Various Artist - When We Were Kings (1997)

1. Rumble in the Jungle - Fugees feat. A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes, John Forte 2. Drew 'Bundini' Brown [Live]
3. Ain't No Sunshine/You [Live] [Medley] - Bill Withers
4. Sweet Sixteen [Live]- B.B. King
5. African Girls Chant
6. When I Get to Africa [Live] - Muhammad Ali
7. The Payback [Live] - James Brown
8. Mobutu Chant [Live]
9. I'll Be Around [Live] - Spinners
10. Put It Where You Want It [Live] - Jazz Crusaders
11. Wait Till I Kick Foreman's Behind [Live] - Muhammad Ali
12. I Got Some Help I Don't Need [Live] - B.B. King
13. Gonna Have A Funky Good Time [Live] - James Brown
14. Mr. Tooth Decay [Live] - Muhammad Ali
15. I'm Coming Home [Live] - Spinners
16. When We Were Kings - Brian McKnight & King
17. Drew 'Bundini' Brown [Live]
18. I'm Calling (Say It Loud) - Zelma Davis
19. You Out Sucker [Live] - Muhammad Ali
20. Chant [Live]


Anonymous Review @ Amazon.com
The songs on here by BB King, the Spinners, and James Brown are some great pieces of work. They're so alive and so full of energy and truly great live pieces of work. Given all of that, the "Rumble In The Jungle" song by the Fugees and the rest is a great new addition to this wonderful collection of more classic R&B. Heck this CD is almost worth the price purely for the quotes by Ali that go on throughout the piece. Ali was a great fighter but his mastery of the English language and his wit still amaze me at times. Moreover this CD is a wonderful representation of the documentary (which I feel is a must see by the way) and I can see visions of it dancing through my head.


Contributed by thecorrector

Various Artist - Wattstax (1973)

Disc One

Salvation Symphony - Dale Warren & The Wattstax '72 Orchestra
Introduction - Rev. Jesse Jackson
Lift Every Voice And Sing - Kim Weston
Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom-Boom) - The Staple Singers
Are You Sure? - The Staple Singers
I Like The Things About Me - Staple Singers
Respect Yourself - The Staple Singers
I'll Take You There - The Staple Singers
Precious Lord, Take My Hand - Deborah Manning
Better Get A Move On - Louise McCord
Them Hot Pants - Lee Sain
Wade In The Water - Little Sonny
I Forgot To Be Your Lover - William Bell
Explain It To Her Mama - The Temprees
I've Been Lonely (For So Long) - Frederick Knight
The Newcombers - Pin The Tail On The Donkey
Knock On Wood - Eddie Floyd

Disc Two

Peace Be Still - The Emotions
Old Time Religion - The Golden 13
Lying On The Truth -The Rance Allen Group
Up Above My Head -The Rance Allen Group
Son of Shaft/Feel It - The Bar-Kays
In The Hole -The Bar-Kays
I Can't Turn You Loose - The Bar-Kays
Introduction - The David Porter Show
Ain't That Loving You (For More Reasons Than One) - David Porter
Can't See You When I Want To - David Porter
Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand) - David Porter
Niggas - Richard Pryor
Arrest/Lineup - Richard Pryor
So I Can Love You - The Emotions
Group Introduction / Show Me How - The Emotions

Disc Three

Open The Door To Your Heart - Little Milton
Backfield In Motion - Mel & Tim
Steal Away - Jonnie Taylor
Killing Floor - Albert King
Pick Up The Pieces - Carla Thomas
I Like What You're Doing (To Me) - Carla Thomas
B-A-B-Y - Carla Thomas
Gee Whiz (Look At His Eyes) - Carla Thomas
I Have A God Who Loves - Carla Thomas
The Breakdown - Rufus Thomas
Do The Funky Chicken - Rufus Thomas
Do The Funky Penguin - Rufus Thomas
I Don't Know What This World Is Coming To - The Soul Children
Hearsay - The Soul Children
Theme From Shaft - Isaac Hayes


AllaboutJazz.com
In the summer of 1972, Stax Records had an idea that was larger than life. Stax's co-owner, Al Bell, had wanted to expand the soul label's West Coast presence and develop its Stax Films arm. The ideal way to do both was to stage the biggest soul concert in history -- termed by one former staff member “the black Woodstock" -- right in the center of South Central Los Angeles, a vast portion of which had been destroyed by fire in the Watts Riots. The concert, called Wattstax, proved a crowning moment for Stax as 112,000 people united at the Los Angeles Coliseum in a spirit of joy, pride and celebration. The resultant movie was a blockbuster and plays to this date in many music film festivals. And now the original two-LP soundtrack has been expanded to three CDs, including material from the original Wattstax album (which sold seven million copies in the SoundScan era alone) as well as from its sequel, Wattstax: The Living Word, along with samplings from Wattstax-related individual artist albums released in 1972-73.

On August 28, Stax Records -- reactivated by new owner Concord Music Group -- will release the first domestic reissue of the complete Wattstax soundtrack, housed in a collectible Digipack featuring rare photographs and reproductions of vintage Wattstax-era posters. The package also contains a multi-page booklet on the story of Wattstax by noted soul music historian Rob Bowman. List price is $24.98. Digitally remastered from the original tapes, the package is one of the highlights of Stax's 50th anniversary celebration, which has also featured live concerts, a film to be premiered on PBS, a film festival and an array of reissues and DVDs.

The expanded Wattstax volume features many Stax artists whose careers were surging in the early '70s: namely Isaac Hayes, The Staple Singers, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, Johnnie Taylor, Eddie Floyd, William Bell, The Bar-Kays, The Emotions, Albert King, Little Milton, The Rance Allen Group, David Porter, The Soul Children, Mel & Tim, Fredrick Knight, Deborah Manning, Little Sonny and Richard Pryor. The set includes such hits as "Respect Yourself," “I'll Take You There," “Gee Whiz," “Theme from Shaft," “Son of Shaft," "Do The Funky Chicken," “Backfield in Motion," “Knock On Wood," “Steal Away" and more -- 47 songs in all on three CDs.

