July 10, 2021 by A.S. Van Dorston

For the past 50 years, when historic music festivals are mentioned, Woodstock towers over all, followed by The Monterey Pop Festival that kicked off the Summer of Love in June 1967. If you’re a music geek or British, then you’d know about the Isle of Wight Festival and Glastonbury Festival. If of a certain generation, the Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals. If you’re cool, then you wouldn’t overlook Wattstack in 1972. However, it seemed everyone had forgotten about the Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969, until Questlove got hold of 40 hours of footage and released his documentary debut on July 2 in theaters and on Hulu. While it is sometimes referred to as the “Black Woodstock,” it was actually a series of six smaller free concerts held between June 29 and August 24, 1969 in Harlem’s Mt. Morris Park, similar to many free summer concert series held throughout the U.S. But no other series featured such heavy-hitting headliners as Sly & the Family Stone (who played the first date, June 29, but must have been added too late for the poster), Mahalia Jackson, The Staple Singers, Stevie Wonder, David Ruffin, Mongo Santamaria, B.B. King and Nina Simone. It was a good year to be a soul fan.

Seeing this previously lost and forgotten footage is truly a gift, one that makes me want to send Questlove some flowers, or a lifetime supply of tacos.

The documentary starts with the requisite American History 101, establishing the political, social and cultural setting of the summer of ’69. I’ve been losing my patience with music documentaries that have music taking a second seat to politics, or even as mere incidental soundtracks to more “important” things (see my takedown of 1971: The Year that Changed Everything below). I guess it’s necessary, since our educational system has become such a failure that a frighteningly large slice of our population view science with more suspicion than people did before the Age of Enlightenment, and elected a president in 2016 who would have no chance in hell of passing an 8th grade Civics test, even with an army of tutors. Fortunately, Questlove doesn’t get lost in the weeds, and quickly returns to the music, which deserves center stage, occasionally getting off topic with interviews with the audience about their thoughts on the July 20 moon landing. A great encapsulation of the sentiments would have been Gil Scott-Heron’s “Whitey on the Moon.”

The Fifth Dimension have a great story about how they ran into a producer of Hair by pure chance and got invited to attend the show where tickets were pricy and hard to come by (think Hamilton at it’s peak), which inspired them to cover “The Age of Aquarius.” Often criticized for not sounding “black” enough, they appeared to win over the crowd in this heartwarming early segment. Sly & the Family Stone in many ways embodied the festival’s spirit, with the multi-cultural two-tone band members and Rose Stone and Cynthia Robinson commanding attention at the front, particularly Robinson’s badass trumpet. They were also at the peak of their powers, having just released Stand! in May, and before Sly’s cocaine abuse started fueling more erratic behavior in the following years.

Day two focused on gospel, headlined by the legendary Mahalia Jackson, and The Staple Singers, with the women again flexing their power as featured performers. Imagine if Aretha Franklin, Etta James and Esther Phillips could have been there. More on that later.

Stevie Wonder’s run of classic albums might be a few years away (My Cherie Amour was about to be released in August, and 1972’s Music of My Mind was three albums down the road), but he already had the hit singles and stardom, and his virtuosic performance, flitting between instruments, including showing off some killer drumming chops, was a bold statement that Wonder was now fully grown, and you ain’t seen nuffin’ yet. Motown labelmates David Ruffin and Gladys Knight & the Pips were also on the bill on day three. Ruffin had departed the Temptations the previous year, and had just released a fantastic solo debut in May, My Whole World Ended. Unfortunately his success peaked early compared to Wonder and Marvin Gaye, as his songwriting chops didn’t quite match his performance skills. I don’t know why this was included, but out of the blue, Chris Rock pops up to dis the Temptations, saying that Ruffin didn’t dress in a suit and sing moldy oldies like the Tempts. That comment was bullshit and uncalled for. Regardless of what threads the Temptations chose to wear, they had just begun a run of no less than eight killer psychedelic soul albums, starting with February’s Cloud Nine, that would extent to 1990 (1973). The Temptations were at the top of their game and they would have slayed had they been there. Another coulda shoulda would have been Curtis Mayfield & the Impressions, both together and Mayfield solo, who would soon release his classic solo debut of psychedelic soul.

Day four fittingly paid tribute to Harlem’s multi-cultural residents of Puerto Ricans/Nuyoricans, Cubans and other Afro-Caribbeans with Afro-Cuban jazz, salsa and boogaloo, featuring Mongo Santamaría, Ray Barretto, Cal Tjader and Herbie Mann. Backing Herbie Mann was fiery jazz guitarist Sonny Sharrock, who could have had a set of his own based on the strength of his classic album, Black Woman, released recently on May 16. The legendary Max Roach, who used to play with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, also performed on day one. His most recent album as a bandleader was Members, Don’t Git Weary (1968). That’s a pretty potent does of jazz greats, but it wouldn’t have hurt to see Miles Davis just starting his electric jazz fusion phase. In A Silent Way, released on July 30, was eventually considered by many his greatest album, even over Kind Of Blue.

On day five, B.B. King was at the top of his game in a mid-career surge, as he had just started sessions for Completely Well on June 25, a career highlight of electric soul blues along with the following year’s Indianola Missisippi Seeds (1970). The headline was, as usual, a colossal performance from the great Nina Simone. Her setlist included “Four Women,” “Backlash Blues,” “Ain’t Go No, I Got Life,” and “To Be Young, Gifted And Black,” which Aretha Franklin would go on to cover as the centerpiece for her most political album in 1972. I would have loved to see a longer set with “Feeling Good” and the apocalyptic “Sinner Man.” At the very least, there needs to be a multi-volume blu-ray set with the full sets.

