Music defined the era of Blaxploitation filmmaking as much as the garish fashions, punchy, profane dialogue, or lurid, pulpy plots.  Ron O’Neal’s Youngblood Priest would still have been a fly-ass hustler in his Flagg Brothers boots and giant ‘71 Cadillac Eldorado (complete with customized Rolls Royce grill), but it was Curtis Mayfield’s soulful yet gritty soundtrack that made him “Super Fly.”  Richard Roundtree’s hard-chargin’, hard-lovin’, take-no-bullshit portrayal of John Shaft in a time when audiences just didn’t see confident, powerful, sexual Black men on the silver screen, was the pack of dynamite beneath the Blaxploitation revolution, but it was Isaac Hayes’ theme that’s kept the flame burning three decades later.  Just like you can’t think of James Bond without humming the first notes of Monty Norman’s “James Bond Theme,” whenever you think of John Shaft that famous hi-hat and the funky wah-wah guitar riff inevitably comes strutting through your head.

So what would happen if you wrote a Blaxploitation soundtrack but didn’t have a movie to go with it?  Would it still work?  According to the band Cadillac Jones, the answer is “Yes.” In 2006, the Atlanta, GA-based jazz-funk group released the concept album The Big Takedown.  The concept?  The Big Takedown is the soundtrack for a previously unreleased Blaxploitation-era movie.  The band even has a link to the “original movie treatment” posted on their site.  The treatment is a weathered, stained, hole-punched, 3-page document that looks like it was drafted on a real typewriter, reproduced on carbon paper, then run through a mimeograph machine multiple times(You can almost smell the purple ink!), and buried in a stack of old Ebony and Jet magazines for 25 years before it was finally posted on their site.

The “movie’s” plot is a seedy little crime thriller involving Ike Power, a gangster prodigal son returning to a dangerous, corrupt, unnamed city after being away for several years.  He’s returning at the request of his old boss and surrogate father, Earl “Tarzan” Watkins, in order to wrap up some unfinished business.  (I particularly liked the touch that Ike spent his exile with family in Barbados.  It’s a nice unexpected touch that adds a layer of depth to his character.)

The secondary concept behind Cadillac Jones’ concept album is that every song is intended to accompany each scene from the movie, so we get to follow Ike’s journey through this dark criminal underworld with Cadillac Jones right beside him, slinking, grooving, and swinging from one song to the next.  For example, the first cut, titled “Intro” is only 26 seconds long, but it sets the tone of the story by just employing the sound of an airplane landing as the muted cacophony of an airport terminal rumbles in the background.  In short, it tells us Ike Power has arrived.  The next cut, “Narq,” starts off with a “tsah-tsah-ta-tsah” hi-hat reminiscent of “The Theme from Shaft” before a guitar and brass kick in.  ”Narq” then segues into a nice,  jazzy groove that rolls along for the balance of the song.  ”Narq” is obviously Ike Power’s theme, and the band even closes out the album with “Return Of The Narq,” a slower, more haunting adaptation of the opening number, that you could easily see playing over the closing credits of The Big Takedown.

One of my favorite aspects of The Big Takedown is Cadillac Jones’ use of a REAL horn section!  The brass is used to great effect throughout the album, adding rich, brassy, funky flourishes, particularly in the mid-tempo head-bopper “Power.”  ”Ike’s Regret” begins with a mournful baritone saxophone as a subway train rattles in the background.  The sax actually sends you back further in time to a 1950s noir film instead of a Blaxploitation movie.  If The Big Takedown had any drawback it would be scattered anachronistic touches like this or the occasional use of scratching, that pull the listener out of the ’70s era the album is meant to evoke.  When the album’s third song “Tarzan” introduces Beastie Boys “Brass Monkey”-ish scratching early into the cut, I felt like Scott Bakula from Quantum Leap, lurching from the era of bellbottoms and fringed vests to a time of Kangols and dookie rope chains.  

