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Wattstax: Highlights from the Soundtrack

Various Artists
1 disc

1. Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get - The Dramatics
2. Oh La De Da - The Staple Singers
3. Lift Every Voice and Sing - Kim Weston
4. Lying on the Truth - The Rance Allen Group
5. Peace Be Still - The Emotions
6. Respect Yourself - The Staple Singers
7. Son of Shaft/Feel It - Bar-Kays
8. I'll Play the Blues for You - Albert King
9. Walking the Back Streets and Crying - Little Milton
10. Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone - Johnnie Taylor
11. Pick Up the Pieces - Carla Thomas
12. Breakdown, The - Rufus Thomas
13. Do the Funky Chicken - Rufus Thomas
14. (If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right - Luther Ingram
15. Theme from Shaft - Isaac Hayes
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Additional Info

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): 8614
Credits

Producer
Engineer
Audio Remasterer: Joe Tarantino.
Audio Remixer: Stephen Hart .
Liner Note Author: Rob Bowman.
Recording information: 08/20/1972.
Wattstax: Highlights from the Soundtrack was issued in tandem with the restored DVD in 2004. Wattstax, referred to as the African-American Woodstock, was held in 1972 at the Los Angeles Coliseum with over 100,000 in attendance to hear live performances from the then-current roster of Stax Records. This single-disc reissue differs from the original double-disc collection in that it contains full performances of the songs included in the film as opposed to the actual concert, making this a much tighter program. The highlights include the Staple Singers' "Respect Yourself," the Bar-Kays' "Son of Shaft/Feel It," Albert King's "I'll Play the Blues for You," and the previously unreleased versions of Luther Ingram's "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right" and Isaac Hayes's climactic rendition of "Theme from Shaft," which alone makes this CD worth the price. ~ Al Campbell
Critic Reviews

Entertainment Weekly (pp.67-9) - "[The disc] fiercely captures R&B in the years after Motown's heyday and before disco dominated." - Grade: A-
Down Beat (p.76) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "WATTSTAX captures the zeitgeist of the era, from social consciousness to social life."