Let’s be completely honest and frank with each other, shall we?
Yes, the 1969 Woodstock rock fest was impressive historically. Fine.
But, truth be told, the musicianship of these (mostly) white artists is fairly shabby and a bit loose and sloppy.
Think I’m trying to re-write history?
Just take a listen to this 12 disc set of not only the (finally) complete August 20,1972 Wattstax concert in Los Angele’s Memorial Coliseum before a packed house of 100,000 people. Not only is the music by the likes of The Staple Singers, Carla Thomas, Albert King, Isaac Hayes, Rufus Thomas, Eddie Floyd, The Bar-Keys played tighter and more assertively than anything at Woodstock, but so is the music from a collection of “extra” music from LA’s Summit Club from few weeks later that captures the gigs of Johnnie Taylor, Little Milton, and The Emotions among others.
Why are these black bands superior to their white counterparts?
Simple…
The white bands like The Who, Mountain, John Sebastian, Joe Cocker, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, etc played concerts once or twice a week.
The bands that played at Watts mostly made a living on the famed “Chitlin’ Circuit”, where the artists had gigs almost nightly, and 3-4 sets each night. (Which is also why Hendrix sounds so good at Woodstock, having honed his chops in various R&B bands). Black audiences were a lot tougher on bands as well, as they wanted their money’s worth, and would let the musicians know if that weren’t the case.
So, you’ve got the artists at Wattstax that have polished their talents to a point that they are tighter than Beyonce’s Super Bowl Halftime outfit. And the difference is audible.
Besides that, there was inspiration in the air, as it was the 7th Anniversary of the notorious Watts riots, which was the inspiration for having the gig in downtown LA. (not to mention some great local food joints like The Pantry and Phillipe’s).
Yes, there is some grand standing by “Reverend” Jesse Jackson, but for the most part the marathon was a day of celebration, with things opening up with “The Star Spangled Banner” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing” before the crowd got baptized by The Staple Singers and the likes of Deborah Manning and Jimmy Jones with gospel and sp iritual themes like “Somebody Bigger Than You and I “, “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” and “I’ll Take Y ou There”.
The rest of the day ranges from the fun and funky tunes like “Hot Pants”, “The Funky Chicken” and “At The Drive In” to down home dry rubbed blues including “I’ll Play The B lues For You” while soul classics like “B-A-B-Y”, “Knock On Wood” and “Reach Out And Touch (Somebody’s Hand) get the fans dancing in the aisles.
And then you get a tsunami like Isaac Hayes to close things up with the tour de force version of “Shaft” along with other Afro-Sheened classics.
The material from various dates at The Summit Club are just as good, with Rufus Thomas bringing the house down with some comedy, Johnny Taylor preacing it on “Who’s Making Love”, The Sons of Slum delivering a steaming “Pap Was A rolling Stone”, the Emotions getting smooth on “Show Me How” and Little Milton belting it out on “Open The Door To Your Heart”. Smooth voices by Mel and Tim melt the ears on “Just My Imagination”, with a few other extras including Richard Pryor doing his routine.
The 75 page hardcover book is filled with essays, liner notes, musicians and fantastic vintage photos. It’s simply amazing how well this music has stood the test of time. It’s not just a time capsule, but a plumb line for how music for a generation should sound.