The music for this film...


...is AWESOME! Does anybody know who composed the soundtrack?

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I know. I was just talking to someone about how memorable the scene is where CB gets shot, because of the music, and all throughout the movie it's so dramatic. And I love the Cornbread song.

Anyway, I looked it up and on the soundtrack cover it says "music composed by Donald Byrd featuring the BlackByrds". Long answer.




I'm not a Puerto Rican but I'm speakin' so that you know.

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Shortly after posting this question, I found out it was the blackbyrds. I still wasn't able to find the soundtrack but I found other really cool songs from them.

Thanks for your response!

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Your welcome. I'm glad you found something you liked. The Blackbyrds are a good act.




Rest in Peace Keith "Guru" Elam (1966-2010)...you will be missed.

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I'm really glad to hear Donald Byrd of the Blackbyrds contributed songs to this film. The Blackbyrds are one of my favorite R&B bands of the '70s. "Walking in Rhythm" is one of the most upbeat songs ever, and I love the flute solo.

Thanks for the details. I just bought this film, and now that I know about the soundtrack, I'm very anxious to watch it.

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You're welcome. You've never seen this before?





There is no "i" in tiem...oh wait.

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No, I don't think I've seen this. The title is very familiar, and I think it aired on HBO or network TV in the late '70s, but the plot doesn't ring a bell and I think I'd remember Laurence Fishburne if I had see it then.

I like these black dramas from the '70s that were a break from the extremes of blaxploitation, which I assume applies here. I like blaxploitation also, but they were just so over the top that they parody themselves.

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Me too! It's sort of refreshing to see a film from that era that isn't blaxploitation. I think you'll enjoy it. Hope so anyway. I love seeing young Laurence in action.







There is no "i" in tiem...oh wait.

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I watched it this week, and I absolutely loved it! Laurence showed amazing confidence at such a young age. The courtroom scenes toward the end were especially moving.

A lot of people look to films like "Shaft" to define black cinema in the '70s, but I think movies like this, "Sparkle" and "Cooley High" have been unjustly ignored.

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Oh, I completely agree! You just listed some of my favorite films. I love Sparkle and I have fond memories of watching Cooley High when I was younger. I think those films are better representations overall of the black film experience, but of course all the films have their own place.

Laurence is very talented. I've always been really into the court scenes, you just explained why. He still carries that same confidence in whatever role he does, amazing to see he had that so young. And he just improved as the years went on. Whatever character he does, he's just fully believable, he displays that confidence in his character, even if the character isn't the confident type. Not that he makes the character confident when he's not supposed to be, but I mean he owns each role and stays true to it. Am I making sense? Lol.

Speaking of black films, have you ever seen Mama Flora's Family?


Bruno Mars Debut Album...Doo Wops and Hooligans...Oct 5...can't wait!

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I haven't seen "Mama Flora's Family." I actually hadn't heard of it until you mentioned it. But if it stars Cicely Tyson, I shall seek it out.

One very good film with a largely black cast that I saw recently was "Gospel Hill" (it's not a church film despite the title):
http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=13731139

Did you ever see Laurence's second film, "Fast Break" with Gabe Kaplan? I think I saw it on HBO in the early '80s, but I don't remember much about it now. It's not on DVD. I do have the soundtrack, though.

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Please do. I'm sure you've already seen the cast list so I won't go through it but I think for not being a theatrical release it was very good. And heartbreaking. They have a couple of unbelievable age things going on in there but that may be due to budget. I love Cicely Tyson. She's a great actress. I have it on DVD and just a few days ago it aired on TVone, I didn't watch it but maybe it'll air agian.

I have seen Gospel Hill. Wasn't that Giancarlo Esposito's directorial debut? I'll admit I don't remember much of what happened as I only saw it once but I think I enjoyed it. Sam Jackson had a small role right? I recall it reminded me of his old acting days, before he was a big star.

I don't believe I have seen Fast Break, if I did it would have been when I was a kid, so I probably wouldn't remember anything until I saw it again. I loved him in Welcome Back Kotter though. I did see Laurence's episode of MASH though.... And of course Apocalypse Now. I think it's hilarious how he pretended to be older to get the part. I'm still working on seeing a lot of Larry's older films, but some of them probably aren't on DVD or airing on television. Cadence is a good one but that's a bit later.

By the way, how did you get the soundtrack? Is it good?



Bruno Mars Debut Album...Doo Wops and Hooligans...Oct 5...can't wait!

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Sorry for the delayed reply. Some messages deserve more time and energy than a quick response, and I was saving up yours until I was ready to dig through my record collection.

