Very tripped out work from Melvin Van Peebles – the multi-talented artist who had a huge influence on African American film in the 70s! Melvin's working here in a a mode that combines soul, folk, funk, and lots of the more messed-up sounds that you'd hear on his own soundtracks for his films. And yes, he can't sing – but he has this wild way of muttering while singing, one that makes the album a really compelling document of culture and politics in the early 70s! The overall feel is sort of like Eugene McDaniels' work for Atlantic from the same time – but more messed up, disorganized, and rootsy! Titles include "Superstition", "Birth Certificate Ain't Nothing But A Death Warrant Anyway", "So Many Bars", and "Eyes On The Rabbit". LP, Vinyl record album

A musical – but a pretty darn soulful one, as you might expect from the mighty Melvin Van Peebles! The soundtrack features tunes from Van Peebles early 70s stage production Don't Play Us Cheap – an attempt to bring the modes explored in his film work to the theater – and given the range of unusual tunes and odd timings for most of these numbers, the whole thing really must have been something to see! Peebles wrote and produced the whole thing – but gets some help on the music from funky Harold Wheeler – and performers in the cast include Rhetta Hughes, Joshie Jo Armstead, and Mabel King – all of whom bring some pretty soulful vocals to the record. There's a few great instrumentals – like "Bad Character Bossa Nova", "Break that Party", and "The Washingtons Thing" – and other titles include "Quartet", "The Phoney Game", "Saturday Night", "The Bowsers Thing", "If You See A Devil Smash Him", "Quittin Time", "Ain't Love Grand", "I'm A Bad Character", "Fest On Me", and "The Eight Day Week". LP, Vinyl record album

From Brer Soul. 7-inch, Vinyl record

Very tripped out work from Melvin Van Peebles – the multi-talented artist who had a huge influence on African American film in the 70s! Melvin's working here in a a mode that combines soul, folk, funk, and lots of the more messed-up sounds that you'd hear on his own soundtracks for his films. And yes, he can't sing – but he has this wild way of muttering while singing, one that makes the album a really compelling document of culture and politics in the early 70s! The overall feel is sort of like Eugene McDaniels' work for Atlantic from the same time – but more messed up, disorganized, and rootsy! Titles include "Superstition", "Birth Certificate Ain't Nothing But A Death Warrant Anyway", "So Many Bars", and "Eyes On The Rabbit". CD

Amazing stuff from Melvin Van Peebles! Brer Soul is a mad mix of funky soul insanity and straight up wisdom – a mix of moods that also seems to inform the best of his films, now that we think about it – and it's put together with enough wild clashes of culture to shake anyone up. Funk, soul, jazz, poetry, and righteousness blend into a great batch of tracks! Includes groovy cuts like "Lilly Done the Zampoughi Everytime I Pulled Her Coattail", "Mirror Mirror On The Wall", "The Coolest Place In Town", "The Dozens", "Tenth And Greenwich (Women's House Of Detention)", and "Sera Sera Jim". It's the right kind of late 60s crazy from one of the most unique artists ever to pick up a microphone, camera or any other artistic medium put of front of him! LP, Vinyl record album

A wild and weird early soundtrack work from the great Melvin Van Peebles – a set of songs composed by the man himself, and put together for an early directorial effort about a white man who wakes up one morning and finds himself black – and has to discover the real version of society from an African-American perspective! The music and politics are very similar to Melvin's early albums for A&M – songs that borrow from a few different styles, and aren't just straight soul and funk – handled with some larger arrangements from Bob Matthews, who amplifies some of the wildness in the tunes! Tracks include "Love, That's America", "Great Guy", "Eviction Scene", and "Where Are The Children". LP, Vinyl record album

The original first recording of The Wiz – the super-soul musical that remade Wizard Of Oz for the 70s! The hits here are familiar, but the music is actually pretty great – handled by hip Harold Wheeler on most numbers, and really stepping forth with a nice mix of soundtrack grooves and bigger orchestrations! Stephanie Mills sings the parts of Dorothy here, but the best vocal numbers are usually the more ensemble ones – which come across with a bit of the badass feel of Melvin Van Peebles' musicals. Titles include the sweet instrumental "Tornado", plus "So You Wanted To See The Wizard", "What Would I Do If I Could Feel", "Ease On Down The Road", "Slide Some Oil To Me", "Home", and "Y'all Got It". LP, Vinyl record album

Music from Vast Aire, Quasimoto, DJ Design, Don Cherry, Melvin Van Peebles, David Axelrod, Roy Ayers, The Dells, Alain Goraguer, Marlena Shaw, and more. CD