Overall, I felt The Big Takedown was a tremendously successful concept album.  Although I generally prefer my funk a little more propulsive and grimy than jazz-flavored, Cadillac Jones kept me hooked from beginning to end.  The Big Takedown is not available on iTunes, but that’s to the advantage of you and your local record store.  You really need to enjoy The Big Takedown as a cohesive whole with plot in hand, in the song order laid out by the band, because it makes the listening experience even better.  When you do, give me a call.  I’ll bring the popcorn.

- JEP

Mornin’

I’ve been in Houston, TX the past few days for my brother’s 40th birthday bash and Mother’s Day.  (I’m still there as a matter of fact.)  My family had a great time bowling, touring Johnson Space Center, and just hanging out.  My brother loved the birthday present I got for him, but that will be the subject for another post. 

I also got to handle a 7 ft. albino Burmese python named Janeane, whose owner let me borrow her copy of the original, vinyl, double-album soundtrack for the movie Shaft.  Heck, except for the slit cut open to remove the albums, the thing was still in its original cellophane wrapper!  But that too will be the subject for another post.

Be sure to come back tomorrow, for the next episode of WORLD OF HURT: The Thrill-Seekers.  Now that a simple missing persons case has turned into a murder investigation, Pastor puts some pieces on the board and calls in a favor before he starts the work of finding Alicia Patterson’s killer.

- JEP

*Nope, nothing Freudian there.

I thought I’d kick things up a notch here at WORLDOFHURTONLINE.COM, lighten the mood a bit, and give the readers something a little new to the site.

As I’ve said before, what would Blaxploitation be without a soundtrack?  The music of Blaxploitation films gave a unique signature to this film genre, and since I started developing WORLD OF HURT, I have used soul, funk, and blues music as an inspiration for the strip.  I’ve got an iTunes folder called “Soul Fist” that features the best of classic R&B acts like Dennis Coffey, The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Edwin Starr, Isaac Hayes, and Curtis Mayfield and new acts like Cadillac Jones, Galactic and Robin Thicke who are proudly carrying on the funk/soul tradition.  In an ideal world, I would start a WORLD OF HURT movie with Galactic’s “Tuff Love” and roll Robin Thicke’s “Magic” over the closing credits.  Go to iTunes and at least download “Tuff Love” right now!  I’ll wait.

You back?

That’s some new school funk for your ass, ain’t it!  Relentless, gritty, and mysterious, the song just sounds like treachery.

Well, I can’t touch the musical skills of Galactic, but thanks to the magic of GarageBand, a while back I tried my hand at creating an original song for WORLD OF HURT, anyway.  It’s a mid-tempo instrumental with a slightly jazzy flavor that I call:  “Pastor’s Groove.”

What other webcomic offers you exclusive free music downloads?  Only WORLD OF HURT, The Internet’s #1 Blaxploitation Webcomic, kids!

Enjoy, and I’ll see you tomorrow with the next installment in The Thrill-Seekers.

- JEP

I had planned to post the review of Booker T. Jones’ new album, Potato Hole, last month, on the week it debuted, but I never got around to finishing the write-up.  I apologize for the delay, but I figured that the damage was minimal, since a webcomic/blog that pays homage to a three-decade old film genre isn’t necessarily dedicated to the most timely observations of pop culture, anyway.

For those of you who may not know, Booker T. Jones gained his fame during the 1960s as part of the in-house rhythm section for Memphis, Tennessee-based soul music label Stax Records.  The rhythm section included Jones on the organ, Steve Cropper on guitar, Lewie Steinberg on bass, and Al Jackson, Jr. on drums.  Collectively, they became the original lineup of “Booker T. & The MGs.”  However, like their house band counterparts at Motown, The Funk Brothers, Booker T. & the MGs not only recorded with the R&B luminaries from their respective labels, but they defined the very sound of their label.  Stax recording artists, and future Rock & Roll Hall of Famers like Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Johnnie Taylor, Isaac Hayes and The Staple Singers all sweated in out in the studio with Booker T. & The MGs.*

