Black Caesar (album)

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.

Critical reception

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."

In a 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".Dave Thompson calls it a "kick-ass soundtrack" and "nothing short of a full frontal funk assault."

Black Caesar

Black Caesar can refer to:

Black Caesar (pirate)

Black Caesar (died 1718) was an 18th-century African pirate. For nearly a decade, he raided shipping from the Florida Keys and later served as one of Captain Blackbeard's crewmen aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge. He was one of the surviving members of Blackbeard's crew following his death at the hands of Lieutenant Robert Maynard in 1718. Caesar's Rock, one of three islands located north of Key Largo, is named in his honor, and is the present-day site of his original headquarters.

Biography according to the Legend

Black Caesar, according to traditional accounts, was a prominent African tribal war chieftain. Widely known for his "huge size, immense strength, and keen intelligence", he evaded capture from many different slave traders. Caesar was finally captured when he and twenty of his warriors were lured onto a ship by a slave trader. Showing him a watch, the trader promised to show him and his warriors more objects which were "too heavy and too numerous to bring on shore" if they came aboard his ship. He enticed them to stay with food, musical instruments, silk scarves and jewels, however he had his men raise anchor and slowly sail away. When Caesar discovered what was happening, he and his men attempted to charge their captors but were driven back by the well-armed sailors using swords and pistols. Although it took a considerable length of time for him and his warriors to accept their captivity, he was eventually befriended by a sailor who was the only man Black Caesar would accept food and water from.

Black Caesar (film)

Black Caesar, (released theatrically in the UK as Godfather of Harlem), is a 1973 American blaxploitation, crime drama film, starring Fred Williamson, Gloria Hendry and Julius Harris. The film was written and directed by Larry Cohen. Black Caesar is a remake of the 1931 film Little Caesar. It features a notable musical score (Black Caesar) by James Brown (with heavy input from his bandleader Fred Wesley), his first experience with writing music for film. A sequel titled Hell Up in Harlem was released in late 1973.

Plot

Tommy Gibbs (Fred Williamson) is an African-American who grew up in Harlem, New York City. As a kid, he was brutally assaulted by racist white cop McKinney. The incident led him to a life of crime. As an adult, he joins New York mafia and becomes the head of a black crime syndicate in Harlem. He wages a gang war with the Italian mobsters of New York City and begins to establish a criminal empire, keeping a ledger book of all his dealings as leverage over his business associates, including McKinney.