In the Summer of 1969, my late wife was just outside of Woodstock during the Summer of Woodstock. It was a season, a time, a music festival I’ve heard about most of my life. There was another festival going on that Summer during the month of August in Harlem New York known as the Harlem Cultural Festival. It has since come to be known as the Summer of Soul. Over the years hours and hours of footage was taken, professionally shot, and unfortunately put back not to be seen until only recently to be put in the form of a fantastic documentary by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson. Questlove known for his leading of the Roots Band on The Tonight Show as well as being a touring artist with the same band has put together a documentary that clearly comes out of a love for music and history, a history that we unfortunately almost didn’t know about.
One of the things that
makes this documentary so special is its historical recollection of the times,
dealing with everything from race relations to music and from the political
climate to the influence of gospel and the style of dress. We see a concise history and explanation of
the times, at times, with eye opening testimony and experiences.
There is a large
segment of this documentary that deals with the influence of Gospel music and
the influence Gospel had on the movement, be it politically or musically. We
see and hear testimony from some of today’s prominent political leaders like
Jesse Jackson which seems to go against the grain of much of evangelical Christianity,
but we also see the impact of the Gospel on people who had such an impact like
the Edwin Hawkins Singers and Mavis Staples among others. Here we see a time
when the Gospel was transformed from one group to another to fit individual needs
more than to fit the necessary needs of the Gospel. We also see though the solid
foundational faith of some that had an impact on others through their music. We
see this especially in a segment that deals with the song Oh Happy Day. We even hear of how the gospel had in impact
on such greats as Sly and the Family Stone.
There is no doubt as to
the impact of this movie in a historical narrative. As I watched with my fiancé,
an Afro American we had discussions about numerous things. Her father growing
up in Harlem we wondered what he would have thought of the movie, the festival,
his recollection on the times if he were still alive. For many, this movie will
raise questions of the times and experiences, it will bring back memories and
give some explanation as to the climate we live in now and the potential
beautiful impact that the Latin and Afro American Community can have on society
if we only take the time to better understand each other’s roots and celebrate
those roots and history where we can find a place to celebrate.
There is far more story
to the Summer of Soul than I anticipated. The music that is in the documentary provides
a toe tapping, get up and dance feeling that can’t be resisted. My only
complaint of this movie is in many ways not a complaint at all. The only
unfortunate truth of this documentary is it left me wanting far more than it
gave me. I would love to see this as a series as opposed to a 2-hour movie. I
wanted more music, more acts, I just wanted more. It’s that good and that
entertaining. There wasn’t a boring moment in it and I anticipate seeing it
again.
On a scale of 1 – 10 for
being just a tad short and wanting more I am going to still give it a wonderful
and deserving 8
To Donate via Pay Pal, donate at paypal at mike@furches.org
To Donate via Cash App, donate at $MichaelFurches
You can also always donate to The Virtual Pew at 1249 North Saint Francis, Wichita Kansas 67214
Click here to follow The Virtual Pew on Twitter
Mike Furches on Faceboook.
Click to subscribe to my blog
You can also check out Mike's Musical ventures by searching for Mike Furches and Pastor Mike and the Demon Slayer Blues Band. Mary Jane's album is available online and by contacting Mike and the Pastor Mike and Demon Slayer Blues Band album is available on over 150 download formats.
There are hundreds of postings so make sure to check out the archives on The Virtual Pew and Mike Furches Reviews. You can also contact me for a free audio book link of The Keystone Kid at mike@furches.org You can visit http://www.thevirtualpew.com/.
Hopefully, you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew.
You can donate via paypal at mike@furches.org or cash app at $MichaelFurches
Now I get asked this quite often, Can we repost your blogs or articles? The short answer to that is, what an honor that you would ask, and by all means, spread the word. Here is our contact information
The Virtual Pew
1249 N. St. Francis
Wichita Kansas, 67214
Email: mike@furches.org
To follow Mike's Band, Pastor Mike and the Demon Slayer Blues Band, click the following link:
The Pastor Mike and Demon Slayer Blues Band
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5lrkdvEZGg
https://www.facebook.com/TheDemonSlayers
The Movie Guys
Donations to The Virtual Pew
The Virtual Pew Blog
Reviews With Mike
The Virtual Pew Sermons
The Virtual Pew News
No comments:
Post a Comment