2008 Pop Conference Bios/AbstractsGayle WaldGayle Wald is a professor of English at George Washington University, where she teaches African American literature, popular music and U.S. culture. She is author of
Shout, Sister, Shout!: The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe (Beacon 2007) and
Crossing the Line: Racial Passing in U.S. Literature and Culture (Duke University Press, 2000).
Panel(s):Liminal SoulSaturday, April 12, 2008, 9:00 - 10:45
Abstract:"
Vibrations Strong and Mean: ''Soul!'' TV and 1970s R&B"
In the late 1960s and early '70s, New York City's PBS affiliate, WNET/Thirteen, produced "Soul!", a performance/variety show showcasing black music, dance and literature. "Soul!" gave national television exposure to an extraordinary roster of emerging soul/r&b artists, including Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind, and Fire, the Dells, LaBelle, and Ashford and Simpson. The brainchild of Ellis Haizlip, a force behind the Black Arts Movement (he also produced the landmark, two-week "Soul at the Center" series at Lincoln Center in 1971), "Soul!" captured the imaginations of hundreds of thousands of viewers. A 1968 Harris poll found that more than 65% of black households with access to "Soul!" watched it on a regular basis.
Based on archival research and interviews, my presentation looks back at the visionary work of this short-lived television show. Guided by Haizlip, an out gay black man, "Soul!" offered viewers radical ways of imagining—of hearing, feeling, and seeing—black community. Musically speaking, "Soul!" refused the division of black arts into high and low culture: the music of the concert hall versus the music of the Apollo. "Soul!" made room for both, and used this diversity to construct the image of a "soulful" community.
In addition to offering documentation of "Soul!" and its extraordinary and underappreciated producer, my presentation raises questions about the factors that made "Soul!" possible and those that led to its demise. How can we understand the historical importance of "Soul!", especially in light of recent hand-wringing about the loss of soul in "post-soul" music and cultural politics? My paper will include seldom-seen video clips of classic "Soul!" episodes.
PANEL ABSTRACT:
This panel begins with a premise previously raised by Gayle Wald in her research on Sister Rosetta Tharpe: "forgetting takes place through a series of discrete, intentional acts." With that idea in hand, our panel proposes to explore both acts of "forgetting" and "recovery" as it applies to several examples from the world of soul music. This is a genre in which both the forgotten and remembered are weighted with the complexities of race, politics, gender and industry, as well as themes such as authenticity, pride, and desire. The three papers will look at two acts of forgetting: Wald's research on the public television program, "Soul!" from the late '60s and early '70s, and Kajikawa's dissection of the rise and disappearance of contemporary R&B star D'Angelo. Wang will be contributing an example of recovery by discussing the rise of the retro-soul movement over the last 15 years. Through this panel, we hope to collectively add onto larger discussions around the racial politics of music, fame and business.
