This was $4.00. At this price and for a double album I had to get it.
Shaft, released in 1971, is considered the prime example of Blaxploitation movies although it was not the first. Melvin Van Peoples, director of Sweet Sweetback’s Baddassss Song, claimed that the success of his film caused MGM to change the lead character in Shaft from white to black. This claim is somewhat dubious however, as filming began with Richard Roundtree in the lead several months before Van People’s film was released. Also the source novel featured a black detective.
The film was a critical and commercial hit, both inspiring the genre as well as keeping the struggling MGM afloat. It was remade with Samuel L Jackson in 2000, the same year it was selected by the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for preservation for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
Isaac Hayes had originally auditioned for the role of Shaft. The producers liked him enough to hire him for the soundtrack. It was very successful as well. The title theme netted Hayes an Oscar as well as a Grammy. It would become Hayes best known work and Stax’s best selling record. In 2014, it was added to the National Recording Registry, again by the Library of Congress. And who says Congress is good for nothing.
The double album set consists of mostly instrumentals with three vocal tracks. The rhythm tracks were recorded with The Bar-Kays in one day. The orchestra tracks were done the next day with the vocals following. The songs were re-recorded for the album in order to get a richer sound.
For a sample, I decided to go with a vocal track, “Soulsville”. I realize there is a small skip but I have had a long day and do not feel like re-recording the song tonight.
Satisfactory Record. Pretty decent movie. In terms of Blaxploitation, I have ones I like better, but this is still good. In terms of production value, this is probably one of the best.