Hell Up In Harlem

Edwin Starr – Hell Up In Harlem

Motown Records – 1973

Tougher than Shaft and smoother than Superfly, this high-voltage sequel to Black Caesar explodes with enough action to incinerate New York City. Packed with machine-gun mayhem and riveting adventure, Hell up in Harlem is nothing less than a modern-day tribute to the classic 30s gangster film.

Tommy Gibbs, a fearless, bulletproof tough guy who blasts his way from the gutter to become the ultimate underworld boss. When he steals a ledger with the name of every crooked cop and official on the mob’s payroll, he becomes the most hunted man in the city. Enlisting the aid of his father and an army of Harlem hoods, Gibbs goes from defense to offense, launching a deadly attack on his enemies that sets off a violent chain reaction from Harlem all the way to the Caribbean, climaxing in one of the hottest turf-war shoot-outs in Hollywood history.

Fred Williamson returns as Tommy Gibbs, the self-styled Godfather of Harlem in Larry Cohen’s quickly made sequel to the low-budget Black Caesar. The film opens with a different perspective on the finale from the earlier film, this time with Gibbs surviving an assassination attempt with the help of his estranged father (Julius Harris), who becomes Tommy’s new chief lieutenant in his rebuilt organization. Tommy takes his revenge on those who set him up but faces a new threat from within as the corrupt DA partners with an ambitious gang member to take Tommy down. It’s not going to be as easy as they think. Shooting on NYC streets and locations, Cohen punches up the slim rise-and-fall/revenge story line with gritty action, a driving pace, and edgy, always-on-the-move, hand-held camera work. The production feels rushed at times and the performances don’t have the energy of the previous film, but Cohen doesn’t give you much time to think about it with his speeding plot and machine-gun editing, moved along nicely with help from Edwin Starr’s funky score.

Born Charles Edwin Hatcher in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1942. Edwin and his cousins (soul singers Roger and Willie Hatcher) moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where they were raised.

In 1957, Starr formed a doo-wop group, The Future Tones, and began his singing career. Starr lived in Detroit, Michigan, in the 1960s and recorded at first for the small record label Ric-Tic, and later for Motown Records after it absorbed Ric-Tic in 1968.

The song which began his career was “Agent Double’O’Soul” (1965), a reference to the James Bond films popular at the time. Other early hits included “Headline News”, “Back Street”, a cover of The Miracles “Way Over There”, and “S.O.S. (Stop Her On Sight)”. He recorded more soul music for the next three years before having an international hit in “25 Miles” (1968), which peaked at #6 in the United States the following year.

The biggest hit of his career, which cemented his reputation, was the Vietnam War protest song “War” (1970). Starr’s intense vocals transformed a Temptations album track into a #1 chart success, which spent three weeks in the top position on the U.S. Billboard charts, an anthem for the antiwar movement and a cultural milestone that continues to resound a generation later in movie soundtracks and hip hop music samples. It sold over three million copies, and was awarded a platinum disc.

The soundtrack to “Hell Up In Harlem” was originally due to be scored by James Brown using material from what later became his “The Payback” LP, this soundtrack by Fonce Mizell, Dennis Coffey and Freddie Perren nevertheless contains some great funk tracks. Edwin Starr is in fine form on the slowburn conga-lead “Easin’ In”, while the tight funk band can be heard to full effect on the instrumental ‘Runnin’, Also worth mentioning is the sugar daddy anthem “Big Papa” in which middle age players are having fun but are reminded of the perils of playing a young man’s game.

There are also standouts in the soft moments. “Don’t it Feel Good to Be Free” will bring a sense emancipated bliss as you think about chains being broke that bonded you to obligatory helplessness (unemployment, imprisonment, bad marriage, etc). “Like We Used to Do” is one of the best Father and Son songs you’ll ever hear with its warm floating groove and Edwin’s nicely refrain plea to reunite with his son (you won’t find too many songs like this in today’s jaded  music atmosphere). “Mama should be here Too” is almost as good as it could qualify as the “Dear Mama”  of its day. Then there’s the necessary slow jams of” Our Love Will Never Die” and “Jennifer” which showcases the reflective and intimate side of thug love respectively.

This Banger of a soundtrack has been sampled by,

PRT, Ice -T, Tone Loc, Digable Planets, Jamiroquai, DMX, P.U.T.S, Lily Allen, Prodigy, Dj Food, Snoop Dogg and even the french house duo Air….just to name a few.

Step your pimp game up right here,

or

HERE

@320

Enjoy.