The Black Woodstock

this comes a little sooner than i had planned but thanks to my man Chris (Throwback Music!) i recently revisited the Music from WattStax: The Live Soundtrack!  And let me tell you this is an amazing collection of one of the most underrated Soul labels of all time.....i mean when you have the likes of the late Otis Redding, Black Moses bka Isaac Hayes, Booker T. & the MG's, Wilson Pickett, Carla Thomas aka the Queen of Memphis Soul, the often overlooked David Porter, Jean Knight, Kim Weston, The Staples Singers and even the late Daddy Rich aka Richard Pryor recorded the classic "That Nigger's Crazy" on the Stax imprint (during it's closing period and later re-issued on Warner Bros.) but with a lineup like that it's hard not to compare them with some of the other more well known soul labels......now that i got that out back to Wattstax....here is a lil something i got from over at Pitchforkmedia.com:

In the early 70s, Stax Records boasted a roster that comprised a heaping portion of the important funk, soul, and R&B artists of the pre-disco era. And so, with all that talent under a single roof, they held a huge concert in the summer of 1972 right in the center of the then riot-torn Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, an event that history often fondly remembers as "the black Woodstock." 

Isaac Hayes, the Staple Singers, Carla Thomas, the Bar-Kays, Rufus Thomas, and oh-so-many others threw down on the stage of the Los Angeles Coliseum to a crowd numbering in the six digits. The concert became a film, and the film became a soundtrack, both entitled Wattstax. Now Wattstax is back, flipping the original two LPs into a jam-packed 3CD set featuring 47 tracks culled from the concert itself and select performances that took place in the week running up to the event. 

A pair of tracks by late comedian Richard Pryor, recorded at L.A.'s Summit Club and used as connective thematic elements in the film, are also included on the soundtrack, as is an introduction by then-Stax signee the Reverend Jesse Jackson. The new set-- complete with rare photographs and new liner notes by soul historian Rob Bowman-- will be released August 28 on (you guessed it!) Stax Records

Now this was re-released last summer and if you missed out i suggest you try here and grab yourself a physical copy (and please support the artist, they still receive residuals ya know) for your own achrives......i'll bless you all wit it here as i think it should be re-lived and enjoyed...it goes perfect wit a Saturday afternoon get together that last into the night.......Peace...and don't forget to leave a comment..or two

Links:  

Disc 1

Disc 2

Disc 3