Not mentioned in the movie was that the headliner for day six was the Miss Harlem Pageant, and it’s just as well. A missed opportunity to cap off the series with something colossal from James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, Bill Withers or Al Green. Sadly, in 1969, no one was going to fund in a black festival on the scale of Woodstock. But for the record, here’s a possible lineup of a “Blackstock” circa 1969.

Some key soul, funk, blues, reggae and jazz fusion albums from 1969

Miles Davis – In A Silent Way (Columbia)
John McLaughlin – Extrapolation (Polydor)
Sonny Sharrock – Black Woman (Vortex)
The Meters – The Meters (Josie )
Janis Joplin – I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama! (Columbia)
Toots & the Maytals – Monkey Man (Trojan)
Jimmy Hughes – Something Special (Volt)
Sly & the Family Stone – Stand! (Epic)
Jimmy Cliff – Wonderful World, Beautiful People (Island/Trojan)
Darrell Banks – Here To Stay (Volt)
The Tony Williams Lifetime – Emergency (Polydor)
The Upsetters – Return of Django (Trojan)
The Impressions – The Young Mods’ Forgotten Story (Curtom)
Brigitte Fontaine – Comme a la Radio (Saravah)
The Heptones – Sweet Talking (Studio One)
Rico & The Rudies – Blow Your Horn (Trojan)
Larry Coryell – Coryell (Vanguard)
Otis Redding – Love Man (Atlantic/Rhino )
Muddy Waters – Fathers And Sons (MCA)
Mississippi Fred McDowell – I Do Not Play No Rock ‘n’ Roll (Capitol)
Doris Duke – I’m A Loser (Canyon)
David Axelrod – Songs Of Experience (Capitol)
Mecki Mark Men – Running In The Summer Night (Limelight)
Tyrone Davis – Can I Change Your Mind? (Brunswick)
The Temptations – Cloud Nine (Motown)
Johnny Adams – Heart & Soul (SSS International)
Marlena Shaw – The Spice Of Life (Cadet)
James Brown – Say It Loud, I’m Black And I’m Proud (King)
Muddy Waters – After The Rain (MCA)
The Isley Brothers – It’s Our Thing (T Neck)
Clarence Carter – Testifyin’ (Atlantic)
The Temptations – Puzzle People (Motown)
Don Covay & The Jefferson Lemon Blues Band – The House Of Blue Lights (Atlantic)
Roberta Flack – First Take (Atlantic)
Jackie Wilson – Do Your Thing (Brunswick)
Mavis Staples – Mavis Staples (Volt)
Frank Zappa – Hot Rats (Reprise)
Aretha Franklin – Soul ’69 (Atlantic)
Solomon Burke – Proud Pary (Atlantic)
Larry Coryell – Lady Coryell (Vanguard)
David Ruffin – My Whole World Ended (Motown)
Lorraine Ellison – Stay With Me (WB)
Clarence Carter – The Dynamic Clarence Carter (Atlantic)
Johnnie Taylor – Raw Blues (Stax)
Marvin Gaye – M.P.G. (Tamla)
Koko Taylor – Koko Taylor (Chess)
Taj Mahal – Giant Step / De Ole Folks At Home (Columbia)
Bobby Womack – My Prescription (Minit)
Elaine Brown – Seize the Time (Vault)
Colosseum – Valentyne Suite (Vertigo)
The Sweet Inspirations – Sweets For My Sweet (Atlantic)
Nina Simone – To Love Somebody (RCA)
Tasavallan Presidentti – Tasavallan Presidentti (Love)
The Art Ensemble Of Chicago – People In Sorrow (Nessa)
Colosseum – Those Who Are About to Die Salute You (Fontana)
Howard Tate – Reaction (Koch)
David Ruffin – Feelin’ Good (Motown)
Isaac Hayes – Hot Buttered Soul (Stax)
Lee Perry & The Upsetters – The Upsetter (Trojan)
Dave Barker Meets The Upsetters – Prisoner Of Love (Trojan )
The Isley Brothers – Brothers: Isley (Epic)

1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything

Just what we need, yet another music documentary for people who don’t really care about music. Loosely based on David Hepworth’s book, Never A Dull Moment: 1971 – The Year That Rock Exploded, the 8 episode documentary spends the majority of its airtime talking about politics and cultural events that had nothing to do with music. Judging by the horrific events, it was a pretty crap year, and it doesn’t seem fair to blame music for any of it, nor to expect music to make things better.

Music has always existed as a part of life since early humans made bone flutes. So why not just discuss the music as something intrinsically valuable and important in and of itself, not just as a means to an end? Yes, some social and political context is helpful, but the creators of this series clearly believe that if music isn’t perceived as being important in a socio-political context, it ain’t worth s**t. Hence, no mention of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Yes, King Crimson, Tim Buckley, Nick Drake, Funkadelic, Flower Travellin’ Band, Can, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane, MC5, Al Green, Fela Kuti, Santana, Traffic and Free, just to scratch the surface.

There’s fleeting moments where it might seem like the director cares about music, like the extended footage with Tina Turner, and surprisingly, some voiceover footage with Michael Rother about his and Klaus Dinger’s six month stint with Kraftwerk before they formed Neu! They at least touched on reggae, but it seems disingenuous to quote one of the kids in an act that was on their way to perform in Ghana who said she didn’t think there was any worthwhile music in Africa, and not mention any African music even in passing, not even Fela Kuti or King Sunny Ade. Nope, they had to reserve nearly a full hour instead for the TV reality show An American Family, which didn’t actually air until 1973. That deserves a slap alongside the head right there.

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