Bernard Pretty Purdie - Lialeh 1974

The movie Lialeh may be filthy, but the movie soundtrack is just funky. Well, that's not completely true, and it's possible you could get in a bit of trouble playing this soundtrack for unsuspecting listeners. But for the most part, what was trumpeted as the first black porn film mixed the right portion of grit with its sensuality. Purdie, former and future collaborator with everybody from Louis Armstrong to Duane Allman to the Last Poets to the Insect Trust, never struts self-indulgently even on the two spots where his drums get the foreground; everyone sticks together on the one and the other three beats besides. "Don't make me the family way," warns Sandi Hewitt in the first line of "Touch Me Again," but it slithers out of her mouth like her subsequent encouragements to touch, a female serpent nudging the fallen fruit toward your foot; the band backs off, she simmers down, and a flute flitters. She never quite climaxes, but at least breathes heavily, more naturally, than the grunts at the end of the otherwise flirty "All Pink on the Inside," which recalls Frank Zappa's heavy-handed put-ons or even the "Love Rollercoaster" intro. "Pass Me Not" passes for New Orleans funeral march music, albeit with piano, organ, and electric guitar joining the plungered trombone and other horns. Out of print since shortly after its 1974 release, Light in the Attic restored the sizzling set to print in 2003 on CD and 180-gram vinyl. The latter edition includes a movie poster. AMG.

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