Booker T. & the MGs’ also recorded their own songs, and as a group, they scored success with songs like “Time Is Tight,” and “Soul Limbo,” but their most famous hit was undoubtedly “Green Onions.”   Recorded in 1962, “Green Onions” is an evocative, jazzy, acoustic track that manages to be urbane and soulful at the same time.  In “Green Onions,” Booker T.’s cool organ riffs and Alan Jackson, Jr.’s steady, simple snare prowl through your speakers like a down-home version of Henry Mancini’s “Peter Gunn Theme,” punctuated by twangy, bluesy yelps from Steve Cropper’s guitar.  ”Green Onions” was one of the first ringtones I downloaded, and when I gave my Mom her choice of song, she hand-picked “Green Onions” to be the ringtone I hear when she calls me.  (Hi, Mom!)

As a Booker T. fan, I was pleasantly surprised to discover several months ago that Jones would be releasing a new CD this year, but I was  intrigued to learn that contemporary Southern rockers, Drive-By Truckers**, would be backing up Jones and producing the new album, as well.  (Oh, some guy named Neil Young was also playing on the album.)  I’ve had the pleasure of seeing two live performances by the Drive-By Truckers and a solo performance by DBT founding member, Patterson Hood at Columbia, South Carolina’s New Brookland Tavern.  The collaboration seemed like an odd grouping, so I was curious to hear how the album would sound.

The entire album is instrumental, but that’s OK with me, since it’s my impression that Booker T. plays the organ with the inflections and sensibilities of a vocalist, anyway.  Booker T.’s organ music floats and weaves among the guitars and percussion, like an ethereal presence, sometimes high and brassy, sometimes gutteral and churchy, and often elegant.  The first song, “Pound It Out,” sets the tone of the album, and you know from the first notes that The Truckers are in the house, and they’ve come to play.  However, Booker T. is right behind them, and he’s brought his “A” game, too.  To me, this is the song on the album that came closest to feeling like “The Drive-By Truckers featuring Booker T.,” but I didn’t mind, because it’s the hardest rocking song on the album.  The most soulful tune on the album is “Warped Sister,” with Booker T.’s fingers sliding and slurring over the keys like a jukejoint singer just starting to feel his moonshine buzz.  The song rocks along at a nice clip with some fuzzy, snarly guitar work thrown in for good measure.  However, the next cut, “Get Behind The Mule,” is the sinister, bluesy counterpoint to “Warped Sister.”  It’s the same singer, later in the night, singing a dark, measured, conspiratorial tale of pain and loss for the last few patrons in the place, all to a shuffling, steady beat.  Although these were my two favorite songs, the most anticipated cut off the album for most people was Booker T.’s rendition of the 2003 Outkast hit, “Hey Ya!”  The only thing I can say about the head-boppin’ cover is that Booker T., DBT, and Young not only bring the energy, but they bring the only thing that was missing from the Grammy Award-winning crowd pleaser (and the only thing that could replace Andre 3000’s inimitable vocal delivery of lines like “Shake it like a Polaroid PIC-chah!”).  That missing element:  cowbell.  And you can never go wrong with cowbell.  Ever.  The final track “Space City” is a spare, simple tune that feels like it could have been improvised by Booker T.  In this selection, the organ is flat-out church.  It starts off soft and low, like a music director riffing on the organ while the collection plate is being passed around and the preacher delivers the offertory prayer.  Then the song builds in intensity with some beautiful musical flourishes from Booker T., just like that preacher trying to get a few more dollars into the plate, before he dials it back down in the final third, returning to the musical phrasing and themes that started the song. 

My verdict: Potato Hole is a little more laid-back Muscle Shoals than sweaty Memphis rhythm and blues.  If you’re a Drive-By Truckers’ fan, odds are good that you’ll enjoy this album, but if you dig the musical acumen of Booker T. you won’t be disappointed either.  It’s not a party album, but it does make nice driving music.

- JEP

*  The Stax Records 50th Anniversary compilation is a tremendous resource for the history of the label and would make a great addition to anyone’s record collection.