"Fast Break" has a terrific soundtrack. I bought it for $1.95 at Streetlight Records in San Francisco. You probably remember "With You I'm Born Again" by Billy Preson and Syreeta; believe it or not, it's on it! I'm not sure if the song was written for the film, but it appears it was first included in the film, then released as a single. The back of the album has pictures of Billy and Syreeta. The album also has a song called "Go for It" in regular and disco versions, plus a few more ballads by Billy and Syreeta. So really, this is as much a Billy and Syreeta album as a film soundtrack.

Kind of off-topic here, but the "Fast Track" soundtrack reminds me of a lot of those late '70s films that had really funky scores and great soundtrack albums. A lot of these I haven't even seen: "The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh," which starred Meadowlark Lemon and Stockard Channing and had songs by the Spinners, the Sylvers and Loretta Lynn (!) on the soundtrack. Also "Soup for One" featuring a lot of songs by Chic. (Sorry for rambling, but I'm just digging through my old soundtracks, which are a great source of obscure tunes.)

"Gospel Hill" was indeed Giancarlo Esposito's directorial debut – and so far the only film he's directed. Samuel L. Jackson has a small role; he's not normally my favorite actor because he's usually so over the top, but he reins in the hamminess here. It's about a Southern town coming to terms with its racist past, kind of a "Lone Star"-type film with a lot of subplots about the descendants of players during the civil rights era. Really strong cast, including Angela Bassett, Adam Baldwin, Danny Glover and Julia Stiles. Ignore the low rating here; it looks like a lot of people voted "1" on it, which suggests to me a knee-jerk response.

I'll definitely seek out Mama Flora's Family. Cicely Tyson had such a strong career in the '70s with that Jane Pittman film, but she hasn't been seen much lately. I know she's in Tyler Perry films, but frankly, I think those are pretty bad.

And I had no idea Laurence was on "M*A*S*H!" Really prolific actor who started young and has worked consistently. Of course, his signature role as as Ike Turner in "What's Love Got to Do With it," and he was scary-good there, both in terms of acting and singing.

Anyway, thanks for reading this far, and sorry for my rambling.

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Sorry for the delayed reply. Some messages deserve more time and energy than a quick response, and I was saving up yours until I was ready to dig through my record collection.
That's ok, sometimes I don't even have as good a reason as that, I just forget. Although lately I had surgery (around the 17th) so here it was a little of both.

"Fast Break" has a terrific soundtrack. I bought it for $1.95 at Streetlight Records in San Francisco. You probably remember "With You I'm Born Again" by Billy Preson and Syreeta; believe it or not, it's on it! I'm not sure if the song was written for the film, but it appears it was first included in the film, then released as a single. The back of the album has pictures of Billy and Syreeta. The album also has a song called "Go for It" in regular and disco versions, plus a few more ballads by Billy and Syreeta. So really, this is as much a Billy and Syreeta album as a film soundtrack
What a deal! I'm guessing this wasn't recently? Sometimes those soundtrack albums with just one (or two in this case) artists are the best. I would have never guessed that song was originally made for a soundtrack, it's beautiful. Rest in Peace, Syreeta Wright and Billy Preston.

Kind of off-topic here, but the "Fast Track" soundtrack reminds me of a lot of those late '70s films that had really funky scores and great soundtrack albums. A lot of these I haven't even seen: "The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh," which starred Meadowlark Lemon and Stockard Channing and had songs by the Spinners, the Sylvers and Loretta Lynn (!) on the soundtrack. Also "Soup for One" featuring a lot of songs by Chic. (Sorry for rambling, but I'm just digging through my old soundtracks, which are a great source of obscure tunes.)
Oh, indeed. It's a wonder what you can find on them, a lot of albums become out of print and we're just left with the hits. The Fish! I think the soundtrack is why I really enjoyed that movie...lol. I haven't watched it since I was in middle or early high school but I really enjoyed it. But I usually enjoy basketball movies anyway and the music/score was great. Man, The Sylvers!!! What does the Loretta Lynn track sound like?

"Gospel Hill" was indeed Giancarlo Esposito's directorial debut – and so far the only film he's directed. Samuel L. Jackson has a small role; he's not normally my favorite actor because he's usually so over the top, but he reins in the hamminess here. It's about a Southern town coming to terms with its racist past, kind of a "Lone Star"-type film with a lot of subplots about the descendants of players during the civil rights era. Really strong cast, including Angela Bassett, Adam Baldwin, Danny Glover and Julia Stiles. Ignore the low rating here; it looks like a lot of people voted "1" on it, which suggests to me a knee-jerk response.
To be honest, I don't trust imdb scores. While I admit that I do enjoy films that may be bad, IMDb ratings tend to seem exagerrated and I usually don't give them a second thought. It really depends on the film. I'm sure I'd remember if I rewatched it. I remember little things, little pieces of the characters, I remember thinking Danny Glover looks too old for Angela Bassett.

