Aug. 8, 1969.CreditPatrick Burns/The New York Times. Thompson opens his film not with footage of the festival but rather with the shot of someone who was at the festival watching footage of the event that he had never seen before. The music scene of the late sixties and early seventies was a zenith for these styles, and African Americans were a vital part of it all. Most people have heard of Woodstock but most have never heard of the Harlem Cultural Festival that happened that same summer of 1969. One articulate interviewee declares that the moon landing is in no way more important than the speakers and musicians celebrating black unity at Mount Morris Park. She is the author of Liner Notes for the Revolution: Black Feminist Sound Cultures, forthcoming in 2020 from Harvard University Press. The stage featured extraordinary artists from the sisterly harmonies of The Staple Singers to headlining sets by B.B. Summer of Soul contains an abundance of awe-inspiring material. The concert she attended, what some now call the Black Woodstock, came on the heels of two of Malcolm X's former aides being shotone fatally. But you have the mental capacity to read the signs of the times. Crafted from footage of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival - an event so filled with stars from soul, R&B, blues and jazz they called it the Black Woodstock - Summer of Soul is a. A vibrant cross-section of city folk brothers in dashikis (like Jesse Jackson, who spoke at one of the concerts), young sisters in smart shifts and older ones in church hats, men in fedoras and well-pressed, button-up shirts all listened with a combination of focus and ease. But it is hardly just the Black version of an event that was undoubtedly a display of incredible talent but also benefitted from widespread recognition because of its largely white audience. Observes Ludevig, there remains the irreplaceable notion that you cannot replace the live experience theres something about being in a space and experiencing it firsthand that is utterly singular and potentially restorative in the life of a community. This is different: the tension between soul and funk, civil disobedience versus Black Power, the tension of Harlem itself at the time.". Advance preparations for the event were so elaborate that a corporate sponsor was required to guarantee musicians would be paid and the event could be filmed. At one point, Roebuck "Pops" Staples, of the Staple Singers, injects a sermon into his performance: "You'd go for a job and you wouldn't get it. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures "People were unwilling to remember," said Lauro. Wattstax, the 1973 film of the August 20, 1972, Stax Records benefit concert in Los Angeles (commemorating the seventh anniversary of the Watts riots) has probably been the most accessible and well-known document of outdoor African-American stage performances from this erauntil now. Summer of Soul follows in the spirit of equally empowering black concert films like Soul to Soul (1971) (organized to celebrate 14 years of Ghanaian independence) and Wattstax (1973), a community fundraiser arranged by Stax Records and Jesse Jackson to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the Watts riots in Los Angeles. And, I am not talking about Woodstock. What is the English language plot outline for Black Woodstock (1969)? Embracing the Black Experience unapologetically, Nina Simone rallies thousands of African Americans in the audience, proudly holding nothing back. Stevie Wonder hits the mark as he looks back and asserts, The so-called powers that are or were didnt find it significant enough to keep it as a part of history. King, the avant-garde jazz activists Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach, the South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela, the groovy black pop ambassadors The 5th Dimension, the Motown up-and-comers Gladys Knight and the Pips and the youthful Stevie Wonder. In 1969, during the same summer as Woodstock, another music festival took place 100 miles away. Backed by a reform-minded Mayor John Lindsay, whod built avenues of trust in Harlem by walking its streets on more than one occasion, the festival stood as a symbol of hope and everyday placemaking. "You see the generations teetering," said Neville. Oscar, Grammy, and Peabody award-winning documentary Summer of Soul (Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) has sparked a reimagining of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, which the film explores. But perhaps this will change thanks to Summer of Soul. Perhaps mainstream gatekeepers hoped posterity would forget the Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969, even though other redemptive celebrations of Black Pride staged in Ghana, in Zaire, and in Los Angeles, were filmed and released theatrically during the 1970s. July 13, 1969. Financially, the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival was co-sponsored by the City of New York and the Maxwell House coffee company. The Harlem Cultural Festival happened a year after Martin Luther King was . Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. Thankfully, the long wait is over, and the world can now view and understand how essential and historic these concerts were in relation to the changing times. Many Latinos called East Harlem home, and Puerto Rican percussionist and bandleader Ray Barretto also stirs up powerful music and inspiring words about the shared community he was a part of. Share on Facebook Share on Twitter. Its a spirit as old school as peace and love. Some people in those snapshots have become famous in their own right. Questloves Summer of Soul documentary is revealing this event to the world. HFC kicks off the 2022 spring season with musical performances in the park starting in May, along with conversation series and film screenings. However, he was unable to sell it to any film or television outlet, although New York's WNEW-TV Metromedia Channel 5 broadcast footage on Saturday evenings at 10:30, from June-August 1969. The success of Summer of Soul has proved the tapes to be just that, with the movie grossing over $1 million dollars so far. Considering the above events (and history as a whole), it makes the Harlem Cultural Festival even more special as a safe space to have a good time. What the Harlem Cultural Festival Represented Questlove's debut as a director, the documentary Summer of Soul, revisits a musical event that encapsulated the energies of Harlem in the 1960s. "This was before DVDs, before VCRs, when you can just soak in it whenever you want," she said. Nina Simone, whose presence is so beautiful, confident, and strong, performs the razor-edged, politically charged Backlash Blues (lyrics by Langston Hughes), To Be Young, Gifted, and Black, and the David Nelson poem Are You Ready, Black People?. Singer Abbey Lincoln performing at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival in a scene from the new concert film Summer of Soul. Total attendance for the concert series was over 300,000. Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. of the5th Dimension are quite affected as they fondly reflect back on their performanceso happy to connect with the Harlem audience. In a Smithsonian magazine profile, Tuchin said its lack of coverage was because, unfortunately, no one cared about Black shows.. But now you've got an education. June 27, 1967. Over the course of six weeks in 1969, veteran TV producer Hal Tulchin filmed the Harlem Cultural Festival. The emotional energy of the film, in both archival footage and new commentaries, makes this a very powerful documentary. Lindsays belief that We can lick the problems of the ghetto, if we care, morphed into the concert posters slogan, Do you care? Lindsay was introduced as the blue-eyed soul brother, and the gospel great Mahalia Jackson who would join the newly solo vocal powerhouse Mavis Staples for a duet spoke confidently of his impending victory. Financially, the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival was co-sponsored by the City of New York and the Maxwell House coffee company. The events were all captured on film by TV producer Hal Tulchin who had wanted to sell the footage to the TV networks but none of them showed any interest and some 50 hours of footage has still not seen the light of day. In 1967, Lindsay became Vice Chair of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, established by President Johnson during the Detroit riots to investigate how best to prevent further urban unrest. Jesse Jackson came onstage to announce that she and Mavis Staples would trade leads on "Precious Lord, Take My Hand," but Mahalia gives the younger singer most of the sorrowful verses, saving her own voice for powerful shouts and moans that convey a depth of feeling beyond words. By most accounts, aside from certain festival excerpts aired early on by WNEW TV and much later the licensing of a few concert clips to record labels like Sony for archival video projects, most of the Harlem Festival footage sat unseen for decades. It also became a place for up-and-coming politicians like Robert Kennedy to be seen. The music ranged from gospel to soul, jazz, blues, to the funk of Sly and the Family Stone. Harlem Cultural Festival 1969 Setlists Jun 29 1969 Date Sunday, June 29, 1969 - Sunday, August 24, 1969 Venue Mount Morris Park, New York, NY, USA Report festival So far there are setlists of 27 gigs. Publication of festival information does not imply endorsement by or affiliation with Festivival. The footage shows seas of some 100,000 Black attendees whose dress and manner blend a Fourth of July picnic, a Sunday Best church revival, an urban rock concert and a rural civil rights rally. Director Hal Tulchin Stars The 5th Dimension Gladys Knight & The Pips Jesse Jackson Gladys Knight and the Pips was just one of the impressive musical guests that performed at the Harlem Cultural Festival in the summer . The Roots drummer and songwriter Ahmir Thompson a.k.a. The trio of Harlem Festival of Culture founders have additionally established theHarlem Festival of Culture (HFC) Foundation. Sing a Simple Song (Live at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival) Lyrics: Ladies and gentlemen / The internationally known / The dynamic / Sly and the Family Stone! Source: (Butler's Cinema Scene). Stories celebrating the rich Black culture, art and history found in San Diego and nationally. South African musician Hugh Masekela joined African American performers in the 3rd edition of the Harlem Cultural Festival's celebration of Black creativity and international solidarity. This led to a job with New Yorks Parks Department, where he pitched his idea for cultural festivals in 1967. As musician and filmmaker Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson's strategic direction makes clear, these concerts were organized to reveal and encourage a new Pan-African push for social justice. Music binds us all together. The sheer volume of talent at the time was overwhelming. 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