Those changes are doubly clear on the album, on which we’re able to experience complete performances of songs only heard in snippets in the movie. Heard in full, both B.B. King’s “Why I Sing the Blues” and the Chambers Brothers’ “Uptown” are even friskier and more propulsive than on studio versions; the coming funk revolution can’t be denied.
Sly and the Family Stones’ two tracks — a bustling “Sing a Simple Song” and the multivoiced glory of “Everyday People” — zero in on the way Black music was absorbing funk and rock as the decade came to a close. Neither cut is as volcanic as the band’s multisong medley at Woodstock, but the paucity of officially released Family Stone live recordings makes them valuable documents.
The soundtrack also make the point that the Harlem Cultural Festival wasn’t strictly about soul. Two of the pleasures of the album are Mongo Santamaria’s Latin-jazz strut “Watermelon Man” — originally a hit for its writer, Herbie Hancock — and jazz flutist Herbie Mann’s “Hold On, I’m Comin’.” Thank God for the latter, since finally we get to hear guitarist Sonny Sharrock’s sputtery free-jazz solo halfway through that Sam and Dave cover.
As for David Ruffin, his solo “My Girl” doesn’t come close to replicating the heavenly glide of the Temptations’ version, especially when a horn section replaces his ex-bandmates’ harmonies. Ruffin’s voice is already roughed up, hinting at the coming train wreck of his life and career. But he still whoops it up and, at one point, holds a falsetto note for 15 astonishing seconds. Even as soul was moving forward that summer, its luminous past could still take center stage from time to time.
Indeed, but the comments of the kids in the audience about black boys being killed by police show how little progress we've made in 53 years
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