Isaac Hayes: Truck Turner

If a listener has not seen the film "Truck Turner," (1974) there is perhaps no way that any of this review can make sense. And, alas, if you have seen "Truck Turner," there is little anything anyone can do to help. This is a movie that was part of a subgenre, Blaxploitation movies, that could scarcely be screened today. Every other word or scene is an obscenity, an N-word, or a racial stereotype that is not likely to go down very well with a contemporary audience. The plot may be silly but was not designed for modern sensibilities. So fair warning, these are the good old days. This is how some people turned a penny on race in the 1970s. Cheech 'n Chong is Shakespearian fare by comparison: "They don't make pimps like they used to" is a representative line from the film -a bland one. Isaac Hayes was one of the central figures of the genre: actor, composer, entrepreneur, television star.

In "Truck Turner," Hayes plays an outlaw bail bondsman who takes the lucky viewer on a rough-trade tour of Los Angeles, with plenty of graphic, cheesy violence and lots of women running around in revealing outfits. The film would be rated R, and not for smoking (tobacco). It was (and is) mildly revolting. The funny thing is that the music that the entire genre of Blaxploitation films produced, although as dated as disco (with which it was easily conflated), retains a certain appeal particularly for veterans of the era. Yeah, the music could be chill, funky, lively, amusing, and now, evocative of the times, both good and bad, of which there was plenty of both. There were funky beats, heavy bass, wah-wah guitar and soul jazz licks galore. And that is exactly what a listener gets in this production, the soundtrack to the film, complete with still photos of Hayes and two purple vinyls as part of Varèse Sarabande's Reel Cult series. So, optimistically, someone can enjoy the music, which was ok, without having to watch the movie, which was not, even then -ok.

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