In 1969, during the same summer as Woodstock, a different music festival took place 100 miles away. More than 300,000 people attended the summer concert series known as the Harlem Cultural Festival. It was filmed, but after that summer, the footage sat in a basement for 50 years. It has never been seen. Until now.
In his debut documentary, using footage that was gathering dust in a basement for over 50 years, Ahmir-Khalib Thompson (aka Questlove) captures a remarkable weekend of music and politics at the Harlem Cultural Festival in July of 1969. Since it was a black concert no white-owned media outlet wanted to distribute it and thus it was ignored. Furthermore, its significance was overshadowed by Woodstock and the historical Moon Landing that occurred on the same weekend that summer.
Right off the bat, a 19-year-old Stevie Wonder gets the party going singing some hits while playing his keyboard and even a solid drum solo. Editor Joshua L. Pearson splices the drum’s tempo to a montage of images showing news clips reporting familiar stories about inequality, unarmed black men being shot by police, a useless war, and other unresolved social maladies. Taking a breath, the focus shifts back to the outstanding performers. Next up are the Chambers Brothers with a brief jam before BB King lays down an upbeat song while wearing a periwinkle blue suit.
In a charming twist of fate, The 5th Dimension explains how they met the producers of “Hair” after the lead singer’s wallet was found by one of the latter in a cab. Fifty years later, the singers are thrilled to watch their old footage for the first time and throughout Thompson continues to keep the camera rolling on various subjects that attended while they watch the recovered footage.
I was on my feet dancing along to “Oh Happy Day” by The Edwin Hawkins Singers which debuted on the hot Harlem afternoon. Backed by a sea of choir singers in bright green suits and robes, Hawkins’ arrangement soars onscreen. The song is a classic and has lived on through various soundtracks. Sadly afterward, the Band was persecuted by their strict Pentecostal Church for engaging with an unorthodox platform and audience.
I could go on about every performance but to name some others: The Staple Singers, Gladys Knight and the Pips, David Ruffin (who recently left The Temptations), Sly and the Family Stone (dressed in Psychedelic purple glasses, matching outfit, and a large gold chain), Hugh Masakela, and finally, her highness, Nina Simone. Simone closes with a commanding act including a sensational call to revolution with “Are You Ready?” If I had a time machine, I’d pick this show over Woodstock.
Hailing from Memphis, Ben Branch was a saxophonist and activist who happened to be the last person MLK spoke to before the leader was gunned down at the Lorraine Motel. On the stage, Branch joins the Rev. Jesse Jackson along with a full band and a mournful organ while Rev Jackson details the legacy of MLK.
Thankfully, Mavis Staples, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder appear onscreen to reflect on the event and their experiences. Wonder could’ve easily cruised in the commercial-friendly Motown Sound but evolved and went on to make genre-defying albums like “Innervisions” and “Songs in the Key of Life.”
Leaving no stone unturned, a reporter describes how the Black Panthers assisted with security while the liberal Republican Mayor Lindsay was welcomed on stage. It was interesting to learn a white republican was most favored in the black community at the time. It’s also impressive how cleanly the 16mm concert footage is restored with nearly flawless sound.
Currently, in 2021, music venues and theaters are some of the places most hard hit by the global pandemic. With live shows having ceased, “Summer of Soul” is a minor escape to that feeling of sharing art, ideas, and intimate space with one another. Plenty of attendees and archival interviews explain the impact of seeing far-out dressed musicians inspired them to change their conservative clothes and let their freak flag fly.
In one of the most important scenes, the reaction to the Moon Landing shows a polarized Country. While white Americans are thrilled over the lunar adventure, local Harlem residents proclaim it’s a waste of money when people are struggling. While I appreciate certain aspects of Space Travel, it’s similar today, witnessing gross mismanagement of priorities. For a debut, director Ahmir-Khalib Thompson marvelously captures people processing years of racial discrimination through art, and I can’t help but stand and applaud.
“Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 28th
