Wattstax

Wattstax focuses on a musical event at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1972. This ‘black Woodstock’ features incendiary performances by Isaac Hayes, Albert King, Rufus and Carla Thomas, the Staple Singers and many other greats of soul, R&B, and gospel. The film also captures a heady moment in the mid-1970s, ‘black-is-beautiful’ African-American culture, when Los Angeles’ black community came together just seven years after the Watts riots to celebrate a renewed hope in its future. Staged by Stax Records, the renowned Memphis soul label, the concert drew over 100,000 predominately African-American Los Angelenos, who themselves put on an exuberant display of ’70s funk and soul culture.
Wanting to document more than the performances on stage, the film crews went through Watts to talk with people on the street, in barbershops, restaurants and churches where they also recorded gospel performances, creating an evocative tableau of a community in transition after the devastating riots. We encounter biting humour from the then little-known Richard Pryor as well as Isaac Hayes’ hot and flashy performance of ‘Theme from Shaft’. The show’s MC was none other than the Rev. Jesse Jackson. His hosting style revelled in a fine balance between get-down entertainment, raised-fist political rally and stand-up spiritual revival. At the time however, Wattstax was considered too racy, political and black to receive wide theatrical release or a television broadcast.

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