through The Air", "Gli Amici", "Valzer Fra Amici", "Il Matto", "Samba", "Bossa", "Plata & Salud", and "Il Ballo".

A wonderful soundtrack for this hip Italian crime film from 1972 – a great little movie that stars the mighty Ben Gazzara, with some equally mighty music to match! The grooves here are right up there with other great 70s work from the team of Guido & Maurizio De Angelis – some great funky and jazzy numbers in a crime/cop mode – but there's also some unusual use of acoustic guitar, which is strummed with a hard edge that's pretty great on a few tracks – making a nice change amidst the electric elements! A few numbers use a fair bit of flute too – often with a weird, folksy melody that's pretty nice – a mountain-sounding tune that possibly underscores the Sicilian connection. The De Angelis brothers actually sing the vocals on the title tune "Afyon Oppio" – and other tracks include "I Picciotti", "Claude", "Serata Al Night", "Cena Fra Amici", "Arrivo A New York", and "Appuntamento D'Affari". Also features 2 bonus tracks – and a great booklet too!

A great little score from that time when Italian westerns were able to mix in equal parts humor and action – served up here in a buddy film that's got a bit of a Butch & Sundance vibe! The music is maybe more 60s playful than you'd expect – still often sweeping in a western style, but often underscored with comedic elements that correspond to some of the more offbeat action on the screen. Even the tenser moments have a sort of comedy quality – and feel more like heist-style numbers than the usual western styles – but that could also be due to the groovier modes normally used by Gianni Ferrio. This expanded edition features a heck of a lot of tracks – way more than any previous version – including vocal numbers by Lilian Terry and by the team of John Ireson and Wayne Parham. Titles include "Falling In Love With A Pretty Girl", "Young Man Go West", "Two Not So Peaceful Brothers", "Monty & Ted", "Let's Keep Our Fingers Crossed", and "Working Hard".

A great little score from that time when Italian westerns were able to mix in equal parts humor and action – served up here in a buddy film that's got a bit of a Butch & Sundance vibe! The music is maybe more 60s playful than you'd expect – still often sweeping in a western style, but often underscored with comedic elements that correspond to some of the more offbeat action on the screen. Even the tenser moments have a sort of comedy quality – and feel more like heist-style numbers than the usual western styles – but that could also be due to the groovier modes normally used by Gianni Ferrio. This expanded edition features a heck of a lot of tracks – way more than any previous version – including vocal numbers by Lilian Terry and by the team of John Ireson and Wayne Parham. Titles include "Falling In Love With A Pretty Girl", "Young Man Go West", "Two Not So Peaceful Brothers", "Monty & Ted", "Let's Keep Our Fingers Crossed", and "Working Hard".

A never-heard soundtrack for a never-seen film – and a record that's every bit as funky as better-known sets from the blacksploitation era! Final Solution were a small time group from Chicago's west side in the 70s, but on this wicked little soundtrack they sparkle just as brightly as Isaac Hayes, Willie Hutch, Curtis Mayfield, or any of our favorite soundtrack soul artists from the time – working in a really righteous approach to soul with lots of heavy rhythms on the bottom and rumbling bass in the mix – so that even when the tunes are mellow, there's still a bold, brash sort of power to the set! The vocals are mostly delivered in harmony style, again with a nice edge – a bit like The Impressions work on Three The Hard Way, but with more of an indie soul feel overall, given the production circumstances. Once again, our hats are off to Numero for unearthing this gem – and as usual, the full tale of the group, the movie, and the music is told at length in the accompanying 16 page booklet! Titles include "Brotherman", "Never Coming Back Again", "I Don't Care", "Girl In My Life", "Gotta Get Through To You", "One Day", "I'm Ready For Love", "Theme From Brotherman", "No Place To Run", and "We Can Work It Out".

A never-heard soundtrack for a never-seen film – and a record that's every bit as funky as better-known sets from the blacksploitation era! Final Solution were a small time group from Chicago's west side in the 70s, but on this wicked little soundtrack they sparkle just as brightly as Isaac Hayes, Willie Hutch, Curtis Mayfield, or any of our favorite soundtrack soul artists from the time – working in a really righteous approach to soul with lots of heavy rhythms on the bottom and rumbling bass in the mix – so that even when the tunes are mellow, there's still a bold, brash sort of power to the set! The vocals are mostly delivered in harmony style, again with a nice edge – a bit like The Impressions work on Three The Hard Way, but with more of an indie soul feel overall, given the production circumstances. Once again, our hats are off to Numero for unearthing this gem. Titles include "Brotherman", "Never Coming Back Again", "I Don't Care", "Girl In My Life", "Gotta Get Through To You", "One Day", "I'm Ready For Love", and "We Can Work It Out".

