''Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song'' is the soundtrack to

Melvin Van Peebles Melvin Van Peebles (born Melvin Peebles; August 21, 1932 – September 21, 2021) was an American actor, filmmaker, writer, and composer. He worked as an active filmmaker into the early 2020s. His feature film debut, ''The Story of a Three-Day Pa ...

' 1971 feature film of the same name. The soundtrack was performed by then-unknown

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (abbreviated as EW&F or EWF) is an American band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. Their music spans multiple genres, including jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling ba ...

and released in 1971 on

Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in September 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. ...

. To attract publicity for the film without spending significant money, the soundtrack was released before the movie; it performed well, reaching No. 13 on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Top R&B Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

chart.

Overview

As a soundtrack the album was ranked at No. 32 on

Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in Hoodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Mojo'' (2017 film), a 2017 Indian Kannada drama film written and directed by Sreesha Belakvaadi * '' ...

's "MOJO 1000 – The Ultimate CD Buyers Guide".

Critical reception

Ian McCann of udiscovermusic.com found "Today, though, you couldn’t find a record, soundtrack, or otherwise, as freewheelin’ and funky as this." With a 3.5 out of 5 stars review, Richie Unterberger of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote "Heard on its own, the soundtrack, unlike Super Fly or

Shaft Shaft may refer to: Rotating machine elements * Shaft (mechanical engineering), a rotating machine element used to transmit power * Line shaft, a power transmission system * Drive shaft, a shaft for transferring torque * Axle, a shaft around whi ...

, is not a significant musical achievement. It's serviceable period funk-soul, both instrumental and vocal, sprinkled with some dialog from the film". Jamie Atkins of

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine focussing on rare and collectable records, and the bands who recorded them. It was founded in September 1979 and distributes worldwide. It is promoted as "the world’s leading authority o ...

found the soundtrack is "Well worth checking out."

Track listing

Side One

#"Sweetback Losing His Cherry" (2:45) #"Sweetback Getting It Uptight And Preaching It So Hard The Bourgeois Reggin Angels In Heaven Turn Around" (5:00) #"Come On Feet Do Your Thing" (4:15) #"Sweetback's Theme" (7:36)

Side Two

#"Hoppin' John" (2:25)
"Voices" (0:11) #"Mojo Woman" (2:43)
"Voices" (0:15) #"Sanra Z" (3:47)
"Voices" (0:17) #"Reggins Hanging On In There As Best They Can" (2:58)
"Voices" (1:13) #"Won't Bleed Me" (2:41) #"The Man Tries Running His Usual Game but Sweetback's Jones Is So Strong He Wastes the Hounds (Yeah! Yeah! and Besides That He Will Be Comin' Back Takin' Names and Collecting Dues)" (4:25)

References

{{Authority control Earth, Wind & Fire albums Melvin Van Peebles albums 1971 soundtrack albums Stax Records soundtracks Stax Records albums Action film soundtracks Thriller film soundtracks