** Coincidentally, the Drive-By Truckers recorded a song called “A World Of Hurt.”  No relation.

Welcome to the latest installment of a semi-recurring feature on WORLDOFHURTONLINE:  Off-Topic Mondays.  Occasionally,  I have ideas, questions, or notions that I can’t even tangentially relate to Blaxploitation, and since it would be irresponsible to litter the Internet landscape with another blog, and with all apologies to Gangstarr Girl’s Blaxploitation Fridays, I present to you Off-Topic Monday.

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of seeing the band, Cage The Elephant, at Headliners here in Columbia, South Carolina.  The Bowling Green, KY-based rock/punk quintet was on the bill between the duo …And Horse and Silversun Pickup.  Although Silversun Pickup had nominal top billing, in my mind, Cage The Elephant absolutely blew them out of the water.  Silversun Pickup is a very solid alternative rock trio that, to me, sounded like Smashing Pumpkins fronted by John Mayer, or “smooth jazz” singer Michael Franks.  However, after the incredible set by Cage The Elephant, the very fact that Silversun Pickup was NOT Cage The Elephant kept me from enjoying their set more, and came damn close to making me angry.  One of my favorite pieces of music writing was a review of a Rolling Stones concert in which The Black Crowes were the opening act.  The reviewer spent the entire article praising the Crowes, then ended with the sentence, “The Rolling Stones closed for The Black Crowes.”  This is that kind of review.

Matt Schultz, the lead singer for Cage The Elephant, has the lean, wiry frame and soul of a punk rocker, but the thick neck and blunt, broken features of a boxer who’s fought one round too many.  He also has the most magnetic stage persona I have ever seen.  Ever.  It is a coy, mercurial stage presence that is alternately playful, menacing, pouting, but always compelling.  I dare anyone to take their eyes off him.  You have to remind yourself that there are four other guys out there with him.  As they took the stage, one fan in the front stretched his hand out to solicit a high-five from Schultz.  Just inches from the fan, Schultz glared at him for what felt like an eternity,  before his face exploded into a genuine, “I’m-just-fuckin’-with-ya” grin, and slapped him some skin.  As they performed, Schultz mugged, careened and lurched around the stage like an alcoholic spoiling for a fight.  At one point, he leapt down into the audience to form an impromptu one-man mosh pit, and I remember thinking, ”This guy is like Heath Ledger’s Joker, without the make-up.”  Schultz invites the audience in, and then challenges them.  You just don’t know what to expect from him next, but the fun is watching and listening where Schultz and Cage The Elephant  go next.

Cage thundered through a brisk, powerful set comprised of the songs from their self-titled debut album.  Incidentally, front-to-back, the album “Cage The Elephant” is one of the most solid albums I’ve heard in a long, long time.  It defines the term “all killer, no filler.”  There’s not one track on it that you want to fast-forward through.  Overall, it’s Southern flavored rock with a punk edge, but  Cage The Elephant’s most famous song is “Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked,” a bluesy, hip-hop tinged number that can be heard on the commercial for the new videogame, Borderlands.

If Cage The Elephant comes to your town, they are a must-see act.  I know it sounds like hyperbole, but watching them in concert felt like I was watching the Rolling Stones sweating it out in an early club gig…before they could get upstaged by The Black Crowes.

- JEP

LINKS:

• Cage The Elephant official website
• Official Cage The Elephant YouTube Channel
  

I saw this image, and the juxtaposition of the sexy, military-themed attire and the famous theme-park mouse ears seemed somewhat familiar.  But where had I seen it before?

Oh yeah, I remember…

Not quite a swipe, but I’m inclined to think that someone on that set  had read Kyle Baker’s Special Forces?

You can find the original post with this photo and more images from the set of Rihanna’s music video, “Hard,” right here at Bossip.com.

- JEP

I was on my way to work on Wednesday when a new song called “Speedin,’” by the R&B artist Omarion came on the radio.  I use the term, “R&B,” loosely for lack of a better description.  There was Rhythm, but no Blues, even though it was supposed to be a heart-rending elegy about lost love and missed opportunities.  ”Speedin’” had been massaged in the studio and pitch-corrected within an inch of it’s life.  Omarion’s vocal stylings provided a reasonable facsimile of a man experiencing heartache, but he steadfastly refused to push his voice anywhere near the point where effort or strain would be required to really sell it.  Or even worse, maybe he had and that’s the farthest he could push his tepid voice without warbling off-key.  Even worse, all the rough edges that could have imbued the song with humanity–with soul–had dutifully been buffed and polished away by some studio wizard.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the music of Blaxploitation is inextricable from the Blaxploitation film experience.  The music defined the film movement as much as any of the fashion, dialogue, or the recurring visual or thematic motifs.

