Out Of Context
C.T. Chase | Arlington, VA USA | 11/15/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Although I'm glad that people thought enough of the Maestro, aka "The Walrus of Love", to rate and review this album, I'm semi-surprised at how confident people were in downgrading it, in spite of never having seen the movie. Granted, it would be impossible to do so, since for one thing, it was originally released back in 1974, and for another, the film has never been made available on any format, VHS or otherwise.
Because I did see the movie, this music - one of only two soundtracks that Barry White ever did for films - holds a special meaning and affection for me. Maybe a quick synopsis of the film will help put the style and arranging in context.
TOGETHER BROTHERS is set in the ghetto, circa 1974, and opens with the brutal murder of a uniformed police officer, who patrols this part of the city and serves as a mentor to some of the troubled youth there. He is shot multiple times by an unseen assailant, and then, in a bizarre twist, the killer pulls the dead cop's pants down around his ankles. All of this happens while a horrified young boy looks on, stunned into silence by what he has just witnessed. The killer walks over to the frozen child, puts the gun to his head and pulls the trigger. Nothing happens - the gun is empty, all the bullets used to kill the cop. As people approach having heard the gunshots, the killer flees, leaving the boy.
The people who find the boy and the cop's body turn out to be four friends (the TOGETHER BROTHERS of the title), one of whom is the young boy's older brother. These were the teens the cop was mentoring, and now they are determined to find out who killed him, which they try to do for the remainder of the film. All the while, the killer waits in the background for an opportunity to silence the boy once and for all. Ironic, really, since the traumatized child does not speak one word for the rest of the movie, until the very end.
Each track helped to tell the story, and as you can tell from the arrangements and the titles, it escalates to a very gripping, suspenseful ending when you're not really sure what's going to happen. The most famous track from the album, "Theme From Together Brothers" (which was sampled for the hit dance mix "C'mon Ride The Train"), was actually music for a scene when the Brothers, determined to follow the clues that will lead to their friend's murderer, turn to the leader of a local Latino gang for help. A surprising plot point for a movie from this time period, since African-American and Latinos were more likely to be rivals than friends working together (especially gang members.)
The film's main cast members were all mostly first-timers hired from a national casting call, with the exception of Rodney Allen Rippey - a famous black child actor for some popular commercials of the day, who played the little boy; Ed Bernard (Detective Stiles from the Angie Dickenson series POLICE WOMAN), who played the doomed but well-meaning cop, and Lincoln Kilpatrick (THE OMEGA MAN) as the killer. The setting and the unfamiliarity of the actors to the audience gave the movie a very gritty, docudrama feel to it.
The music and the movie were indeed very much a product of their time, but the movie's themes were universal (if the depiction of some characters in the movie would now not only be considered stereotypical, but downright non politically-correct.) My only hope is that someday, Fox will release a DVD of this "lost" film, so that people will have a frame of reference when reviewing the music that accompanies it."
Awsome
Henry Cooper | 09/05/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"if you've seen Together on mtv you'll love the soundtrack!The hilarious lyrics are out of this world!!!!"
Real cool, versatile & stylistic (4&1/2 stars)
Henry Cooper | Atlanta, GA | 11/29/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The soundtrack is fantastic with alot of arrangements from the horns & strings. And strong rhythm section. The title them was the Smash which been sampled by a couple hip-hoppers. Barry White (RIP) deserves this piece of work credit. One heckuva performer and one legend truly left us too early. This is a great score even I haven't seen the original movie of it. Long lives the Maestro and Overall Genius of Barry White."
Track Listings (20) - Disc #1