The success of Shaft and Superfly ignited an explosion of films, many produced by small independent studios and filmmakers, whose soundtracks continue to provide rich fodder for turntablists, crate diggers, and the like. Of these indie Black-themed films, the once-lost and recently rediscovered 1974 flick Solomon King is perched atop the list.
The film was written, directed, and produced by Oakland, CA entrepreneur Sal Watts, who also starred in the movie. But it was no mere vanity project.
Watts owned several record labels in Oakland and a string of Black urban fashion stores and acted as executive producer of a local soul music & dance TV program. So, he was able to draw on a wealth of local talent in making Solomon King. And nowhere did that talent show up more than on the soundtrack. Southern soul stalwart and Ray Charles collaborator Jimmy Lewis arranged and conducted the score, while writers like Joyce Stiger, who penned Bobby Bland’s hit “Recess in Heaven,” contributed songs. The band was tight, too, composed of the cream of Oakland’s thriving soul-funk scene. Little wonder, then, that original copies of this soundtrack go for over three Benjamins if you can find them at all. But, working with the indie film imprint Deaf Crocodile, who restored and reissued the film a few years back with the cooperation of Watts’ wife Belinda, we at Real Gone are releasing the soundtrack to Solomon King in expanded form featuring additional tracks drawn from rare 45s hailing from Watts’ Sal/Wa label. It’s a nonstop funk workout, issued on tiger swirl vinyl with three bonus cuts and a CD edition adding three more.
Propulsive beats, silky strings, wah-wah guitar tickles…if you’re into that ‘70s soul sound, Solomon King is a revelation.