Search - Various Artists :: Shaft in Africa (Spkg)

The way the film was billed was "The Brother Man In The Motherland." And that may be about as much as you really need to know about the plot of Shaft In Africa, the movie. This was the third and final outing for Richard Roundtree as the blaxploitation hero John Shaft, and the beginning of a 27-year hiatus for the character, who returned in 2000 with Samuel L. Jackson in the title role (although Roundtree made an appearance as "Uncle John" Shaft in that film).


Score composer Johnny Pate had had some small chart success back in 1958 with his Johnny Pate Quintet's "Swinging Shepherd Blues," which grazed the Top 20 of the R&B charts. Pate also collaborated with the Impressions (as arranger) for a string of hits in the early Sixties, which led to an A&R gig at ABC-Paramount.



The signature tune from the movie, "Are You Man Enough," was performed by the Four Tops, who had recently exited their long-term relationship with Motown and had signed to ABC. It captures the flavor of the film magnificently, with classic blaxploitation lyrics such as "Are you man enough/Big and bad enough/Are you gonna let 'em shoot you down?" Two minutes and twelve seconds of pop perfection, that.