Trouble Man

Two phenomenons of early-'70s soul--Marvin Gaye and the soundtracks of blaxploitation flicks--met on this 1972 souvenir of the violent Robert Hooks vehicle. Unlike Curtis Mayfield's concurrent Superfly, however, Gaye's record mostly fails to rise above the clichés of film music. Save for the pained, dramatic title single and a few moments of sax-and-wah-wah strutting, much of what's here fails to touch Mayfield's song suite. That's ironic, given that Gaye bookended Trouble Man with two conceptual triumphs, What's Going On and Let's Get It On. His fans, and students of the genre, won't find this a total disappointment, but with "Trouble Man" itself available on a number of best-of CDs, it's inessential. --Rickey Wright Amazon.com

You cannot go wrong buying this.

I bought this after I happened to see part of the movie "Four Brothers" which featured a couple of songs from this soundtrack... (i.e. Chloe's Apt. and Trouble Man). Wow. The song "Trouble Man" is hands down the coolest song I have ever heard. It is worth buying just for that song. This is a solid soundtrack... mostly instrumental.... it has a nice cohesive feel so you can just let it play. If someone is harshing your mellow, put this on and everything will be allright. April 4, 2008

t plays it cool

dope soudtrack too bad it's slept on marvin gaye put it down hard t plays it cool was very funky hard hitting drums, synthesizers, horns, man it qwas sampled by jazzy jeff in 87 my next favorite track is t stands for trouble which has been sampled also but still the tityle track is funky and marvin at his best he was trouble man 4reel and we all know how he ended up. September 11, 2007

The overlooked gem

It's interesting to me that when an artist does a 'soundtrack' record for a movie it is often ignored or seen as something separate from all their other releases. This '72 recording, even though it is referred to as an soundtrack, is really a continuation of the artistic freedom Marvin fought for when he wanted to release 'What's Going On', the movie only provides the subject matter.

This recording to me seems like a natural progression from the thoughtful suite that was his masterpiece What's Going On. It's moody with a sort of jazzy big band sound, and like the previous record, the songs segue into one another like one musical suite. Marvin showcases his musical skills, particularly on piano/synthesizer throughout.On the few tracks that he does sing on, he is at his best, particularly the title track, and the wordless multi-tracked doo-wop harmony he does by himself on 'Cleo's Apartment', a nod back to his earlier days as a singer.

I think this record is less known because for the most part it is instrumental and most pop music listeners have an attention span that isn't accomadating to long pieces or concept records. So if you're looking for 3 minute sing-alongs, skip this one. But if you're adventurous
and looking for something more interesting to listen to, then you should indugle in this Marvin release.

Also a nod to the saxophone player, I think his name is Trevor Lawrence, he does an excellent job throughout on tenor & baritone saxophone. August 7, 2007

Amazon reviewer is an idiot...

Yeah, the Amazon reviewer is a moron. I suggest you listen to this album. And Amazon, who the f*** is this dope? He never listened to the record. Hope he didn't get paid, since he's a fraud. This is just as good as the other albums he recommends. June 12, 2007

Bizarre Amazon Review

I'm with the previous reviewer, did the amazon reviewer actually listen to this?
This a fantastic record. It stands strongly with the other two mentioned.
I tracked it down for myself on cassette in the early 90's, the finally got it on vinyl - now CD. I gets better and better, upon repeated listenings, it is satisfying on so many levels - there is a real unfolding emotional intensity in this album.

Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye were on totally different orbits, just listen to any of their other works for comparison. In my opinion Mayfield, whilst catchy, went the route of James Brown for soundtracks i.e. did their usual stuff, but for soundtrack.

Soundtracks are all about incidental music too, you know! Gaye created atmosphere. September 10, 2006

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