Blogger’s note: If you’re not familiar with my newly-found record collecting habits, you might want to read this entry first.
The soundtrack to Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (STS-3001, 1971) is as revolutionary as the film itself. Released on Stax Records, it features a raw, urgent score by Melvin Van Peebles — as performed by Earth, Wind & Fire. Betcha didn’t know that. The record is what you’d imagine: a cool blend of jazz, funk, and soul — with audio samples from the film. It’s a groundbreaking soundtrack, too, because it didn’t just complement the film—it helped define the sound of Blaxploitation cinema. (Just FYI, I still haven’t see the film, but it’s streaming on Criterion. I think pretty much elsewhere, too…just not for free. And one last Just FYI while I’ve got your FYI attention: I’d never heard the album before, either. So I’m going to write about Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song on a particularly nice, warm-and-safe Higley Arizona Sunday afternoon while I listen to it for the very first time.)
I’m no music critic. I’ll leave that to failed and wanna-be music nerds. And I still haven’t figured out what, exactly my angle is going to be with these record blogs. Maybe just to tell a story and try to incorporate my latest record find into it. Kinda like Nick Hornby’s 31 Songs — without its seriousness of tying the songs into important, life shaping events. Because certainly strolling down the aisles of one of my very favorite record stores to find a copy of a record so water damaged someone took it upon themselves to “fix” doesn’t shape one’s life. (Nor should it). Open the gatefold to find another beautiful mess. Pull out the record to find a wholly playable, very clean copy of an album with a median value on Discogs is $25 and some change.
Cause life’s all about values, right? And handmade record-cover fix-its. And gatefolds. And finally, never calling a record or an album or an LP “a vinyl”.