With his soundtrack and score of Ivan Dixon’s 1972 film, Trouble Man, Marvin Gaye delivered what some consider to be his finest album.  Isaac Hayes earned an Oscar for his “Theme From ‘Shaft’” in 1972.  James Brown delivered the imminently funky soundtrack for the Fred Williamson vehicle, Black Caesar, which is still sampled by hip-hop artists today.

When Michal Jai White, Byron Minns, and director Scott Sanders were putting together their new film, Black Dynamite, an homage to Black action films of the 1970s, they enlisted Adrian Younge to write the soundtrack.  Adrian Younge follows in Blaxploitation’s unique, and proud cinematic tradition, of having a single artist  craft the entire soundtrack.  Younge wrote, composed, and performed every song on the album, with the exception of the final track, “Dynomite (Suckapunch Re-edit),” which features the loopy, Tom Jones-esque vocals of Sir Charles Hughes.  Younge receives powerful assists from singers, such as Loren Oden and Toni Scruggs, and is backed up on several cuts by musicians like Jack Waterson on drums, and WORLD OF HURT regular C.E. Garcia on electric bass and electric guitar.  (If you’re lucky, you may be able to find them on tour, performing live as the Black Dynamite Sound Orchestra.)

Much like the visuals and story elements of the film, Adrian Younge’s music for Black Dynamite straddles a line between humor and homage.  The lyrics to a number of the songs provide a humorous, deadpan, point-by-point narrative of the films’ events.  In this regard, the soundtrack reminds me of James Brown’s vocal work for Black Caesar, which often repeated what was occurring onscreen, like the captions in a Silver Age comic book.  At other times, Younge’s lyrics can serve as a surrogate for the audience (Somebody broke into Jimmy’s pad/Are they still here?/Sucka could be anywhere in the song, “Jimmy’s Apartment”) or Black Dynamite’s conscience (I miss the best brother I ever had/Oh, now I’m back/So I’ve got to kill that jack, yeah in “Jimmy’s Dead”).  Basically, the lyrics from any song with the word “Jimmy” in the title are guaranteed to deliver a chuckle or two.  However, when you strip away the lyrics,  as with the instrumental version of “Jimmy’s Dead,” you will find in the soundtrack to Black Dynamite, a  beautiful, soulful body of work with a remarkable fidelity to the era it is intended to evoke.

Reading the liner notes, you discover that Younge’s attention to detail extended far beyond the songs themselves, but to how those songs were created and recorded.  He used analog recording techniques, not digital, and to the extent possible, every piece of equipment used to record the album  was created prior to 1979.  The very fact that Younge includes liner notes beyond lyrics and a laundry list of thank-yous is another welcome throwback to the days of vinyl.

Black Dynamite co-writer, Byron Minns,  also stars in the film as Black Dynamite’s confidante, “Bullhorn.” His voice is the first thing you hear, and he sets the tone for the rest of the album by hollering out to the listener: I wanna tell you a STOO-ry/’ Bout a friend I had/He’s a mean muthafucka/And he’s SUPERBAD. He delivers the line and the rest of a short verse about Black Dynamite in an uncanny Rudy Ray “Dolemite” Moore impression which segues seamlessly into the husky, soulful vocals of LaVan Davis, who contributes vocals on several other tracks as well. One of my favorite moments is when Davis climbs a register to deliver the line after, “Better watch them politicians/Trying to shrink y’all n***** dicks,” in a soaring falsetto.  It’s funny, but it’s a natural vocal flourish that fits perfectly into the song.  It also encapsulates the focus on humor, craft, and attention to detail that is a hallmark of every aspect of Black Dynamite.

