Wattstax - the forgotten Woodstock
Love soul, funk, gospel, jazz and the blues? I do. And that's why when I stumbled across this lost little beauty, I squealed with delight. An entire festival dedicated to Stax Records artists and yet Woodstock gets all the kudos.
Stax Records is a Memphis based record label specialising in the aforementioned genre. In fact, Memphis, Tennessee is in the heart of America's southern region, which is the birthplace of these innovative, sexy and emotive musical types, so it's only right that a festival should be dedicated to it.
1969's Woodstock is famed for 3 days of rock n roll anarchy. It is legendary, not only because of its improvisation but also because this one-off festival had a whole host of ground-breaking musicians like Richie Havens, Ravi Shankar, Joan Baez, Santana, The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Sly & The Family Stone, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and the only and only Jimi Hendrix. Any festival would struggle to get a line-up this good.
However, in 1972 there was a little known festival in Los Angeles called Wattstax, organised by the label to commemorate 7 years since the Watt riots. These riots weren't initially about race, but it turned out that discrimination led unemployment and poverty, coupled with police racism ignited the worst riots the city had seen.
Opened by Reverend Jesse Jackson, the festival showcased acts that not many people have heard of (bar Isaac Hayes), including The Dramatics, The Emotions, Rufus Thomas and the Staple Singers. The highlight was the flamboyantly theatrical and super soulful The Bar-Kays. Any band that walk around the spangled jumpsuits, wigs and tassels while maintaining a raw manliness gets my vote.
Unlike Woodstock, which was just about the music (and let's face it, the UK does rock n roll much better) this documentary shows us that homegrown talent is marginalised in an institutionally racist establishment. The documentary doesn't just show a loads of hedonistic kids whose relatively tame behaviour is scaring suburbia; it cuts to the most deep conversations between people in the community that talk about being black along with the all the good and bad that it brings.
That's what I took most from this Golden Globe nominated documentary. It was about a united community fighting against a system that hates them. It was seeing that these potential rioters are intelligent, balanced, charismatic and purposeful. That even in an invisible struggle, you can maintain a modicum integrity and it all comes from an essentially good place. Watch this documentary, not just for the superb array of forgotten talent, but also for the characters affected by its cause.
Stax Records is a Memphis based record label specialising in the aforementioned genre. In fact, Memphis, Tennessee is in the heart of America's southern region, which is the birthplace of these innovative, sexy and emotive musical types, so it's only right that a festival should be dedicated to it.
1969's Woodstock is famed for 3 days of rock n roll anarchy. It is legendary, not only because of its improvisation but also because this one-off festival had a whole host of ground-breaking musicians like Richie Havens, Ravi Shankar, Joan Baez, Santana, The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Sly & The Family Stone, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and the only and only Jimi Hendrix. Any festival would struggle to get a line-up this good.
However, in 1972 there was a little known festival in Los Angeles called Wattstax, organised by the label to commemorate 7 years since the Watt riots. These riots weren't initially about race, but it turned out that discrimination led unemployment and poverty, coupled with police racism ignited the worst riots the city had seen.
Opened by Reverend Jesse Jackson, the festival showcased acts that not many people have heard of (bar Isaac Hayes), including The Dramatics, The Emotions, Rufus Thomas and the Staple Singers. The highlight was the flamboyantly theatrical and super soulful The Bar-Kays. Any band that walk around the spangled jumpsuits, wigs and tassels while maintaining a raw manliness gets my vote.
Unlike Woodstock, which was just about the music (and let's face it, the UK does rock n roll much better) this documentary shows us that homegrown talent is marginalised in an institutionally racist establishment. The documentary doesn't just show a loads of hedonistic kids whose relatively tame behaviour is scaring suburbia; it cuts to the most deep conversations between people in the community that talk about being black along with the all the good and bad that it brings.
That's what I took most from this Golden Globe nominated documentary. It was about a united community fighting against a system that hates them. It was seeing that these potential rioters are intelligent, balanced, charismatic and purposeful. That even in an invisible struggle, you can maintain a modicum integrity and it all comes from an essentially good place. Watch this documentary, not just for the superb array of forgotten talent, but also for the characters affected by its cause.
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