| Black Caesar | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | February 1973 | |||
| Genre | Funk [1] | |||
| Length | 36:17 | |||
| Label | Polydor | |||
| Producer | James Brown | |||
| James Brown chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Black Caesar | ||||
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Black Caesar is a soundtrack album recorded by James Brown for the film of the same name and released in 1973. The album also features The J.B.'s and Lyn Collins. [2]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [3] |
| Robert Christgau | D+ [4] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [5] |
In a 1980 consumer guide to James Brown's albums following the dissolution of King Records, Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave Black Caesar a "D+" and stated, "You listen to Brown for music, not songs, but that's no reason to expect good soundtrack albums from him. He should never be allowed near a vibraphone again." [4]
However, other critics wrote more positively about the album. In a later retrospective review, Mark Deming of AllMusic gives the album three-and-a-half out of five stars and feels that, "like most soundtrack albums of the period, Black Caesar sounds rather scattershot, especially when the music is divorced from the film's narrative," but observed "several top-notch tracks", including "The Boss", "Make It Good to Yourself", and "Mama's Dead". Deming adds that "Fred Wesley's superb horn charts, Jimmy Nolen's percussive guitar, and Jabo Starks' dead-on-the-one drumming make even the weaker instrumental cuts worth a quick listen". [3] Dave Thompson calls it a "kick-ass soundtrack" and "nothing short of a full frontal funk assault." [1]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Down and Out in New York City" | Bodie Chandler, Barry De Vorzon | 4:43 |
| 2. | "Blind Man Can See It" | James Brown, Charles Bobbit, Fred Wesley | 2:18 |
| 3. | "Sportin' Life" | James Brown, Bobbit, Wesley | 3:50 |
| 4. | "Dirty Harri" | James Brown | 1:29 |
| 5. | "The Boss" | James Brown, Bobbit, Wesley | 3:14 |
| 6. | "Make It Good to Yourself" | James Brown, Bobbit, Wesley | 3:18 |
| 7. | "Mama Feelgood" (Performed by Lyn Collins) | James Brown, Lyn Collins | 3:29 |
| 8. | "Mama's Dead" | James Brown, Wesley | 4:47 |
| 9. | "White Lightning (I Mean Moonshine)" | James Brown, Bobbit, Wesley | 2:40 |
| 10. | "Chase" | James Brown, Bobbit, Wesley, Jan Hammer | 2:38 |
| 11. | "Like It Is, Like It Was" | James Brown | 3:51 |
Credits for Black Caesar adapted from Allmusic. [6]
| Chart (1973) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Top LPs & Tapes [7] | 31 |
| U.S. Best Selling Soul LPs [8] | 2 |
America Eats Its Young is the fourth album by Funkadelic, released in May 1972. This was the first album to include the whole of the House Guests, including Bootsy Collins, Catfish Collins, Chicken Gunnels, Rob McCollough and Kash Waddy. It also features the Plainfield-based band U.S., which consisted of guitarist Garry Shider and bassist Cordell Mosson, on most of the tracks. Unlike previous Funkadelic albums, America Eats Its Young was recorded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and in the UK. The original vinyl version contained a poster illustrated by Cathy Abel. The bottom of the poster features the first widespread appearance of the Funkadelic logo, which would appear on the cover of their next album Cosmic Slop.
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Get On the Good Foot is the 34th studio album by American funk and soul musician James Brown. It was released as a double LP on November 20, 1972, by Polydor Records.
Bootsy? Player of the Year is the third album by the American funk band Bootsy's Rubber Band. The album was released on Warner Bros. Records on January 20, 1978. At the height of the album's popularity, it competed head to head with Bootsy Collins' mentor George Clinton and his band Parliament, who had released the album Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome just two months earlier. The album was produced by Clinton and Collins and arranged by "The Player". The original vinyl version of the album contained a pair of cut out star shaped eyeglasses.
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"Down and Out in New York City" is a song written by Bodie Chandler and Barry De Vorzon and recorded by James Brown. It appears in the film Black Caesar and is included on the film's soundtrack album. The song was co-arranged by Fred Wesley. It was released as a single in 1973 and charted #13 R&B and #50 Pop.
"Sexy, Sexy, Sexy" is a 1973 song written and recorded by James Brown, for the film Slaughter's Big Rip-Off. The song appeared on the film's soundtrack and was released as a single in 1973. The song, and wider album, emerged from an era which saw the rise of Blaxploitation films. Such films represented the struggle of African Americans against poverty and crime under a white-dominated society. While Sexy, Sexy, Sexy was received well by contemporary and modern audiences alike, it received negative reviews from critics. Brown used the same backing track and chord progression from his 1966 hit Money Won't Change You when composing the song, which prompted such a poor critical response. Despite Brown's Plagiarism of his earlier work, Sexy, Sexy, Sexy showcased the typical funk hallmarks of his more popular work. The song performed strongly on three separate Billboard charts as well as the Cashbox chart. It appeared in three separate releases under music label Polydor Records and reissued in 2020.
Motherlode is a 1988 James Brown compilation album. Created as a follow-up to the successful 1986 compilation In the Jungle Groove, it similarly focuses on Brown's funk recordings of the late 1960s and early 1970s. It includes live performances and remixes as well as studio recordings, most of them previously unissued. Writing in 2007, critic Robert Christgau called it "the finest of the classic [James Brown] comps". Highlights include a live "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud", the first album release of "I Got Ants in My Pants ", the latter-day UK chart hit "She's the One", and a nine-minute-long remix of "People Get Up and Drive Your Funky Soul" from the Slaughter's Big Rip-Off soundtrack.
