Wattstax

19731973
RR
1h 43min

Documentary covering a Stax Records-sponsored all-day concert at the 1972 Watts Summer Festival with performances by Stax Records artists such as Isaac Hayes, Rufus Thomas, The Staples Singe... Read allDocumentary covering a Stax Records-sponsored all-day concert at the 1972 Watts Summer Festival with performances by Stax Records artists such as Isaac Hayes, Rufus Thomas, The Staples Singers, and more.Documentary covering a Stax Records-sponsored all-day concert at the 1972 Watts Summer Festival with performances by Stax Records artists such as Isaac Hayes, Rufus Thomas, The Staples Singers, and more.

7.6/10

834

Director
- Mel Stuart
Stars

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination

Documentary with a selection from a non-stop 7-hour musical event at Watts, the Los Angeles Coliseum, August 20, 1972. It's a sort of Woodstock event but with black artists, namely the groups Dramatics, Staple Singers, Rance Allen Group, Emotions, Bar Kays, Mel & Tim. —Artemis-9

national film registry watts singer performance african american 20 more

Taglines
- A soulful expression of the living word...
Genres
Certificate
- R
Parents guide
- Add content advisory

Trivia
Originally The Bar-Kays were going to enter the L.A. Coliseum riding in horse-drawn chariots. However, when the executives of Stax Records heard what the group had planned they ordered them not to do it. It turned out that the reason they didn't want the group to do it was so that they wouldn't upstage the concert's headliner, Isaac Hayes.

Alternate versions
The 2003 restoration includes the original ending; Isaac Hayes performing the songs "Theme From Shaft" and "Soulsville", which were removed from the film following the 1973 Los Angeles premiere due to the threat of a lawsuit from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) over the use of those songs in a motion picture. The replacement ending, Isaac Hayes performing "Rolling Down A Mountainside" (recorded on a Los Angeles soundstage months after the concert) has been removed and is included as extra material on the 2003 DVD release.

Connections
Edited into Richard Pryor: I Ain't Dead Yet, #*%$#@!! (2003)

Soundtracks
What You See Is What You Get
Written by Tony Hester
Performed by The Dramatics

Top review

9/10

The Black folks Woodstock

After realizing Richard Pryor was in this ,I have spent about 2 years trying to track down a copy ,as I am collecting and have most of his body of work (audio & video).This picture is very seldom seen and a true picture Of us in the early 70's.The beauty of this film is in the impact of seeing real people in the so called 'hood at that time. It was a simpler time, and we still had alot of soul and pride in being what we were.We were one with the music and able to express our individuality. The civil rights movement had just begun to show some gain .But for most of us,it was about sex ,drugs ,and funky soul music .Seeing the young radical looking Rev. Jesse Jackson was incredible and its a shame we recently lost Rufus Thomas ,Johnny Taylor ,Pop Staples .I think in retrospect there is much truth in this film ....

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