The mission of The Department of Afro-American Research Arts and Culture to identify the global significance of the creative contributions pioneered by an international diaspora of Blackness
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Monday, April 6, 2009

Good Times [Fourth Season] (1977)











Starring:

  • Esther Rolle
  • John Amos
  • Ja'net DuBois
  • Jimmie Walker
  • Bern Nadetta Stanis
  • Ralph Carter

Episode Guide

ezinearticles.com
The Good Times (Season 4) DVD features a number of hilarious episodes including the two-part season premiere "The Big Move" in which the entire Evans family is prepared to move to Mississippi where James has landed a high-paying job. Together with Willona, they plan an elaborate going away party. But the party is interrupted by the news of James' death in a tragic car accident. As the funeral proceeds, the grief stricken children wonder why Florida has yet cry… Other notable episodes from Season 4 include "Michael's Great Romance" in which Michael falls in love with a girl who has the hots for J.J., and "Florida's Night Out" in which the family is worried about Florida spending so much time alone, that is until Willona takes her out on the town for a night at an exciting night club…

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Tompall & The Glaser Brothers - ...Tick..Tick...Tick... (1970)


Tracklisting
All tracks are songs sung by Tompall and the Glaser Brothers
1. Theme from "...tick...tick...tick..." (Set Yourself Free) (03:23)
2. California Girl (And the Tennessee Square) (02:42)
3. Why Do You Do Me Like You Do (01:59)
4. All That Keeps Ya' Going (02:09)
5. Where Has All the Love Gone (02:27)
6. Woman, Woman (03:11)
7. What Does It Take (02:32)
8. Home's Where the Hurt Is (02:37)
9. Walk Unashamed (03:09)
10. Gentle On My Mind (02:39)

Total Duration: 00:26:48

AMG.com
In 1969 Tompall & the Glaser Brothers fulfilled their contract with MGM, and as an incentive to re-sign offered to score the company's newest film, the racially charged drama Tick...Tick...Tick.... The film's producers scrapped the existing soundtrack and replaced it with previously released songs from the Glaser Brothers' back catalog, with the exception of "Theme from Tick...Tick...Tick...," which was written by fellow country outlaw and frequent Tompall collaborator Hoover. Unfairly lumped into the blaxpoitation genre, the film follows a newly elected black sheriff, Jim Brown, and his predecessor, George Kennedy, as they struggle to unite a bigoted and polarized Southern county. Director Ralph Nelson utilizes these songs much in the same way that Mike Nichols built The Graduate around the music of Simon & Garfunkel. Characters chase each other through empty fields and townies bake in the heat of summer on rickety porch swings, all the while propelled by the Glaser Brothers' tight country-folk. Outstanding versions of "All That Keeps Ya Going" -- also by Hoover -- and John Hartford's "Gentle on My Mind" add a level of amiable compassion to the film that would have buckled under the weight of an orchestral score. However, it's the banjo-fueled title theme that makes this sought-after soundtrack so appealing, as it manages to mix country, soul, and a gospel-tinged chorus into a sepia-toned snapshot of the '60s that is genuinely moving.
Review by James Christopher Monger

Provided by Cinemageddon user Twistin thru Funkback
Link to movie review
Ralph Nelson - ...Tick...Tick...Tick (1970)

Saturday, March 7, 2009

...tick... tick... tick... (1970)













































Starring:



Storyline
This is the story of a black man who has been elected sheriff in a U.S. southern county, due to the vote of blacks. He receives a huge amount of hostility from the non-tolerant white establishment, making his job very hard. The white former sheriff has his own struggle, as he balances his devotion to the law with his family and community relations. Things come to a head when the black sheriff puts a white man, the son of a wealthy land-owner of a neighboring county, in jail, and his daddy comes after him. Everyone around has to decide where their values really lie.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Various Artists - Save The Children (1973)



Review from babygrandpa.blogspot.com:
The "Save The Children" double live album contains great live recordings from fabulous names like Marvin Gaye, the Staple Singers, the Temptations, the Chi Lites, the Main Ingredient, the O'Jays, Isaac Hayes, Zulema, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Cannonball Adderly Quintet, the Push Mass Choir, Albertina Walker, Loretta Oliver, the Rev. James Cleveland, Bill Withers, Curtis Mayfield, Sammy Davis Jr., Roberta Flack, Quincy Jones, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Jerry Butler, Brenda Lee Eager, the Ramsey Lewis Trio, Nancy Wilson, the Jackson Five, Jackie Verdell and Dick Gregory. Everything based of course on the documentary "Save The Children" which chronicles all the above artists that appeared during Jesse Jackon's Operation PUSH exposition held in 1972 in Chicago. Since I don't know too much about the "Save The Children" documentary, I can't give you any more information about it to be honest, but the most important thing of course, as always, is the music. The one thing I thought was interesting though, is that bits and pieces of Rev. Jesse Jackson's speeches on this gem are also to be found on the WattStax albums from the same period.

Tracklisting:

A1-a Rev. Jesse Jackson Dialogue
A1-b Matt Robinson Narration
A2 Marvin Gaye Save The Children
A3 The Temptations Papa Was A Rolling Stone
A4 Main Ingredient Everybody Plays The Fool
A5 The O'Jays Sunshine
A6 Zulema This Child Of Mine
B1 Cannonball Adderley Country Preacher
B2 Rev. James Cleveland & The Push Expo Choir Sermon - Praise Him With A Stringed Instrument
B3 Bill Withers Lean On Me
B4 Marvin Gaye What's Happening Brother
B5 Curtis Mayfield Give Me Your Love
C1 Sammy Davis Jr. I've Gotta Be Me
C2 Roberta Flack On A Clear Day (You Can See Forever)
C3 Quincy Jones Killer Joe
C4 Gladys Knight And The Pips I Heard It Through The Grape Vine
C5 Jerry Butler & Brenda Lee Eager (They Long To Be) Close To You
D1 The Ramsey Lewis Trio People Make The World Go Round
D2 Nancy Wilson The Greatest Performance Of My Life
D3 The Jackson 5 I Wanna Be Where You Are
D4 Marvin Gaye What's Going On
D5 Rev. Jesse Jackson Dialogue
D6 Jackie Verdell & The Push Expo Choir I'm Too Close To Heaven To Turn Around

Provided by Smooth at My Jazz World