Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song is the soundtrack to Melvin Van Peebles' 1971 feature film of the same name. The soundtrack was performed by then-unknown Earth, Wind & Fire and released in 1971 on Stax 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 Top R&B Albums chart.

Overview

As a soundtrack the album was ranked at No. 32 on Mojo'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 wrote "Heard on its own, the soundtrack, unlike Super Fly or Shaft, 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 found the soundtrack is "Well worth checking out."

Track listing

Side One

Side Two