Was SHAFT always released as a 70-minute 2LP thingie, or is there a shorter version?
Thor I worked on all three original Shaft films for the UK releases. The original LP was only ever a double LP & they were very popular at the time, used them for competition prizes etc & always asked to supply more to the cinemas. It was the same for the two double bill re-releases that I was involved with. There was a single LP by a cover group that I think were called Mack Brown & the Brothers & it was surprisingly good & was almost a “greatest hits” version of the original 2 LP set. Hope this helps Regards Andy b
The SHAFT Anthology is pure gold to me if only for the presence of Johnny Pate's five episode scores for the 1973-74 Shaft TV series. It's a rare treat indeed to get so much great TV music on one disc. Someday, I may even give the other two scores a listen...
I couldn't agree more! The Johnny Pate TV scores are among the finest 70's cop show music ever produced, and they are quite faithful to the original Shaft concept. I wonder if there are other good Johnny Pate scores out there?
The SHAFT Anthology is pure gold to me if only for the presence of Johnny Pate's five episode scores for the 1973-74 Shaft TV series. It's a rare treat indeed to get so much great TV music on one disc. Someday, I may even give the other two scores a listen...
I couldn't agree more! The Johnny Pate TV scores are among the finest 70's cop show music ever produced, and they are quite faithful to the original Shaft concept. I wonder if there are other good Johnny Pate scores out there?
Along with JJ Johnson sadly underrepresented on CD but I highly recommend Brother On The Run and Outrageous (non-soundtrack)
I wonder if there are other good Johnny Pate scores out there?
Pate's magnum opus is SHAFT IN AFRICA, out of print in all of its formats--ABC LP, Hip-O Select CD, and the compilation "The Best of Shaft," which has 8 of the album's 12 cues.
I wonder if there are other good Johnny Pate scores out there?
Pate's magnum opus is SHAFT IN AFRICA, out of print in all of its formats--ABC LP, Hip-O Select CD, and the compilation "The Best of Shaft," which has 8 of the album's 12 cues.
The original Shaft In Africa album is available on Apple Music
Are there online notes for this set? If so, I've probably just forgotten how to find them.
I'm asking because I recently picked up the double CD which has the LP programme as Disc 1, and the (surprisingly, to me at least) FSM SHAFT as Disc 2. I wouldn't mind knowing what the liner notes have to say.
Are there online notes for this set? If so, I've probably just forgotten how to find them.
I'm asking because I recently picked up the double CD which has the LP programme as Disc 1, and the (surprisingly, to me at least) FSM SHAFT as Disc 2. I wouldn't mind knowing what the liner notes have to say.
There were no online notes (at least, I don't remember any).
When you say the 'LP programme', not exactly. The FSM set covers the actual film scoring sessions, rather than duplicating the commonly available LP, which I think was a re-recording. Disc 2 covers 'Shaft's Big Score!' and then Johnny Pate's TV scores.
Great album which I return to mainly for Johnny Pate's tv scores.
Are there online notes for this set? If so, I've probably just forgotten how to find them.
I'm asking because I recently picked up the double CD which has the LP programme as Disc 1, and the (surprisingly, to me at least) FSM SHAFT as Disc 2. I wouldn't mind knowing what the liner notes have to say.
There were no online notes (at least, I don't remember any).
When you say the 'LP programme', not exactly. The FSM set covers the actual film scoring sessions, rather than duplicating the commonly available LP, which I think was a re-recording. Disc 2 covers 'Shaft's Big Score!' and then Johnny Pate's TV scores.
Great album which I return to mainly for Johnny Pate's tv scores.
Simon, I expressed myself poorly. The double CD which I bought in HMV Glasgow last week is on the Craft/Enterprise/Concord (?) label, released in 2019. CD1 is the re-recorded double LP from way back, CD2 is (apparently) the same as the SHAFT disc which was on the FSM set (which I don't have).
If there are no online notes, does anyone know if the CD liner notes explain exactly the role of Isaac Hayes and his collaborators? I'm asking because in David Meeker's book "Jazz in the Movies", he states that "Isaac Hayes receives screen credit for the music, but the movie's music director, Tom McIntosh claims credit for the score, adding that JJ Johnson was also involved as orchestrator".
I knew about the JJ Johnson thing (he's also on trombone on the soundtrack), but the idea that Tom McIntosh actually wrote the score is intriguing to say the least. Is it a case of a mere exaggeration? Perhaps McIntosh was so involved with the orchestration that it turned out to sound more like him than Isaac Hayes??? A similar case would be LAST TANGO IN PARIS, with music credited to Gato Barbieri, but which is clearly mostly the work of "arranger" Oliver Nelson.
Fantastic set even though SHAFT IN AFRICA couldnt be included due to legal issues.For me almost the best of the three movie scores! If you can get it on LP grab it...its awesome!!!
Oh, never heard of that particular album myself, Graham.
The booklet says:
As Hayes lacked film experience,the studio teamed him with Tom McIntosh, a composer/arranger who had assisted Gordon Parks with the scoring of 'The Learning Tree'. McIntosh was credited as 'Technical Assistant to Composer', a job he later discussed with Leonard Feather for the Los Angeles Times: "Issac was very pleasant to work with. He's the kind of person who is essentially meek and teachable. He knew what the situation was, that he could do with all the help he could get. Isaac works with his rhythm section and really does create themes. With him at the piano, plus his wah-wah guitar idea, that was what sold SHAFT".
Fantastic set even though SHAFT IN AFRICA couldnt be included due to legal issues.For me almost the best of the three movie scores! If you can get it on LP grab it...its awesome!!!
Tom McIntosh was screwed over on his work for Shaft. Issac Hayes could not read or write music, Tom wrote and arranged everything, mostly uncredited. As consolation, MGM and Gordon Parks offered him Shafts Big Score. However, Hollywood politics meddled in that too. Parks took credit for Tom’s score. Parks was a songwriter, not a composer capable of scoring a film. It was all by Tom. Parks went as far as redacting Tom’s name on the written scores and writing his name one them. This experience led Tom to abandon film and return to teaching. It’s really tragic that this man wrote some of the most iconic music of the 70s and no one knows his name.
Tom McIntosh was screwed over on his work for Shaft. Issac Hayes could not read or write music, Tom wrote and arranged everything, mostly uncredited. As consolation, MGM and Gordon Parks offered him Shafts Big Score. However, Hollywood politics meddled in that too. Parks took credit for Tom’s score. Parks was a songwriter, not a composer capable of scoring a film. It was all by Tom. Parks went as far as redacting Tom’s name on the written scores and writing his name one them. This experience led Tom to abandon film and return to teaching. It’s really tragic that this man wrote some of the most iconic music of the 70s and no one knows his name.
Thanks Simon for the quotes from the FSM liner notes, to neumation for your views on how Tom McIntosh got "shafted", to Lukas for the fascinating blog entry, and of course to Isaac Hayes' grandmother.
In the case of McIntosh, I'm certainly listening to SHAFT with a "different" appreciation. It's a great CD no matter who wrote it, but it's always good to know the input of "arrangers", "orchestrators" and... "technical advisers". I remember picking up the LP of THE LEARNING TREE in the late '70s because I loved what I'd heard of the song and score from TV broadcasts, and thinking what a fantastic composer Gordon Parks was. Certainly a very talented man, in many fields.
I've just realised that I didn't have time last night to listen to the 10-minute climactic cue from the FSM disc of SHAFT, so I'd better remedy that now.
