Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) [DVD]

This is not a music video. Though the music is featured throughout the presentation, it's the stories of those who attended and performed that is the true delight. This was a major event that was ignored by the news media and historians who tell you what you should want to know. This was held over several weekends and never had a major violence event. Maybe that's why you were never told about it. Hearing about the experiences of the attendees and performers brings me back to another, dare I say better, time. When you see how many video cameras were capturing it you'll wonder why this was never celebrated before. Thank you Questlove for digging this out of obscurity and sharing it with us.

This is an essential document of a cultural festival that took place in Central Park over the course of several weekends in 1969. My only complaint is that more footage has not been edited and released. Meanwhile, if you have any interest at all in 1960s popular music, this is a must-see

This isn't a mere concert video. It's a historical documentation of an actual, singular turning point in Black History. A 1969 snapshot. Among other things, it captures the transition from Gospel culture to Soul. It captures how we went from considering ourselves Negroes to using the word black. I'm old enough to remember and tho I grew up on the West Coast, this moment in Harlem resonated nationwide, shaping our emerging culture, accomplishments and progress that were coming in the 70s. One further note: I'm rather skeptical of this generation when it comes to documenting history. In this case, Questlove hits a home run! Knocks the ball over the fence, over the bleachers, soaring over the stadium -- flying past the sky and into the heavens! SUPER SOUL!

I went to the theater to see this film 5 times when it was released.I am so thankful it is in my movie library, because this is Black excellence baby!Mr. Love and his posse went digging in the vaults, and put together a masterpiece event documented by the ancestors from a bygone era.I am so grateful that I grew up when “Black is Beautiful” permeated our souls, and so many souls around the globe!

I was born in '64 on a horse farm in a small town in southwest Michigan. We had a roller skating rink just up the road. On Saturday mornings we'd get up & watch The Three Stooges, Bugs Bunny, The Monkees, American Bandstand & Soul Train. Then we'd go skating. The man who bought the rink had come up from Detroit with a massive collection of colored vinyl 45s, blues, greens, reds, yellows. The colors were different genres of music. Of course coming out of Detroit he had tons of Motown & his friends down there would send him new records as they came out. I didn't know this concert even occurred until quite recently & catching live shows has been my main hobby for years. I put this DVD in & it was worth the price within the first 3 minutes when they opened the show with LITTLE STEVIE WONDER! We LOVED him when we were kids. Whatever he dropped was the bomb!!! Great film & historical document!

I'm so glad this was resurrected from the dust-bin of history. Anyone who's a citizen or otherwise interested in the USA should watch this because this is us as we should be. Mind you, this is a documentary, and when it peaks at the gospel performances, you may feel that the feet are dragging later on, but if anything we should be thankful for everything that was captured.

I saw this on Hulu in July and I kept a close watch to see when it would be released on DVD or Blu Ray. I got my wish in February.I like concert documentaries and this one was excellent. Everything from the interviews with concert goers, performers, the hair, the outfits was on point. It made me wish I was there in the summer of 1969. There were several of these concerts in Harlem that summer and I wish we could see them all. It was beautiful. I will forever love Amir "Questlove" Thompson for reviving this film so the world could see it.We see performances from The Chambers Brothers, Nina Simone, 19 year old Stevie Wonder, David Ruffin, Mahalia Jackson, The Staple Singers, The Fifth Dimension, Ray Baretto and Mongo Santamaria, Max Roach, The Edwin Hawkins Singers, B.B king, Gladys Knight and the Pips and Sly And The Family Stone. The film has been nominated for and has won numerous awards this award season. It's a great watch. You won't be disappointed.

As a white man, having grown up in the 60s, I am ashamed to see that this concert series was so overlooked. The documentary, which won an Oscar (good job, Questlove!), is an amazing film in so many ways: the concert footage alone is worth the time, but the politics and interviews are a great addition. I had rented this on Netflix but had to buy it as I loved it so much.

There was no mention of this event in the UK at the time (I was in my late teens); it was seemingly lost in the noise of the Apollo 11 landing and Woodstock. There appears to have been little promotion or interest outside New York either. It's a shame, as many of the artists involved were also household names on this side of the pond.The performances are, in the great majority of cases, very good. Stand-outs are Stevie Wonder and Sly Stone. I could have done without some of the voice-overs during them.I understand that there is a lot more material available. Please!The restoration shows signs of its source; videotape (NTSC?). The images are just slightly blurred, but the audio is excellent. There must be scope for upscaling the video to 720p or even 1080p.Recommended to music fans of all ages.

En parrallele des evenements a harlem et dans le pays et des assassinats des leaders charismatiques,il yavait un festival de soul music qui s'est produit en meme temps que celui de woodstock qui a ete mis au secret pendant 50 ans,j'imagine que "sly & the family stone" qui se sont aussi produit a woodstock ont étésau defi de se produire aussi a "summer of soul".Le concert se deroulait pendant que l'homme marchait sur la lune et on peut sourire en voyant lesspectateurs se ficher eperdument de l'evenement, televisé dans le monde entier et faire un pied de nezaux presentateurs de télés venus les interviewer...music and dance first !!

This is an excellent dvd.

Brilliant video. Wish I had heard about the concerts years ago.

Not bad!