Another aspect of the Black Dynamite soundtrack that I appreciate is that it’s not some crass commercial effort by some huge media conglomerate to load a soundtrack with their hot artists or justify the A&R costs of the new talent they’re developing under the heading “Songs From And Inspired By The Major Motion Picture [FILL IN THE BLANK].  What the hell is “inspired by?”  Inspired by the desire for royalty checks?  Inspired by a need to stay relevant before they kick you off the label?  Most of the songs you find on today’s soundtracks aren’t even in the actual movie, unless you stay until the very end of they final credits or if you electronically filter out the background noise during some crowd scene, you MIGHT be able to hear a snippet from some Macy Gray tune.

The Black Dynamite soundtrack is available through Wax Poetic Records, and it’s not the sort of album you want to pop into your iPod while you’re running around doing errands.  In the tradition of the soul albums that inspired it, it’s the kind of album that you want to put on your stereo and LISTEN to while you flip through the well-illustrated liner notes.  The layered live instrumentation, with everything from Younge’s breathy, jazzy flutes to the mournful hum of the Hammond organ, bear repeated listenings and deserve your full attention.   The highest praise I can offer for what Younge created is to sayI played it back to back with a best of Willie Hutch CD, and the transition from Hutch, who gave us the soundtrack to The Mack, to Younge, was flawless.  It felt like I had dropped the needle on the second half of a double album featuring the best of ’70s soul.

To find out more, check out the Wax Poetics site, and for nice insight into the history of the album and Younge’s process, you might want to check out this mini-documentary about the Black Dynamite score.  Like the album itself, it is well done, with great attention to detail, and I highly recommend it.

- JEP

(l-r) Don Flemons, Rhiannon Giddens, and Justin Robinson

Today, I have a special treat in the form of a guest blog by my fiancee, Noelle Phillips.  Besides being an award-winning journalist, Noelle has a deep appreciation for music and a keen ear for new, unique voices in nearly every genre of popular music.  She introduced me to M.I.A. long before “Paper Airplanes” hit it big in the United States and sold me on Cage The Elephant when I was about to dismiss them as just another wimpy, indy rock band.  Also, remind me to tell you about the time we managed to get backstage after a B.B. King performance to snag the blues legend’s autograph and some hors d’oeuvres off his snack tray.  I’ve already decided on who should be the first female recipient of The Unsung Bad Mother****** Award, and I’m trying to get Noelle to write that entry.  In the meantime, enjoy her discussion of the gifted and brilliant Carolina Chocolate Drops.  (She didn’t mention it, but they do a mean cover of Blu Cantrell’s “Hit ‘em Up Style,” too.)

If you think Auto-Tune showcases excellent musicianship….

If you think a series of “uhs” and “yeahs” is display of vocal prowess…

If you think fiddles and banjos and bones belong to old white hillbillies…

Then do not listen to the Carolina Chocolate Drops.

But if you’re interested in the roots of Black music that gave us rock-and-roll, then pay attention to the history lesson the Drops offer listeners.

This trio of Black musicians from North Carolina makes its living playing old-time country and blues. But they bring a youthful exuberance with an understanding and respect toward their roots.

In the words of Justin Robinson, who plays fiddle, “Tradition is a guide, not a jailer. We play an older tradition but we are modern musicians.”

Earlier this year, the Carolina Chocolate Drops released its fourth album, “Genuine Negro Jig.” The record is a banjo-picking, fiddle-sawing, bone-tapping, throat-singing salute to the history of Black music. The Drops teach us a thing or two about the rich musical history of Black America, long before Wonder Mike, Big Bank Hank, and Master Gee treated audiences to a “Rapper’s Delight” and even before Chuck Berry duck-walked across the stage for the first time.

The Drops are Dom Flemmons, Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson.

The three met in 1995 at the Black Banjo Gathering in Asheville , N.C. Flemmons, who was living in Arizona at the time, learned about the gathering on a Yahoo! chat site. Giddens and Robinson were from North Carolina .