A really wonderful soundtrack, with loads of groovy tracks! The film stars Jack Lemmon, and the format of the record is similar to the Odd Couple – in that musical tracks are interspersed with dialogue, to keep the feel of the progression of the movie. Side one has some especially groovy moments, as Percy Faith and chorus perform a great version of Bacharach's "April Fools", which then leads into Mongo Santamaria's chunky groover "La La La", and "Wake Up" by The Chambers Brothers, which is one of their nicest tracks! Other tunes include the instrumentals "The April Fools", "I Remember The Rain", "The Safari Club", and "Peter's Pad" – plus "Sugar Kite" by California and "Flame" by Robert John.

An all-star soundtrack to this comedy film from the 70s – starring Raquel Welch, Bill Cosby, and a very young Harvey Keitel! Most of the tracks on the set are from other A&M albums, but there's a few tunes that are original to the set – including the vocal track "No Love Today" by Michelle Phillips, served up in an instrumental reading by Pete Jolly. Paul Jabara also contributed the tune "Dance", in 2 versions – and other cuts, from other albums, include "Mellow Out" by The Crusaders, "Thunder Thumbs & Lightnin Licks" and "Get The Funk Out Ma Face" by The Brothers Johnson, "My Soul Is A Witness" by Billy Preston, and "Show Me The Way" by Peter Frampton.

A very strange little record – composed for a very strange film directed by Allen "Candid Camera" Funt – in which people are surprised by a nude woman, and have to react accordingly. There's a lot of tunes on here that have an almost Harper's Bizarre feel – that kind of "sweet, but dark inside" style that we love from late 60s rock albums on Warner Brothers. The mood changes from track to track, to fit the situations of the scenes – and there's plenty of great tunes on here with sweet or groovy vocals and a hip easy soft pop style. Titles include "Kids", "Too Bad You Can't Read My Mind", "Pardon Me", "Let's Get Down To It", "What Do You Say To A Naked Lady", and "Hail To Humanity".

A funky treasure – finally unleashed! Bucktown was one of the best of the mid 70s indie blacksploitation films – thanks to some great starring work from Fred Williamson and Pam Grier – but for years, the soundtrack's never been available as an individual release. Now, this tasty heavy-vinyl set makes all the film's wonderful grooves finally available – presented in a great style that includes all the shorter moodier bits, the fuller longer funky tracks, and even a bit of sound effects and dialogue! The music was penned and conducted by Johnny Pate – of Shaft In Africa and Brother On The Run fame – and the tunes are a great blend of funky soundtrack styles that include full on big band, sparer snapping instrumentals, and even a few nice tunes with great use of moog! Titles include "Chase", "Stepping", "Bar Fly", "Check In", "Freeze", "Love Theme", "Call It In", "Sneaking It In", and "Spin".

An incredible funky soundtrack – one of the best of the blacksploitation generation, and one of the rarest too! Johnny Pate did the orchestrations for this excellent lost film, and he brought the same sort of energy to it that he did with his soundtrack for Shaft In Africa. There's some masterfully funky tracks that are very tightly arranged – grooving hard with some nice "chase" themes, and slowing down in a few sexier, more soulful numbers. Adam Wade sang the vocals to "Brother On The Run" – perhaps the catchiest of all soundtrack tunes from the time – and other titles include "Brother", "Auto Chase", "Car Bumps", "Soulful Brother On The Run", and "Ms. Johnson's Sex Scene".

Easily one of the funkiest albums that James Brown ever recorded – and one of his few entries into the blacksploitation genre of the 70s! James really outdid himself for this one – working at a hard burning pace that had the JBs cooking up some killer funk for just about every number in the set – and which also has James himself stepping out vocally for a few key tracks. The album features the massive groover "People Get Up and Drive Your Funky Soul" – a slamming track that beats nearly every number in the JB 70s catalog – plus other cuts that include "To My Brother", "Brother Rapp", "Sexy Sexy Sexy", "Slaughter Theme", "Transmogrification", "King Slaughter", and "How Long Can I Keep It Up".

