2 great films - 'Summer Of Soul' and 'I Am Everything'

Here in the UK we've been treated to two superb music documentaries on Channel 4 in the last few days. Both of them in their own ways exposed the racism that existed in the US in the fifties and sixties (and still does to this day to a large extent) and how black people dealt with it. Perhaps the most surprising programme was 'Summer of Soul', an excellent film of the Harlem Cultural Festival which took place in 1969 and which featured many of the biggest black artists of the era. We've all heard of Woodstock, but few people knew of this other festival in Harlem - certainly not me until very recently. The whole thing was filmed but did not get any kind of release for over 50 years. The audience was virtually 100 per cent black. Security was provided by the Black Panthers rather than the New York Police. The concerts, held over six weeks, took place against a background of civil rights protests, the Vietnam War and the Moon landings and the film made the cultural and stylistic influences of the time clear. There was support from New York Mayor John Lindsay and strong contributions by a young Jesse Jackson. Clearly there were many superb performances, but that of Nina Simone was particularly powerful. Other performers included Stevie Wonder, who was just about to enter his superstar seventies phase, the Chambers Brothers, B B King, the 5th Dimension, David Ruffin, Sly and the Family Stone, Gladys Knight and the Pips and Hugh Masakela. There was gospel from the Staple Singers (with brilliant vocals by Mavis Staples), Mahalia Jackson, Clara Walker, Voices of Harlem and the Edwin Hawkins Singers, Latin and Puerto Rican music by Mongo Santamaria and Ray Barretto and jazz from Max Roach with Abbey Lincoln and Herbie Mann. It's great that this wonderful festival was filmed and that we have at last had a chance to see it. But you have to ask why it look so long.

The second Channel 4 film was 'Little Richard - I Am Everything' which saw its first UK TV broadcast. It told the story in some detail of the rise of Little Richard from his humble beginnings in Macon, Georgia, his incredible impact on popular music with his fifties hits, his personal battle between his own sexuality and his religious beliefs, the racism he experienced and his later over the top appearances on TV shows as he fought to gain the respect his career deserved. He was truly the King of Rock and Roll - and the Queen - and was held in high regard by the UK bands that emerged in the sixties, as many of those appearing on the programme made clear. I saw him several times in his prime and he was without doubt the most exciting performer I ever saw. The show with Sam Cooke at the Tooting Granada in 1962 remains my number one music memory. I met him (and Sam) backstage and the photo below shows the autograpoh I obtained on the programme. Over the years I saw Little Richard many times and he always gave a superb performance. The hits may have been many years old but who can ever forget his 'Tutti Frutti' (the record that first showed what an impact he had), the power of 'Long Tall Sally' and 'Good Golly Miss Molly' and the amazing drumming (by Charles Connor, who contributed to the film) on 'Keep A Knockin''. When he threw away his rings on a tour of Australia and vowed never to sing rock and roll again it looked as though the 'quasar' of rock had burned himself out. But somehow he was persuaded to leave his church and tour the UK in 1962 - possibly believing that he would be singing gospel - and what a joy that was.