Johnny Pate / Brother On The Run

AllMusic Review by Andy Kellman

In 2001, Castle Music put the soundtrack to Herbert L. Strock's Brother on the Run back into circulation. Originally issued on Perception, the album had long since become a rarity that fetched three figures from collectors. Scored by Impressions arranger Johnny Pate -- the same year he scored Shaft in Africa -- Brother on the Run falls into the second tier of blaxploitation soundtracks. It's a strong set, a mixed bag of funky chase-scene grooves (wah-wah guitars, nervously pattering percussion, blaring horn charts), low-key numbers for romantic interludes and pensive moments, and a title theme (sung by Adam Wade) that serves as the most significant part of the soundtrack. It's not on the level of Superfly or Shaft, but no self-respecting blaxploitation aficionado should be without it.

Johnny Pate
Brother On The Run
1973
Perception Records Recorded at Broadway Recording Studios, NYC


Tracklist A1 Opening A2 Brother (Title) 4:51 A3 Auto Chase 6:52 A4 Maude's Intro 12:10 A5 En Route to Maude's 14:01 B1 Soulful Brother on the Run 15:05 B2 Lady Leaving Store 17:40 B3 Ms Johnston's Sex Scene 20:17 B4 Car Bumps 24:53 B5 Maude Reminisces 25:34 B6 Untitled (unlisted) 26:45 B7 Closing Theme 28:23

Personnel Johnny Pate (con, arr) Adam Wade (voc) track A2, B1 Cedric Lawson (og, e-p, p, key) Joe Beck (g) Don Pate (b) Donald McDonald (dr) Mtume (perc) unknown horn and string section