Johnny Pate Outrageous

Johnny Pate is a jazz musician, composer, producer, and arranger. In the early 1960's he came to reknown for his collaboration as producer and arranger for Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions and other Chicago soul acts.

In the 70's he composed some of the most killer blaxploitation soundtracks. He was responsible for Shaft in Africa which, in my humble opinion, is better than the original. He also did the soundtracks for Brother on the Run, Bucktown, Dr. Black and Mr. Hyde, and others.

In 1970, prior to the soundtracks, he released an amazing, funky, orchestral, sweeping, cinematic opus entitled Outrageous. At the time, the album was a departure for Pate, but it was the forerunner of all the smokin', funky shit he recorded for film in the years to come.

Dusty Groove has thankfully reissued this album and it is marvelous. Check out these tunes:

Savage

Don't know much about the flick, except that it has one of the greatest tag lines I've ever seen, and that it stars the actor who played Randy, the football player, in Russ Meyer's Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, but I do know the soundtrack kicks out some seriously funky jams motherfucker. I am so glad these scores are available, even if the flicks aren't. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, more often than not the scores for these films are the best part. I don't know much about Don Julian except that he provided the score for this and another blaxploitation flick entitled 'Shorty the Pimp'. If you like funky, latin-tinged blaxploitation fare, you need this.

Marvin Gaye Trouble Man

I've seen loads of Blaxploitation movies. It is one of my favorite film genres, and by and large they are entertaining films. What I find even more entertaining than the films themselves are their soundtracks. These movies have some of the funkiest and grooviest tunes ever laid down for film. In many cases the soundtracks are the only redeeming element the film has to offer.

In the blink of an eye, any film lover, or music enthusiast, can rattle off a handful of essential titles whose soundtracks have transcended the film, and have become a powerful entity in and of themselves. These names would include Mayfield, Hayes, and, Ayers. This leads me to Trouble Man.

I must say I've never seen Trouble Man, another example of the music being more accessible than the film, but I'm here to write about the music. Specifically to lament that Marvin Gaye's score for the film is not more often mentioned in the same breath as those mentioned above. This score is fantastic. Gaye provides a soulful, laid-back, but funkified listening experience that should be in all soundtrack lover's collections.

Open your ears:

Charles Earland Dynamite Brothers

A great soundtrack to an obscure 70’s kung fu blaxploitation flick. I can hardly think of anything better than a platter of tasty B-3 grooves artfully layered over a fat n funky bass with a soulful smattering of horns. Just close your eyes and you can see the car chases, the flying roundhouses, the squalid ghetto, the pimps in their finery, and those afro-heavy babes in their halter tops and bellbottoms.

Get your groove on with: Betty’s Theme, Shanty Blues, Kungfusion, and the silky smooth Incense of Essence. Right on Soul Brother!

Hayes, Parks, and the Bar-Kays

A groovy behind the scenes look at the making of a soundtrack classic

Coffy

I know, I know...Superfly and Shaft! kick ass. I'm not taking anything away from Curtis or Isaac, but for my money the grooviest blaxploitation soundtrack ever is Roy Ayers' Coffy. From top to bottom this soundtrack is funky, smooth, and indelibly groovy. The flick isn't so bad either. Pam Grier is smoldering is this classic revenge story. Check it out!

This is an excellent sampler of some choice cuts from the soundtrack. Dig it!