Customer Reviews

Fritz the Cat & Heavy Traffic

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

When I first saw Fritz the Cat, I was consciously aware of the wonderful soundtrack that was assembled for that landmark picture. Unfortunately, the vinyl soundtrack was impossible to locate not very many years following its initial release. The original music scored specifically for the film is almost uniformly charming, with genuine hipness. Classics also abound interlaced within the film. Billie Holiday's rendition of the genre standard "Yesterdays" is a very underappreciated and overlooked example of her talent. It stands out as a strong and typical of her style, yet being relatively unfamiliar to most, the ear is treated to enjoying the singer more than the song. This track alone was exceedingly difficult to locate on vinyl for many years as the Verve catalogue was not on the shelves. Bo Diddley's Bo Diddley is also not heard enough these days. Most under 30 would swear upon listening that this was either Mick Jagger or his imitator, which is awfully ironic. The accompanying Heavy Traffic soundtrack which was aptly paired with Fritz, is also musically interesting. It must go down as a recording with perhaps the highest number of disparate Scarborough Fair recordings (3 very different). It also has a few great old chestnuts and wonderful original music. I was surprised to recall Brubeck's Take Five on here.

I'd recommend this to anyone interested in lounge, transitional jazz, and just plain 70s period sounds. There's so much breadth to this that the tracklist on the liner appears odd at a glance. But it all comes out with decent flow and presentation. The original liner notes to Fritz are right in their assessment that the soundtrack stands up independently to the film itself. You are "hep" if you listen to this CD and appreciate it.

It takes a tripped out soundtrack to make a tripped out film, and these two Ralph Bakshi classics had it, from Charles Earland's Black Talk; cool and groovy cuts with Sergio Mendez and Cal Tajader; Merl Saunders, The Isleys - - even funkmasters Cornell Dupree and Benard Purdie are in on the act !

Both albums, released on the FANTASY labels represent a tripped journey in the funky Jazz of that period... as well as a few other surprizes ! Of course the movies themselves were tripped out journeys in sight and sound... so bug out brothers and sisters... and get down with Fritz the cat !

All right, I admit. I watched "Fritz the Cat" when I was 14 - sort of as a rite of passasge. I didn't find the movie all that interesting (except the sex parts - hey, I was 14). I stumbled across the CD recently and picked it up, looking for some instrumental music. I was very much surprised. The music is rather simple but excellent - acid-jazz and funk elements in a nice mix. The oldies thrown in are a nice treat. The actual title song to "Fritz the Cat" is lousy, but it's short and easy to skip. Recommended to any jazz/funk/acid-jazz fans.

All I can say is, I ordered this about 2 months ago and it's still not here. Also, all of the sudden there's no record of it ever being ordered. Lame.

There are a few (very few) gems on this double-soundtrack. A Charles Earland CD would be a better bang for your buck, because the Earland track here has been edited. The Chuck Berry track sounds like it was recorded off a Fender amp with a blown tube.

R Crumb could have put something much better than this together, and he says he's not much of a musician.