The Best Of Wattstax -Various Artists (Live At Wattstax,(CD DOUBLE (LARGE CASE))

The Best Of Wattstax -Various Artists (Live At Wattstax, Los Angeles, CA / August 20, 1972 CD DIGIPAK / WALLET) To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the iconic Wattstax event that took place at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum on 20th August 1972, Stax Records presents “The Best of Wattstax“. Featuring the best performance from the festival, the release includes performance from Isaac Hayes, The Staple Singers, The Bar-Kays, Kim Weston, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, Albert King and more. Wattstax was a benefit concert organized by Stax Records in conjunction with the Watt Summer Festival to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the 1965 Watts riots in Los Angeles. Attended by more than 100,000 people and lasting 7 hours, the concert took place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on August 20, 1972, and featured a mix of Soul, Funk and Gospel. It featured performances by Stax’s biggest artists with a line-up that included Isaac Hayes, the Staple Singers, Rufus Thomas, Johnnie Taylor, the Bar-Kays and many more. Rev. Jesse Jackson was featured at the event, acting as MC for the day and opening the event with his often referenced ‘I Am Somebody’ speech. A 2-LP soundtrack of the concert’s highlights was releases several month later selling more than 500,000 copies just weeks after its release. This was followed in 1973 by the Mel Stuart directed concert film ‘Wattstax’ which features Richard Pryor as the host of the film and went on to be nominated for a Golden Globe award for Best Documentary in 1974. In 2020, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. (Note: The film at the US National Film Registry by the Library of Congress also includes an essay by Al Bell, the President/owner of Stax at the time of the concert). TRACKS CD1 1 Kim Weston – Lift Every Voice and Sing (3:35) 2 The Staple Singers – I’ll Take You There (5:05) 3 Louise McCord – Better Get A Move On (3:50) 4 Debra Manning – Precious Lord Take My Hand (4:18) 5 Eric Mercury – I Shall Not Be Moved (4:01) 6 Lee Sain – Them Hot Pants (3:45) 7 William Bell – I Forgot to Be Your Lover (2:25) 8 Eddie Floyd – Knock On Wood (3:24) 9 The Temprees – Explain It to Her Mama (2:35) 10 Frederick Knight – I’ve Been Lonely for So Long (3:30) 11 The Golden 13 – Old Time Religion (3:30) 12 The Rance Allen Group – Lying On the Truth (3:14) 13 David Porter – Ain’t That Loving You (For More Reasons Than One) (3:21) 14 The Bar-Kays – I Can’t Turn You Loose (3:34) 15 Carla Thomas – B-A-B-Y (2:41) 16 Albert King – I’ll Play the Blues For You (5:34) 17 Rufus Thomas – The Breakdown (3:53) 18 Jesse Jackson – I am, somebody (0:57) 19 The Soul Children – Hearsay (6:46) 20 Isaac Hayes – Theme From Shaft (4:16)