Remember The Good Old Days With 'Soul!'

Ladies and gentlemen, the mother lode has been released. I am literally tearing myself away from watching Al Green's hour-long performance on Soul!, a PBS production that ran from 1967-1973 on New York's WNET featuring some of the most prominent and best artists of the day--or ever, long enough to write this post. It is quite simply, the best collection of Soul artists, including Ashford & Simpson and Patti LaBelle but also includes Salsa artists Tito Puente and Willie Colón and Jazz artists Max Roach and Ron Carter, on video. Officially, Soul! was an "entertainment-variety-talk show [that] was not only a vehicle to promote African-American artistry, community and culture, but also a platform for political expression and the fight for social justice." The show also featured interviews with Muhammad Ali, Sidney Poitier, and others. And the hosts? Imagine Nikki Giovani, Felipe Luciano of The Last Poets, and renowned psychiatrist Dr. Alvin Poussaint interviewing Soul, Funk, and Jazz royalty. If you can't tell by now, I am trying to reign in my overwhelming excitement. Do yourself a favor and get on over to the website right now and thank us later. Mucho kudos to Michaelangelo for the knowledge.