Product Overview
Wattstax: The Complete Concert -Various Artists (Live At Wattstax, Los Angeles, CA / August 20, 1972 6CD Boxset CD 6 DISC SET) To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the iconic WATTSTAX event that took place at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum in 1972, Stax Records presents “Wattstax: The Complete Concert”. Featuring the full L.A. Memorial Coliseum show with speeches and other talk from the stage. The set also features a 68-page, full-color book with introduction by Wattstax creator Al Bell, plus new essays by Rob Bowman and A. Scott Galloway. Featured artists include Isaac Haves, Eddie Floyd, The Staple Singers 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 Dale Warren & The Wattstax ’72 Orchestra – Salvation Symphony 2 Kim Weston – The Star Spangled Banner- 3 Tommy Jacquette & Jesse Jackson – Opening Announcements 4 Kim Weston – Lift Every Voice and Sing 5 Melvin Van Peebles – We’re here to consecrate, not desecrate 6 The Staple Singers – Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom-Boom) 7 The Staple Singers – Are You Sure 8 The Staple Singers – I Like the Things About You 9 The Staple Singers – Respect Yourself 10 The Staple Singers – I’ll Take You There CD2 1 Tommy Jacquette & Richard Roundtree – Wattstax Day Proclamation 2 Jimmy Jones – Somebody Bigger Than You and I 3 Louise McCord – Better Get A Move On 4 Debra Manning – Precious Lord Take My Hand 5 Eric Mercury – I Shall Not Be Moved- 6 Freddie Robinson – At the Drive In- 7 Lee Sain – Them Hot Pants 8 Ernie Hines – What Would I Do- 9 Little Sonny – Wade In the Water 10 William Bell – I Forgot to Be Your Lover 11 The Newcomers – Pin the Tail On the Donkey 12 Eddie Floyd – Knock On Wood 13 The Temprees – Explain It to Her Mama 14 Frederick Knight – I’ve Been Lonely for So Long 15 The Golden 13 – Old Time Religion 16 William Bell – Al Bell Award Presentation 17 The Rance Allen Group – Lying On the Truth 18 The Rance Allen Group – Up Above My Head CD3 1 William Bell – David Porter Introduction 2 The David Porter Show – Introduction 3 David Porter – Ain’t That Loving You (For More Reasons Than One) 4 David Porter – I Can’t See When I Want To 5 David Porter – Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand) 6 William Bell – The Bar-Kays Introduction 7 The Bar-Kays – Son of Shaft/Feel It 8 The Bar-Kays – In the Hole 9 The Bar-Kays – I Can’t Turn You Loose 10 William Bell – Tommy Tate Introduction 11 Tommy Tate – I Remember- 12 William Bell – Please move back to the stands 13 Tommy Tate – Help Me Love- 14 Tommy Tate – School of Life- CD4 1 William Bell & John Kasandra – Carla Thomas Introduction 2 Carla Thomas – Pick Up the Pieces 3 Carla Thomas – I Like What You’re Doing (To Me) 4 Carla Thomas – B-A-B-Y 5 Carla Thomas – Gee Whiz 6 Carla Thomas – I Have A God Who Loves 7 John KaSandra – Albert King Introduction 8 Albert King – Match Box Blues 9 Albert King – Got to Be Some Changes Made 10 Albert King – I’ll Play the Blues For You 11 Albert King – Killing Floor 12 Albert King – Angel of Mercy 13 John KaSandra – Rufus Thomas Introduction 14 John KaSandra & Rufus Thomas – Rufus Thomas Entrance 15 Rufus Thomas – The Breakdown 16 John KaSandra & Rufus Thomas – Kindly go back to your seats CD5 1 Rufus Thomas – Do the Funky Chicken 2 Rufus Thomas – Do the Funky Penguin 3 Jesse Jackson – I am, somebody 4 The Soul Children – I Don’t Know What This World Is Coming To 5 The Soul Children – Hearsay 6 John KaSandra, Fred Williamson & Jesse Jackson – Let us stand and raise our fists together 7 Billy Eckstine – If I Can Help Somebody- 8 Billy Eckstine – There is a curfew here CD6 1 Jesse Jackson – Isaac Hayes Introduction 2 Isaac Hayes – Theme From Shaft (Version 1)- 3 Isaac Hayes – Theme From Shaft (Version 2) 4 Isaac Hayes – Soulsville 5 Isaac Hayes – Never Can Say Goodbye 6 Isaac Hayes – Part-Time Love 7 Isaac Hayes – Your Love Is So Doggone Good 8 Isaac Hayes – Ain’t No Sunshine/Lonely Avenue 9 Isaac Hayes – I Stand Accused 10 Jesse Jackson – Let everybody stand and join hands 11 Jimmy Jones – If I Had A Hammer
