This entertainment-variety-talk show 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. It showcased classic live musical performances from funk, soul, jazz, and world musicians, and had in-depth, extraordinary interviews with political, sports, literary figures and more. It was the first program on WNET to be recorded with the then-new technology of videotape, and most of the shows were recorded in real-time—not live, but unedited. Soul ran from 1968 to 1973.

A few episodes are online:

http://www.thirteen.org/s...llepisodes

List of all episodes:

http://www.thirteen.org/s...1968-1973/

I saw some episodes.

I think I saw Donny Hathaway's (and he was kicking straight ass on the piano during "The Ghetto", took time to put on his cap too lol). Then I saw Labelle's (I think they did a few performances on "Soul" around '72). New Birth had an episode too. And that clip of Teddy and 'em doing "If You Don't Know Me By Now" where Teddy was trying to be Ron O'Neal (that didn't last very long ) was from the show.

It would be cool if this show was on DVD, but variety programs & music shows have a lot of licensing issues that are expensive and there isn't a guaranteed sales base. There was another music show around the same time period called Black Omnibus that James Earl Jones was the host of.

MickyDolenz said:

It would be cool if this show was on DVD, but variety programs & music shows have a lot of licensing issues that are expensive and there isn't a guaranteed sales base. There was another music show around the same time period called Black Omnibus that James Earl Jones was the host of.

Interesting.

Timmy84 said:

MickyDolenz said:

It would be cool if this show was on DVD, but variety programs & music shows have a lot of licensing issues that are expensive and there isn't a guaranteed sales base. There was another music show around the same time period called Black Omnibus that James Earl Jones was the host of.

Interesting.

Here's a couple of videos with snippets from the show.

This is the only thing I'm familiar with the show...

Great stuff! And I concur, this is in desperate need of a DVD treatment.

Other similar shows around this time before Soul Train was a series called "Night Train" and another called "The Beat".

[Edited 10/30/10 13:56pm]

As much as I'll defend R&B music,,,,I don't blame Jimi for being disgusted with the acts he backed up in his early career(minus the Isley Bros).

excellent. thanks.

These Mandrill clips are not on the SOUL! website, but are from the show.

Harlepolis said:

As much as I'll defend R&B music,,,,I don't blame Jimi for being disgusted with the acts he backed up in his early career(minus the Isley Bros).

That's because Jimi was aiming for something higher and the groups and acts who he backed couldn't even see that.

[Edited 10/30/10 15:09pm]

What a wonderful thread!!!

Friggin' A+, Thanks Mickey D

this is not news. these clips have ben up seen last year. this show is not going to make it on dvd because all the episodes is available on bootleg vhs and dvd. soul and black omnibus were clasic shows that used to come on every sunday at 9pm on wnet channel thirteen here in new york. i bought every single tape of soul that was sold in the flea market.

jackson35 said:

this is not news. these clips have ben up seen last year. this show is not going to make it on dvd because all the episodes is available on bootleg vhs and dvd. soul and black omnibus were clasic shows that used to come on every sunday at 9pm on wnet channel thirteen here in new york. i bought every single tape of soul that was sold in the flea market.

That's not why they haven't been released. A lot of movies are on bootleg before they are released to theaters. That doesn't stop the studios from putting them out or releasing them on DVD later. Soul Train episodes have been on bootleg, but Time Life has recently released a Soul Train box set. They don't sell bootlegs everywhere, and most people don't buy them anyway, because the quality isn't any good. Variety shows has music that is copyrighted and other legal matters that take a long time and is an expensive process, as well as fixing up the picture & sound which is also costly. Most soul and R&B shows doesn't have a big enough audience like other programs like the Ed Sullivan Show, which is on DVD. How many official DVD's or videotapes of old Soul/R&B/Funk acts are out there? Very few. The Beat has been on official DVD, but I don't know if it is still in print. Ed Sullivan has big mainstream performers like The Beatles, The Supremes, Barbra Streisand, & Elvis Presley. There probably isn't a big enough audience that would buy SOUL! for PBS that justify the cost. At most, they probably would make a compilation DVD of the bigger acts like Earth, Wind, & Fire. Things like old Disney cartoon movies are mainstream, and a lot of people will buy it, so they can spend money restoring their movies. PBS runs from donations and doesn't have as much money as Disney.

the soul train box set is a stiff because he release footage that is already out there and in good quality. the soul footage that you see on the website was donated by fans of the show because most of the episodes that channel 13 has is in poor quality.

jackson35 said:

the soul train box set is a stiff because he release footage that is already out there and in good quality. the soul footage that you see on the website was donated by fans of the show because most of the episodes that channel 13 has is in poor quality.

Official releases have a bigger audience than bootlegs, because the average person (like my mother) aren't aware of bootlegs, but do watch infomercials that sell Soul Train & Midnight Special videos or buy music in a store. Only hardcore music fans search for bootlegs, and most of them are of dubious quality. Most people aren't aware SOUL! exists, because it was mainly shown in New York and has a lot of obscure acts, so why would they look for it? Other shows like Soul Train, American Bandstand, and Solid Gold were shown all over the USA. If the footage PBS has not totally deteriorated, it can be probably be restored, but that is a very expensive process that takes a long time.