In addition to music from the concert, Stax filmed and recorded its artists all around town in clubs, churches and even in the studio. The expanded Wattstax anthology includes the best of the live festival from Wattstax and Wattstax: The Living Word plus a slew of previously unreleased festival performances, selected tracks from the club and church recordings staged during the week of the festival, and selected bits by comedian Richard Pryor that were recorded at the Summit Club in Los Angeles. Pryor's contributions were originally used in the Wattstax film to connect the music performances with man-on-the- street commentary on issues that were then pertinent to black America. Included also is an introduction by the Rev. Jesse Jackson - himself a Stax spoken-word recording artist at the time.

Wattstax was hoped to be the first step in a series of urban festivals and movies to be produced by Stax, but sequels were never to materialize. The festival hit the zeitgeist of black America at that point in time. And 35 hot summers after the festival, the music sounds as fresh as ever.

Putney Swope (1969)

"Putney Swope" (1969) is a satirical comedy written and directed by Robert Downey Sr. and stars Arnold Johnson as the title character. However, even though Johnson played the character, Downey Sr. did the voiceover for Putney. Those familiar with Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of a Black man in "Tropic Thunder" can draw context between Downey Sr.'s voiceover as Putney. 

The movie was a progressive work of art ahead of its time. There are several themes within the film, but the story revolves around a Black executive who was voted as chair of the board after the unexpected death of the previous chairperson. As soon as Putney took over, he replaced all the white employees with black employees and renamed the company "Truth and Soul, Inc." Throughout the film, Putney takes on clients presenting his eccentric and often outlandish advertising ideas that draw ire from people inside and outside of the company. The film is an excellent blend of political and revolutionary ideologies sweeping American society's landscape in the late 60s.

Director: Robert Downey Sr

Writer: Robert Downey Sr

Starring Arnold Johnson, Laura Greene, Buddy Butler, Antonio Fargas, Vincent Hamill, Lawrence Wolf, Allan Arbus

Note: The film's cast is significant; many have minor speaking parts.

Storyline

When its chairperson dies, an advertising firm's executive board must elect someone to fill the position. Each member, unable to vote for himself, casts a secret ballot for Putney Swope (Arnold Johnson), the firm's only black executive, assuming he wouldn't receive any votes from the other members. But once in power, Swope makes radical changes to the firm, like keeping only one white employee and refusing to advertise harmful products under the firm's new moniker, "Truth and Soul, Inc."

Eyes On The Prize (an epic documentary series)

Starring:

• The Black Community
• Inequality
• Discrimination
• Courage
• Hatred
• Injustice
• Human Struggle
• The Fortitude To Overcome It

Here we go with a Blaxploitation Pride exclusive. The lengths we go through to provide lost segments of an extinct cultural art form that is 70's film and music may go underappreciated by the majority yet revered by a select few diehard "Blaxploinatives" (you know who you be!).

As we surpassed 100 Films in the Blax-Movie department at the close of this historic year, it's only fitting we honor the victorious campaign from the next Commander In Chief Barack Obama by giving our loyalists the most comprehensive documentary on The Civil Rights Movement..... Eyes On The Prize.

'Eyes' executive producer and founder of reknowned production company Blackside Inc. Henry Hampton covered a human struggle on film his company would soon face after his untimely death in 1998.

In this 14-hour epic series, there was footage used from over 80 sources and 95 photography archives and use in upwards of 100 songs including the AOL-owned "Happy Birthday" which was written in 1893 (AOL was founded in 1983).

Quick story: Birch Tree Group Limited was hired by publisher The Summy Company to secure the copyright to "The Birthday Song". The song was a variation of "Good Morning To All" written by Patti and Mildred Hill who sang this jingle to kindergartners in the morning.

In 1990, the rights were sold to Time-Warner Corporation once they bought The Summy Company for $15 million. Eyes On The Prize debuted in 1988 to the highest critical acclaim garnering every award under the sun. In one of the episodes, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was slightly dejected about the struggle when someone comes in with a cake singing "that song".

The word is AOL charges $10,000 for any performance of "Happy Birthday", an example being that included in "Eyes On The Prize". Mr. Henry Hampton died on November 22, 1998 of myelodysplasia. 27 days prior, both houses of Congress passed what is referred to as "The Mickey Mouse Protection Act" (ain't that some shit?) which extended copyright terms to 'corporate authorships' for an additional 20 years up to 120 years after the date of publication.

Corporate authorship copywritten works are locked and loaded throughout Eyes On The Prize, to the tune of $951,000 assessed for research costs and clearance fees. After Hampton's passing and the "new" Mickey Mouse act, the copyright holders of the most meaningful footage in that documentary saw to it those archives got buried for 11 years.

After The Ford Foundation kicked out some greenbacks to cover a large portion of the clearance fees, the project is still not only hard to obtain, but it in some respects is considered digital contraband in the file-sharing world.

You know what though? We don't give a damn (except only for a domestic wide re-release in the future from Blackside Inc). It's our duty here at Blaxploitation Pride to play our part in that struggle and this piece here is the award-winning subject taking place center stage.

Note: I attempted to capture some poignant photos to preview for the post but ended up snapping close to 60 photos and that was just THE FIRST EPISODE.

Get in to this. One million dollars worth of copyrights but priceless in the freezing of such a flammable time of social bravery in the fight for justice and equal opportunity such as someday running for President and possibly winning that race. (We ain't playin' up in here!!)