Summer of Soul (2021)

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Documentary features unseen footage from nyc summer concert series of 1969 with slu stone, staples singers, 5th dimension, moms mabley, bb king, glays knight etc. Hijinks ensue

[cal sharpie]

2021 was a year of three really great music docs: Get Back, The Velvet Underground and Summer of Soul. My only beef with SOS is that I could have done with more music and less commentary but that is a small nit. It killed.

[Edgy MD]

Don't forget The Sparks Brothers, man!

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Weird for a summer of 1969 doc but no mention of the Mets.



The moon landing interviews were great

[Willets Point]

It seems that John Lindsay divided his summer between Shea Stadium and the Harlem Cultural Festival.

[Edgy MD]

Where might this be streaming?

[Willets Point]

Hulu.

[Edgy MD]

Then I may have to expand my Didney bundle.

[Willets Point]

The soundtrack was released to today.

[whippoorwill]

Sounds very good

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Yes you will enjoy

[Edgy MD]

I'm giving this a 4/5 stars.



The music was great, and it's a gift to posterity by those who finally assembled this footage, but for too many of the acts, we get to see their opening number — which often is more about getting a groove going — and miss out on the rest of their sets. Fortunately, they circled back later and provided additional Stevie Wonder and Family Stone and Staples footage.



We only got about 20 seconds of Moms Mabley, but it was a pretty cool 20.



The ones at the peak of their powers here are Sly and the Family Stone, which, if I'm correctly recalling, is the only act who also played Woodstock, and Nina Simone.



Nina doesn't even get into her sweet spot, opening with a blues song, following with a Sesame Street-ish sing-song type of children's anthem that took it's title from Lorraine Hansberry's To Be Young Gifted and Black, and then reciting a poem, that's not even hers, but she delivers with more flow than a lot of rappers of today can muster. None of that was really her sweet spot, but she makes it so.

[Willets Point]

There really needs to be a 50-hour multi-part set of uncut concert footage. Gotta say the energy of The 5th Dimension performance really changed my impression of that band.

[Edgy MD]

One of the many facts I've learned in light of this story is that New York's Department of Parks and Recreation used to be the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Affairs. Who knew? I guess I the connection, in that cultural affairs often happen in parks, but it kind of feels like a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Native Hawaiian Relations.

[LWFS]

This the good shit.

[Fman99]

I enjoyed the ever loving hell out of this movie. These performances were golden, and, yes, Sly and his group were I think the high point. Stevie too.

[Willets Point]

Lost in everything else, this movie did pick up the Best Documentary award. It also received the lesser honor of being my favorite movie of 2021.

[Edgy MD]

Curious that Rock presented this award, having appeared briefly in the film.