I understand what you mean about Jackson though I don't think he is, or was actually a bad actor. But I tend to gravitate towards his older movies and his more subtle performances. I liked him in School Daze, Do The Right Thing, Die Hard, Fresh, A Time to Kill, Eve's Bayou, Red Violin, Unbreakable, some of the roles he takes allows for that kind of acting though so I don't mind when it fits. There are more but I can take or leave others like Shaft. I think the last thing I really, really enjoyed from him was Coach Carter, haha.

Let me know when you see Mama Flora's Family and what you think of it. Laurence scared me in What's Love Got To Do With It as well, but he is just so good as Ike. Super talented, I love watching him become the character. I can't watch it too often though, I probably have to watch something like, I don't know, Pee Wee's Playhouse to get that image out of my mind.

Anyway, thanks for reading this far, and sorry for my rambling.
No problem, I like reading long posts. And I'm a rambler too so don't worry.





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Hello, Kelea:

So sorry again for my delayed reply. I hope you are doing well in your recovery from surgery. I can't make any such excuse for taking so long, though I tend to put off reading and replying to longer messages.

I probably bought the "Fastbreak" soundtrack 20 years ago or longer. I haven't seen that in the bins anytime recently. I tend to keep the price tags on all my LPs so I have some idea of where I got them and how much I paid. With CDs, I always take the price tag off because so much of the cover is already monopolized by that small image. And I had forgotten that Syreeta had passed away. So very sad that both she and Billy are gone, and they died quite young (though Billy was cheating death for years, I have to say).

The Loretta Lynn song on the "Fish that Saved Pittsburgh" soundtrack is called "Is It Love, Must Be Love," which as I recall is a very catchy tune – pretty pop for Loretta Lynn. It used to be on YouTube, but it looks like it's been taken down. I'd play it now, but I can't even get to my turntable these days with all the movies I have piled up around it!

You're so right about Samuel L. Jackson. I loved him in the Spike Lee films you mentioned, plus "Eve's Bayou" and "Fresh," both of which I saw in the theater when they were released. And he's frighteningly good in "Unbreakable," which I may actually like more than "The Sixth Sense." (It's been awhile since I've seen either, so I'm not sure at this point.) I think my view of him began to change with "Pulp Fiction," where he really moved into his over-the-top, hammy style that people seem to expect from him. No way would I see "Snakes on a Plane" – or at least seek it out. I did see "Soul Men" recently with him and the late Bernie Mac, and it just felt like more of the same – a movie that could have been enjoyable had they not felt the need to drop the F-bomb every third word.

And yes, Laurence Fishburne was amazing in "What's Love Got to Do With It" – and he did his own singing as well. I had forgotten he was Cowboy Curtis on "Pee-Wee's Playhouse." I loved watching those. I also recently saw him in "A Rumour of War," a TV movie made about the same time as "Apocalypse Now." Of course, his daughter seems to be following a different path with her career these days.

Well, keep watching great movies and listening to great music, and best wishes for a continued recovery.

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I have Mama Flora's Family on DVD. Another good movie.

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Me too! I think it's a great movie especially considering it was made for tv. Well actually, some of the best movies are made for tv, in my opinion, at least the most enjoyable movies. Anyway I love Cicely Tyson and rarely get the chance to talk about this movie, so I get excited haha.






I'd catch a grenade for ya, throw my hand on a blade for ya

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Hi, folks! Enjoying this thread (although it's admittedly rather dated by now). The composer credit for the score of this film actually goes to the great Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, who, aside from his stellar musical c.v., was also at one time the partner of...Rosalind Cash. Love the Blackbyrds' contributions as well. Rest in peace, Mr. Byrd.

Helga, I'm not mad at you; I'm mad at the dirt.

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Hi there! Thanks for the info.

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No problem! And I definitely will check out Mama Flora's Family on the strength of your recommendation. I'm a sucker for Miss Tyson anyway; it's a wonder I never caught the whole thing. Ironically, I saw the trailer for it today!

Helga, I'm not mad at you; I'm mad at the dirt.

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Cool! Glad to hear it. After purchasing the movie (around 2004 but I saw it when it aired initially and grew to love it with each viewing thereafter)I went through my everything Alex Haley phase. Ok, I read a few of his books including Mama Flora's and re-watched all of the movies I grew up on that are based on his family (like Queen), and "discovered" Roots The Next Generations. It's just not so often you see films like those that chronicle black life in such detail.

On Mrs. Tyson (how appropriate) I will watch anything she is in. She is such a regal woman and undeniably talented. She brings that extra layer of depth or fire to each role.

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I didn't like the music when he got shot. It seemed kind of gaudy to me. In general I did like it, though it reminded me of the "Shaft" music, and indeed some of the people in this movie were in "Shaft".

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