Focused on the 1972 Stax music festival as well as the African-American community of Watts in Los Angeles and filmed by Mel Stuart, Wattstax was released into theaters in 1973. The following year of 1974 it was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Documentary Film.
The concert, attended by over 100,000 black Americans, was held at the Los Angeles Coliseum on August 20, 1972 and organized by Memphis's Stax Records to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the Watts riots and black power, pride, culture, tradition and heritage struggle of African-Americans. W
attstax was seen by some as "the Afro-American answer to Woodstock". In order to enable as many members of the black community in L.A. as possible, tickets were sold for only $1.00 each. The Reverend Jesse Jackson gave the invocation, which included his "I Am - Somebody" poem, which was recited in a
call and response with the assembled stadium crowd. Interspersed between songs are interviews with Richard Pryor, Ted Lange and others who discuss the black experience in America. Synopsis of Part 1: The film begins with an introduction by Richard Pryor. This is followed by shots of urban life on
the streets of Watts, accompanied by the song "What You See Is What You Get" by The Dramatics. Mel Stuart wasn't terribly happy about the full concert footage and had the Pryor interludes between certain songs and live shots of urban life in the city. Stuart felt he wanted someone to narrate between
the scenes to create a transition in a comedic but meaningful way. Scenes of the concert being set up while the song "Oh La De Da" by the Staple Singers play. The songs in the film, in order of appearance, are: "What You See Is What You Get", performed by The Dramatics "Oh La De Da", performed b
y the Staple Singers "We the People", performed by the Staple Singers "Respect Yourself", performed by the Staple Singers "Star-Spangled Banner", performed by Kim Weston "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing", performed by Kim Weston "Someone Greater Than I", performed by Jimmy Jones "Lying on the Truth"
, performed by the Rance Allen Group "Peace Be Still", performed by The Emotions "Old-Time Religion", performed by William Bell, Louise McCord, Debra Manning, Eric Mercury, Freddy Robinson, Lee Sain, Ernie Hines, Little Sonny, the Newcomers, Eddie Floyd, the Temprees, Frederick Knight "Son of Sha
ft/Feel It", performed by The Bar-Kays "I'll Play The Blues For You", performed by Albert King "Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone", performed by Johnnie Taylor "Walking the Backstreet and Crying", performed by Little Milton "I May Not Be What You Want", performed by Mel and Tim "Picking Up the Piec
es", performed by Carla Thomas "The Breakdown", performed by Rufus Thomas "If Lovin' You Is Wrong, I Don't Want to be Right", performed by Luther Ingram "Theme from Shaft", performed by Isaac Hayes "Soulsville", performed by Isaac Hayes Other songs in the stadium that day on the West Coast: "
Knock on Wood", performed by Eddie Floyd "Lay Your Loving On Me", performed by Eddie Floyd "I Can't Turn You Loose", performed by The Bar-Kays "Killing Floor", performed by Albert King "Angel of Mercy", performed by Albert King "Gee Whiz", performed by Carla Thomas "I Have A God Who Loves", pe
rformed by Carla Thomas "I Don't Know What This World Is Coming To", performed by The Soul Children "Hearsay", performed by The Soul Children "Ain't No Sunshine", performed by Isaac Hayes Related words: burning, watts riots, community rhythms Black Militants Urban Working Class Insult Housing P
rojects Inner City Ghettoes Poor black Families African-Americans Black Americans Africans Poverty Los Angeles, California Racism Class Culture Al Sharpton 2pac Shakur Tupac Shakur Afeni Shakur Assata Shakur Amiri Baraka nationalism socialism communism democracy Public Enemy Huey Newton Kwame Ture S
tokley Carmichael Spoken Word dub poetry justice segregation Jim Crow Maya Angelou slavery slaves Nina Simone afros politics political issues Malcolm X Militants activists activism South-Central L.A. Rodney King, afros, crips, bloods, gangs, Martin Luther King I Have A Dream, bell bottoms, bellbotto
ms, platform shoes, afros, liberations, liberals, themes, anthems, freedom, Jokes, comedy, films, movies, dramas, 70's, 70s, 1970's, 1970s, Richard Pryor Related artists: Floaters, O'Jays, Stylistics, Harold Melvin, Isley Brothers Al Green, Chi-lites, Dells, Spinners, Delfonics, Blue Magic, Leon H
uff, Huff & Gamble, Hall & Oates, Parliament, Funkadelics, Ben E. King, Ben King, Curtis Mayfield, Aretha Franklin, Rufus Thomas, James Carr, Pointer Sisters, Sam Cooke, Mavis Staples

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