Various Artists - WATTSTAX (3-CD Deluxe Edition)

Calling this August 1972 concert comprised exclusively of Stax artists "Wattstock" or even the "black Woodstock" pushes the boundaries of the day-long event past its breaking point. But there is no doubt that Wattstax, held in a jittery post-riot Watts atmosphere, was an iconic cultural milestone deserving of a better recorded legacy than the two double albums that initially emerged from it, both of which were surreptitiously padded with studio tracks to enhance the roster. This three-disc, nearly four-hour-long deluxe 35th anniversary edition gets it right--or more right--by excluding the bogus material, adding a over an hour of previously unreleased music, and presenting it in an expanded package that includes a detailed essay by Stax historian Rob Bowman. The show's gospel aspect is further highlighted with plenty of Staple Singers, the amazing Rance Allen Group, and obscure blues harp player Little Sonny ripping into an instrumental version of "Wade in the Water." Comedy snippets from a young Richard Pryor and Jesse Jackson's opening speech, which appeared in the associated film, could have been excised, but nearly entire sets from Carla and Rufus Thomas, the Bar-Kays, and David Porter are worthy additions. Only the ubiquitous "Theme from Shaft" remains from Isaac Hayes's hour-long closing, but his full performance is available separately. The Emotions, Johnny Taylor, Little Milton, and a few others who didn't play the actual festival were recorded at other L.A. venues in the days around the concert, bringing a bit of a spurious element to this otherwise classy souvenir from a historically important and vibrant occasion. --Hal Horowitz Amazon.com

Shame shame shame on the producers of an incomplete document!

(Please take a few moments and read my following review as to why I gave this item so low a rating...)

There is so much to love about Wattstax, from the music, the reasons surrounding the event itself, and most of all the Stax sound - pure soul, pure R&B, pure Memphis.

Wattstax is as important an American musical event as Woodstock, and to be honest, looking at both with an unbiased eye (and ear) had a much deeper meaning to it.

Soul and R&B music from the 70's was never been fully recognized for what it was - as just as important as jazz, or blues, or even American classical. This concert, put together as a form of not only musical protest of sorts remembering the Watts riots a few years earlier, but to showcase the sound that was pulsing through the streets of the inner cities nationwide at the time and show Black unity.

When it was released as a film almost a year later, the concert was chopped and edited down from the incredible almost 10-hour affair to an hour and a half for the screen, which is understandable as it not only got the message out further but still showed the power of soul music.

At the same time of the film's release, two two-record sets titled "Wattstax: The Living Word parts 1 & 2" were released, giving the public almost four hours of the concert. A single album of the film was also put out titled "Wattstax: Highlights from the Soundtrack", further boiling it down to two sides reaching just under an hour, and it probably sold well too.

Now here comes the hard part -

As time passed, the music was occasionally re-released in subsequent forms; it got more confusing to understand why.

No fewer than 10 different releases of the Wattstax concert have been produced, with most of them "Made in America" with horribly abbreviated versions of the original songs themselves and a couple of CD imports containing more music than all of the other American versions combined (although not in sequential order), but is still a find and highly prized among collectors...

Now here it is 2007, almost thirty-five years have gone by and the owners of the Stax label have re-released the "Wattstax 3CD Deluxe Edition Remastered Box Set", containing extra tracks never before heard, all remastered, and the sound is so crisp and the music so rich it will make you cry.

HOWEVER...

Wattstax was a legendary all-day concert containing some of the best live soul music ever recorded. It was almost 10 hours long (and you must keep in mind that almost every album included Richard Pryor joking and speaking from the heart, that in my opinion, horribly dates the time and distracts from the essence of the event - sure there's a place for it, but it stops me dead in my tracks when I'm listening to it in the car, etc.).

But WHY WHY WHY are we being only given a cup of water when many of us want to not only drink from but very plainly jump into the well???

