The Summer Of Soul....or when the revolution could not be televised

[Dylan Thomas]

A documentary featuring never before seen archived footage, interviews and historical  context for a "Black Woodstock" that took place in Harlem in 1969 and history tragically ignored.....The Harlem Cultural Festival.

This is off the charts amazing.  The performances by Nina Simone, Sly and The Family Stone, Stevie Wonder, The 5th Dimension, Gladys Knight and the Pips, B.B. King, The Chambers Brothers and many others, are so energetic, contagious and magical, it's a wonder and joy to behold.  I'm usually not a fan of gospel, and yo.....the passionate performances the gospel artists display here is breathtaking and jaw dropping.

Combine this with poignant social commentary and the exploration of the burning question, "why is there nothing in music history about this event?"  When the movie's director, Questlove from The Roots, was approached by someone saying they had footage of this event, Questlove thought that he was lying, because he'd never heard of it.
"As the story goes, when Thompson was approached by producers claiming to have a treasure trove of footage from a 1969 festival that boasted this constellation of Black music legends, he was incredulous and dismissive. A music historian bordering on walking encyclopedia, he couldn't believe that if such a thing ever took place, he didn't know about it.

As he told The Los Angeles Times, Thompson polled his high-profile friends—Spike Lee, Nile Rodgers, Nelson George—and they all returned the same, skeptical raised eyebrow. Never heard of it."

Well, now we all get a chance to see and hear it, and man....it is something else.  From the opening track, Stevie Wonder jamming on "It's Your Thing", then not only walking behind the drum kit, but also delivering a blistering, dizzying drum solo, this film is mesmerizing and truly takes you to another place.

[Lumpy]

I also liked it. Thumbs up!

[Pissy]

I'll definitely check this out. 

FWIW i have heard it said that the real legacy of Woodstock was the movie, more so than the event- history wise.   Without that movie it just would have been a festival that lost an historical shitload of money.  Think back to Woodstock 94 and people recall NIN and expensive concessions and the commercialism gripes.  Think back to the one that happened even more recently and I don't have one thing I can say about it aside from it was forgotten.   There was the double album too. 

With the original Woodstock many performances have been forgotten because they weren't in the movie.  The Greatful Dead comes to mind.  Royalties and politics ensured they wouldn't be included. 

If Summer of Soul had had that same movie (maybe it did and I have no leg to stand on) historically things  could have been different. 

[stooge]

i always thought THIS was the black woodstock

[Lumpy]

Maybe so, because the Summer of Soul was a weekly series. Different format than a weekend festival.

[Muffin Man]

huge lesson afterall

[Muffin Man]