MVP Music
“The Dozens”
In
How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It),
legendary musician and rap pioneer Gil Scott-Heron describes how Melvin
Van Peebles was one of his major musical influences, saying, “He made
sure there was a story inside the things [he was] talking about.” Rap
also has its roots in
“the dozens,”
an African-American verbal game in which each player had to top his
opponent by issuing the most creative insult. This track, a portion of
which is heard in
How to Eat Your Watermelon…, comes from Melvin’s 1968 album
Brer Soul (A&M).
“I Got the Blood”
Another song heard in
How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It).
On this track a trash-talking hustler takes side bets on a street
fight: “I got the blood. Who got whitey?” This song is from Melvin’s
1969 album,
Aint Supposed to Die a Natural Death (A&M), which was also the title of his 1971 Broadway musical.
“Sweetback Getting it Uptight and Preaching it so Hard the Bourgeois Reggin Angels in Heaven Turn Around”
A sound collage from Melvin’s breakthrough 1971 film,
Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song
(Stax), includes the lines that would become a black rallying cry:
“They bled your momma, they bled your papa. But they won’t bleed me!”
One of the all-time great song titles, to boot.
“Come on Feet”
Melvin gets funky in the tune that propels the titular hero to freedom in
Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song.
The soundtrack album is credited to “Brer Soul and Earth, Wind &
Fire”—it was the future superstars’ first recorded album! Melvin later
reused this track to great effect in his Broadway musical
Aint Supposed to Die a Natural Death; to hear the version sung by Sati Jamal on the original cast album,
click here.
“Love That’s America”
One of Melvin’s most incendiary tracks, it accompanies the closing credits in
How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It). It originally appeared on the 1969 album,
Aint Supposed to Die a Natural Death (A&M).
“Lilly Done the Zampoughi Everytime I Pulled her Coattail”
In this MVP classic from his 1968 debut,
Brer Soul (A&M), a
death-row inmate reminisces about the girl of his dreams—and how she led
to his current predicament. To hear how Garrett Morris—later of
Saturday Night Live fame—performed it in the Broadway musical
Aint Supposed to Die a Natural Death,
click here. To watch Melvin perform this song live with his band Roadkill,
click here. Also, check out this cool
remix from British producers
Carmine and Cornell.
“You Cut Up the Clothes in the Closet of My Dreams”
In
How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It), you get a taste of Joshie Jo Armstead’s show-stopping rendition from Melvin’s 1972 musical (and feature film)
Dont Play Us Cheap
(Stax). Here’s the full version from the original cast soundtrack
album. To watch Melvin perform this track live with his band Roadkill,
click here.
“Quittin Time”
One of Melvin’s standout songs from
Dont Play Us Cheap. This bluesy track is from the original cast soundtrack album (Stax), performed by George “Ooppee” McCurn.
“My Love Belongs to You”
This track made its first appearance on Melvin’s 1974 album
What the...You Mean I Can’t Sing?!
(Atlantic). He later reprised it in his 1982 musical, The Waltz of the
Stork. To watch Melvin’s (ahem!) special version of this song—as
performed on NYC’s cable-access porn show,
Midnight Blue,
click here. That’s show biz!
