Customer Reviews

Best of Blaxploitation

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This is an extraordinarily solid collection of classic urban rhythm and blues, ranging from well-known hits like Curtis Mayfield's "Superfly" to underground gems like Gil Scott Heron's "The Bottle." There's lots of music (over 2 1/2 hours), it's well sequenced, and the sound quality is excellent. One of the joys of this sort of music is staying with the groove, and you get long versions of quite a few of the tracks, including the 10-minute take of "Papa Was a Rolling Stone."

Perhaps I'll get a few "not helpful" votes for saying this, but the contrast between this music and today's rap is striking and more than a little depressing. Many emotions are expressed here -- rage, joy, determination, longing and fatalism. But this is music about surviving in a harsh environment. It's not music that celebrates the pathologies that help make the environment harsh in the first place.

A culmination of the innner city spirit, containing a myriad of soul classics and hard to find cuts. From jazz filled instrumentals backed by driving baselines, such as Deodato's "September 13th", to the smooth baritone and rolling drum crescendos of Gil Scott Heron's "Gun" this album captures the essence of an era. Classics, such as Mayfield's "Superfly" or James Brown's "The Boss" are only part of the mosaic which constitutes this collection. William De Vaughan's "Be Thankful for What You Got" reminds me of classic cruising beats like War's "Low Rider" and Grover Washington Jr.'s "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" with it's pumping beat, hard baseline, and wailing saxaphone will cause even the most stiff head to begin bobbing. Many tracks contained on this album have continued their legacy, spawning the samples of todays hip-hop culture. Overall, The Best of Blaxploitation is a must have, enjoyable listening from the first track to the last, and never ending replay value. You will not be disapointed.

Hard to ask for much more - 45+ killer funk & soul tracks from the early 1970's. There's a few movies missing (like Shaft) so while the movies might've been low budget and some forgotten - the music tracks and soundtrack are all classy, funky and deserve to be remembered. So, even if you don't recognize a lot of the names or the tracks, once you hear the tracks - you'll apprecaite a time when singers were true musicians.

This collection could almost be my personal soundtrack from my high school years in NYC. There are some incredible gems from the early seventies just prior to the disco years. I'm happy to see some rare favorites like Be Thankful For What You've Got, Trouble Man, Across 110th Street and Expansions. There are also some very obscure ones - Hercules, Gun, Celestial Blues that I was not familiar with, and of course the standard "cliche" hits - Superfly, Theme From Shaft, The Bottle, Papa was a Rolling Stone. Whoever is responsible for assembling this collection must have been there.

Great songs on this one. Perfect for driving around on a sunny day. Has the obligatory movie stuff (Superfly, Shaft, Sweet Sweetback) and other great non-movie music, like "If you want me to stay" (later covered by the Red Hot Chili Peppers) and "Trouble man", plus plenty more songs about the junkies and the pimps and the pushers. This cd always makes me shake my head and say to myself "one day I've got to get out of this ghetto" - and I don't even live in the ghetto!