Review: Wattstax

 

1972 concert in the L.A. Coliseum, organised by Memphis’ Stax Records to commemorate (and raise funds for) the seventh anniversary of the Watts riots in Los Angeles (the original 1965 riots where 34 people died, not the Rodney King stuff in the 90s), and headlined by soul legend Isaac Hayes (at perhaps the pinnacle of his career and symbolically wearing gold chains!), as well as other Stax artists for a 100,000+ crowd. Interspersed between the music are interviews with members of the African-American community talking about the unique black experience in America (some of which is snoozer material, but a lot of it is fascinating). Amusingly one such member is a pre-Isaac the Bartender, Ted Lange!

 

Regarded by many as the African-American “Woodstock”, this 1973 Mel Stuart documentary with occasionally brilliant but somewhat uneven music featuring artists on the Stax label both excellent and, um...yeah not excellent. Despite a background in documentaries, I’m not sure if the Caucasian director of “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” was really the best choice here. He’s a tad unfocused, and I can’t say that Stuart’s inclusion of non-concert music footage really served any purpose (certainly not any visually cohesive one), I would’ve preferred he just kept it to outside documentary footage and on-stage concert music, and then the Richard Pryor stuff (not at the concert, but it works as a sort of Greek Chorus) in between. Including scenes of musical performances in churches and clubs, tends to take one out of the concert experience, if not quite damaging the cultural experience. However, as an historical and cultural document, it’s indispensable (show this in schools for cryin’ out loud!) and fascinating viewing, especially for buffs, historians, and music lovers, white or black. And for what could’ve been an angry, incendiary indictment of what happened at Watts, I gotta say, this event sure looked like it was loads of fun, and ultimately it’s about empowerment, and rising up from tragedy, from disillusionment, and from adversity. It’s also about the African-American community collectively doing the Funky Chicken, I guess (Hey, it’s better than the Macarena or the Nutbush).

 

We get an amusing narration by a young Richard Pryor basically just sounding off on whatever he wanted- drugs, the police, etc. The funniest is his riff on jobs for ex-cons that I sooo can’t print here, but it’s hilarious! Capped off by legendary appearance by the one and only Black Moses of Soul (That would be the late, great Isaac Hayes) who is the standout here. I also got a kick out of seeing a ‘fro-tastic Jesse Jackson), especially his stirring ‘I Am Somebody’ call-and-response. His introduction of Hayes is a truly brilliant moment too (Jackson’s a better hype man than Flavor Flav!). An appearance by the Bar Kays is also pretty damn memorable (or at least their bizarre, white afro’d saxophonist is! Man, that thing is money!), as is Rufus Thomas performing ‘Do the Funky Chicken’. Wearing the most godawful pink shorts, pink cape, and white shoes combo I’ve ever seen, I might add. Pink shorts and a pink cape on a grown-arse man, people! The audience didn’t seem to mind his attire as they joined in on the dancing before Thomas went on to show his expertise at crowd control (The Rolling Stones coulda used him during one ill-fated concert). Johnnie Taylor, meanwhile gives out indispensable advice about men named ‘Jody’ that come steal your woman when you’re outta the house! Thanks, Johnnie, I’ll look out for that no-good Jody! Hayes performs two of the three non-instrumental songs from the “Shaft” album, the socially conscious ‘Soulsville’ (which you could perhaps call Hayes’ ‘What’s Goin’ On’), and of course ‘The Theme From Shaft’ (Apparently his entire set ran about an hour and included ‘I Stand Accused’ and an 18 minute version of ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’) However, due to a rights situation involving using material from the “Shaft” soundtrack, the theatrical version of this film replaced the two “Shaft” songs with another, lip-synched performance. Try to see the restored version if you can.

 

The film documents more than just a nice little concert, the concert is genuinely about something and unlike “Woodstock” it’s a whole lot shorter and less rambling. Yeah, “Woodstock” had some brilliant music, including my all-time favourite song ‘With a Little Help From My Friends’, and yes it was about peace and love and all that and it’s an iconic concert film. But boy did it go on and on, and a lot of the interviews were just rambling, drug-addled idiocy. This film actually manages to activate your brain as it explores what it was like to be an African-American at the time in the US, but doesn’t feature too much rambling filler. Best of all? Unlike “Woodstock”, you don’t need to worry about the bad brown acid, man! (Though, remember, it’s your trip!). And unlike the ill-fated Stones concert doco “Gimme Shelter”, “Wattstax” showed a community of people as unified and united in a cause, the concert apparently went largely without incident. Such a shame then, that for many, many years this film was rarely ever shown (probably largely due to Stax going bankrupt a few years after the film’s release, thus having rights to the film be split between several parties- a legal nightmare!), and even then it was almost always on the big screen in selected theatres only. Now, it’s a little more readily available (I saw it on cable, myself). I almost feel like a movie made about the event itself, its preceding social and cultural history and its aftermath would make for fine viewing, too. Look out for this one.

 

Rating: B