Concord Records, who acquired the rights for the entire Stax masters after purchasing Fantasy Records (the label who screwed over Creedence Clearwater Revival for all of those years) are trying to do some good by releasing this, and I understand that to release the ENTIRE CONCERT would be an expensive package for some, but for those same fans, we have wondered for many decades what it would sound like.

If you look at the track list, it is repetitive, as it has been released on other smaller editions, and this is the "Deluxe Edition?"

Isaac Hayes' hour-long closing set has actually been released separately on CD, but I'm assuming the producers of this decided only one song was good enough to satisfy anyone who didn't know that not only did he close out the concert with a 5-minute entrance even BEFORE he began singing, but sang more songs than anyone there, and all we get is a highly edited 4-minute snippet of his live version of "The Theme from Shaft"???

Well, well, well... shame on them.

Now, as for the music - if anything, Concord Records did put splice together an impressive package of sound:

The first disc includes many of the lesser known stars of Stax and that wonderful southern soul sound, from the gospel of Deborah Manning & Little Sonny to the amazing voices of Lee Sain, Louise McCord & Lee Bell.

The second disc includes many of the songs you probably have heard from the album and previous CD (import) versions you might have bought, such as The Bar-Kays and The Emotions, but now with the inclusion of David Porter's set, including the blistering "Introduction," this will blow your speakers out and stand your hair on end!

The third disc is where the meat of the disc really lies, though, from the opening track of Little Milton's "Open The Door To Your Heart", Mel and Tim's Motown tribute of sorts "Backfield In Motion", a double shot of two of the greatest bluesmen who ever played it, Johnnie Taylor and Albert King, to the double shotgun blast of both daughter Carla and father Rufus Thomas, and as you may have seen from the film, when Rufus proudly struts onto the stage in his hot pink shorts/vest/jacket/cape ensemble with white go-go boots, announces "Ain't am clean?!?" and shouts to the band if they're ready, worthy of James Brown, you know "The Breakdown, Part 1" and "Do The Funky Chicken" is coming! The Soul Children give us their best Sam and Dave and then Isaac Hayes comes on very quickly, sings for three minutes... and that's it?

The wind always goes out of my sails when this happens.

Now if you purchase this, please remember, if you were to piece together the previous 4 or 5 CD releases (both the American versions, the imports AND the Isaac Hayes live CD), you could probably form together at least almost five to six solid hours of music before you buy this alone.

However, the quality of sound presented here is top notch.

It's too bad the setup is awful.

Why give us Isaac Hayes songs previously, and then take it away?

Why give out more Albert King previously, and then omit them?

"If Loving You Is Wrong, I Don't Want to be Right", by Luther Ingram - GONE... WHY?

In conclusion:

As for THE MUSIC - I'm giving it 5 stars, regardless of the label's repetitive song track lists over many years - there's no fighting the clean sheer sound of the power behind Stax presented here (some for the first time), and you can feel it down to the soul!

As for THE PACKAGING - I'm giving the total lack of choice 2 stars - sadly, this "Special Edition" is still incomplete, and lacks ALL of the artists at the concert, but if Concord wants any more of MY money, they'd better step it up a notch and put together an ULTIMATE 9-disc version that includes EVERY SINGLE PERFORMANCE, from start to finish.

Woodstock has bootleg CDs with expanded versions of songs not heard on many of their official CDs, and a recent 4-disc set came out that includes many unheard performances is available as well.

Well, there are no bootlegs of Wattstax, just the imports. Concord Records is playing this one VERY close to the vest by "allowing" us to spend a lot of money on some music some of us already have, and leaving out some music some of us already have as well.

Maybe more will come out, who knows. Maybe for a 50-year Special Expanded Special 4-disc Special Edition?

Wattstax to me is more important than Woodstock from a personal and cultural point of view, and even though many of the Stax stars presented here never reached the commercial heights benefiting from the exposure of Woodstock to the mainstream public such as Jimi Hendrix, Sly and The Family Stone or Santana, people need to know that this concert existed (in a more totally complete form) so it can also be appreciated for future generations, not just in pieces.