After Flemmons decided to make North Carolina his home, the three began making weekly trips to Mebane , N.C. to sit on the front porch of Joe Thompson’s home. Thompson, an elderly Black man, learned to play the fiddle as part of a family tradition. He spent his life jamming on the fiddle after long days of field work. The Drops have toured with Thompson, recorded one album with him and play one of his songs – “Cindy Gal” — on “Genuine Negro Jig.”

Flemmons first became fascinated with folk music after watching a PBS documentary on the history of rock and roll. He began listening to other forms of roots music and borrowed a banjo from a friend. The banjo was missing a fifth string so Flemmons taught himself to play with four. Other musicians at the Black Banjo Gathering explained the banjo has five strings and taught him how to properly play it.

Giddens began her musical career as an opera singer in college. But she got into the folk scene after seeing a flyer for an English Country Dance. She was attracted to it because she was a fan of Jane Austen’s books. After learning to call the dance moves, Giddens picked up the fiddle. Her first band was Celtic but she expanded her horizons after hearing about Thompson. Her vocal chops are showcased on the song “Reynadine” on the Jig album.

Robinson started playing violin when he was 8 years old because his parents were classical music fans. Later, he turned his violin into a fiddle after listening to country music. He sought out Thompson, realizing time could be short to learn from a man who already was in his 80s. Thompson chided Robinson for not bringing a banjo player so he started bringing other people, including Flemmons and Giddens. Thus began the Drops apprenticeship under Thompson.

Today, the band travels full-time and this summer they’ll hit up music festivals across the United States . If you’re hear they’re coming to your area, they’ll be worth price of admission.

Film icon, Pam Grier, celebrated her birthday this week on Wednesday, May 26th.  For the occasion, Noelle Phillips, joins us for the second week in a row to offer a music commentary on overlooked portion of the career of this legendary actress.

We all know Pam Grier earned her place in Blaxploitation lore as an actress, starring in roles in films such as Foxy Brown and Coffy.

But did  you know she could sing?

In 1971, Grier was cast in her second film, The Big Dollhouse, as a character named “Grear.” (Yeah, we agree the screenplay writers must have blown their creative juices by the time they got around to naming this character.) Not only did Grier have a large roll in this film about women serving life sentences in a tropical prison, but she sang the movie’s theme song, “Long Time Woman.”

The movie, The Big Dollhouse, was directed by Jack Hill and produced by Roger Corman. I sure would like to know what led them to cast Grier in this role that arguably launched her career and how did they discover that she could sing. Or, did they hire her to sing and then discover she was an even better actress?

“Well, 99 years is a long, long time

Well, look at me I’ll never be free,” Grier sings in this track.

The song was written by Hall Daniels, who was a co-director of Bax Music in Torrance, Calif., with Les Baxter. This firm’s catalogue still exists today, specializing in eclectic sounds. And this track from Grier certainly can be qualified as eclectic. The song opens with rolling bongos that capture the tropical vibe the movie’s director was aiming for.

In the film, Grier and a posse of other female prisoners plot how to escape the captive hands of their sadistic wardens. The enlist two sleazy men, who are snack vendors making rounds through the prison. The film, which is a classic in the wome-in-prison-exploitation genre, includes all of the sexual innuendo one would expect from a group of super hot women locked away for life in a steamy prison environment.

In the song “Long Time Woman,” there’s little to criticize about Grier’s singing. Still, she doesn’t possess the strong, it-comes-from-deep-inside sound that other 1970s soul singers could showcase.

But Grier came from a singing background. While a student at UCLA, she sang back-up for singer-composer Bobby Womack. In keeping with the Blaxploitation theme,  Womack’s composition and 1972 recording of the song “Across 110th Street” was the theme song of the film Jackie Brown (1997), which marked a major comeback for Grier in the starring and title role. She was nominated for a Golden Globe and an NAACP Image Award for her performance. In fact, director Quentin Tarantino used “Long Time Woman” on his soundtrack.

As far as we know, this is the only song credit on Grier’s remarkable resume. But it’s enough to make us wonder what her story would be like if she had made a career of her singing rather than her acting.