One of the most unique Afro jazzy soundtrack you could ever hope to hear – African drummer, keyboard player and composer Remi Kabaka's soundtrack to Black Goddess! The film is from Nigerian director Ola Balogun, but was actually cast and shot in Brazil – and this soundtrack is really amazing and covers a whole lot of territory! The opening track is heavy with this fuzzed out bit of keyboards that's almost a precursor to 80s computer grooves – mixed with some laid back electric guitar and sax, it's a strange, really cool vibe that's totally unlike most Nigerian recordings we can think of. As the tracks roll on, though, the sax and percussion get more play and the sound as a whole more dexterously Afro jazzy and funky. Recorded in Lagos, it features Dele Okonkwo on tenor and soprano sax and BD Wright on keys and bass – both contribute additional percussion - plus Joni Haastrup on guitar and keyboard. Includes "Brothers And Sisters", "The Quest", "Slave March", "Black Goddess", "The Quest (Piano Solo)" and "The Warrior".

Barry White's entry into the blacksploitation soundtrack genre – and it's a doozy! The record's filled with lots of tight little instrumental grooves, produced in the hard edged Love Unlimited Orchestra way – with tight funky drums at the bottom, snapping snare in the middle, and sharp sweeping strings over the top. Love Unlimited sing on a few tracks, but the cuts are mostly instrumentals with a very hard groove. Titles include "Somebody's Gonna Off The Man", "Alive and Well", "Theme From Together Brothers", "Do Drop In", and "Here Comes The Man".

A wonderful Nino Rota score – composed around the same time as his better-known work for Fellini, but done for a film directed by Luchino Visconti! There's a great mix of darkness and light in the music – some playful themes mixed with moodier moments – set to instrumentation that includes organ, bandeon, violin, and sax – with occasional larger orchestrations as well, but always with that sense of intimacy that made Rota one of the first fresh composers on the European scene of the postwar years. If you dig Rota's work for Fellini, you'll find plenty here to love – on titles that include "Come Tu Vuoi", "Milano E Nadia", "Terra Lontana", "L'Amore Di Rocco", and "La Loro Storia".

Two funk blacksploitation soundtracks, back to back on one CD! Cornbread, Earl, & Me wasn't exactly a Superfly-type film, but the Blackbyrds do a nice job of playing Donald Byrd's score of funky instrumentals and sweeter jazz themes, written to fit the "coming of age" story of the film. The big sample cuts on here are the short cuts "Wilford's Gone" and "Soulful Source" – but there's a lot of other nice mellower numbers, like "Cornbread", "Riot", "One-Eye Two Step", and "The Gym Fight". Charles Earland did the funky score for Dynamite Brothers – an obscure Kung Fu movie, that was his one entry into the blacksploitation genre of the 70s. The lineup includes a lot of the great players that were helping him on his mid-70's stuff – Eddie Henderson, Dave Hubbard, Patrick Gleeson – and the groove is deeper and funkier than most of his other mid-70s Prestige albums. The album's got a very nice batch of material that really stands on its own away from the movie, with some very funky grooves that stand as some of the best shorter funk tracks cut by Earland from the time. Tracks include "Snake", "Razor J.", "Kunfusion", and "Weedhopper".

A pair of thrilling 70s action scores – back to back on a single CD! First up is La Montagna Del Dio Cannibale – a cannibal narrative scored with a great sense of drama by the De Angelis brothers – almost the same energy as their cop/crime work, but without the funk – just full, rich sounds that really build over time, and create this strong feeling of suspense! There's a few exotic elements in the music, given the setting – and these make for some slight hint of a groove – and titles include "Visioni Distorte", "Marcia Allucinante", "La Montagana E Il Mistero", "Ipnosi Tragica", and "Il Dio Cannibale". Messalina Messalina has an older Roman setting, and a relatively sexy narrative – and the music is scored with a mix of percussion, light flute, and some slinky electric basslines – of that great sort that was often used to convey sex in 70s Euro cinema! Some of the melodies are playful, others more erotic – and titles include "Notti Romane", "Danzatrici", "Incontro D'Amore", "Un Piacevole Addio", "Messalina", and "Ballata Burlona".