For one hot day in Los Angeles in 1972, Black Power was that - a force to be reckoned with, but done peacefully through song, and it was a beautiful thing to see and hear.

There is a PBS show showing a lot of footage from the concert and an accompanying DVD for sale showing the music not given out here.

Before you buy this CD, though, rent (or buy) the movie, listen to the music, and see what you're missing.

Thanks for reading, and power to the people! September 17, 2008

BECAUSE I CAN'T GIVE 6

5 stars because I can't give 6. I already have most of this but just to get david Porter's 'I Can't See You When I Want To' is worth buying this disc. February 6, 2008

blown away...

This album is unbelievable and the epitome of a one-of-a-kind/no other like it listening experience...

I remember coming across the original WATTSAX album back in the 80's when I was a 70's soul collector in HS... and for the next several years it became staple listening via the tape copies I'd carry around visa vis my Sony Walkmans... Needless to say, the discovery of a second volume of the "mythical" concert blew me away, and I liked it just as much if not more... I loved the album not only because of all the great music... but the way it really took you back to a lost world... at a time when people were celebrating a very vibrant musical and artistic culture. Not to over romantisize... the community had been through a lot of pain, and were healing and rebuilding from the Watts riots... Rather than focusing, however, on what had been "burnt down", the concert was a celebration of what was being built up... and wow... imagine what it must have been like to be at that cocnert... - - As for the film... you know something: I never even DREAMED of being able to see it, because I assumed it was probably one of those lost things... Needless to say, when it came out almost 20 years later after I heard the album the first time, I was definitely THRILLED... (especially after people taunted me of having supposedly seen it on PBS... "Yeah really, anybody got a copy?" I'd ask...) Wishful thinking...

O.K. now... look at this: Now only is a three box set out... but tracks that never made the original album, and with the sound cleaned up. - - As Jesse Jackson points out the concert had everything... Gospel, Funk, Blues, Soul, R&B... Listening to the tracks I never heard before is definitely a thrill, though in retrospect I can tell why some were left off the original album... a lot of the performances were POWERFULLY GREAT... but some of the smaller groups sounded like some of the other groups... so the big groups had to take priority.

In conclusion - - Just as WOODSTOCK was the big "party like its the end of the world" goodbye to the 60's, WATTSTAX was also somewhat of a final goodbye too, as even that empire would crumble shortly after... Also gone is much of the culture and spirit of the era... The only catch is, I think this was actually filmed and recorded WAY BETTER than WOODSTOCK, and far from being lost in time, its a gift passed through time...

Regarding my favorite tracks... Back in the day I leaned towards RUFUS THOMAS and the DRAMATICS (omitted)... as well as the EMOTIONS unbelievably riveting performance... but I'm also majorly digging the newly added stuff... in particular Louis McCord's "Do Your Thing'ish" Better Get a Move On... as well as Lee Sain's THEM HOT PANTS.

Of course, STAX in the '60s were the epitome of classic soul... however, this record as well as the (hard to find) SON OF STAX compilation is a great reminder that the label definitely didn't fall short when it came to funk as well...

For the complete story read "Soulsville U.S.A.: The Story Of Stax Records" by Rob Bowman.

O.K. the big question: When's some more SHACK going to get unearthed? October 10, 2007

Hardly Deluxe.....missing........

How can a expanded deluxe version drop songs that were on earlier versions? The last time Wattstax was released the 2 CD set included:

Staple SIngers - Oh La De Da
Eddie Floyd - Lay Your Loving On Me
Albert King - I'll Play The Blues For You
Albert King - Angel Of Mercy
Issac Haynes - Ain't No Sunshine

Is a 4 CD set coming?

I want EVERYTHING! Don't tell me that the masters were lost between releases. And I doubt that the artists pulled their tracks as they included others. Anyone know what is going on here? September 1, 2007

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