It’s January 16, 1969, and the soul duo Peaches & Herb are performing a cover of Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me” on the PBS variety arts show SOUL! on New York’s Channel 13. By 1969, the duo, with their harmonious blend of soprano and tenor, had already been serenading lovers and radio audiences with a platoon of love songs, including “We’re in This Thing Together.” But this would be their first television appearance, and they would make an impression on audiences on this groundbreaking new show.

As Peaches watches and listens to Herb bend note after note, she matches him, crooning with a groundswell of tenderness. As a camera crew snakes around the duo, one cameraman pans over for a closer look and zooms in for a tight close-up on Peaches. While she’s singing, Herb, in an impromptu moment of passion, leans over and starts to blow on her ear. It’s these moments—private and public alike—that are caught live for a television audience—many of whom would not have been able to bear witness to this kind of live musicianship in any other arena.

Today, many of the episodes of SOUL! have been lost or erased since airing on PBS during the show’s run from 1968–1973. Melissa Haizlip, the niece of the show’s creator/executive producer/host, Ellis Haizlip, is hard at work in preserving her uncle’s legacy, producing a documentary along with director J. Kevin Swain about the show and its revolutionary creator. On Wednesday, May 4, at Harlem Stage, there will be a screening of the work-in-progress documentary entitled, Mr. SOUL!, which features never-before-seen clips of icons—Maya Angelou, Louis Farrakhan, Tito Puente, Willie Colón, Harry Belafonte, Muhammad Ali—and many others in music, politics, and the arts.

http://www.waxpoetics.com.../pbss-soul

[Edited 5/9/11 13:06pm]

Here's an old thread:

http://prince.org/msg/8/345132

mikemike13 said:

Today, many of the episodes of SOUL! have been lost or erased since airing on PBS during the show’s run from 1968–1973.

It's too bad that PBS 13 didn't take this show seriously and just taped over episodes. I've heard that some episodes are on bootleg though. But bootlegs are generally poor quality, so might not be worth seeking out. There's around 9 episodes on the PBS Thirteen website though. There's another soul/R&B show from the 1960's called The Beat which was filmed in Texas I think. This has been officially released on DVD, but I don't know if it's still in print.

This a show I would have loved to have seen

scriptgirl said:

This a show I would have loved to have seen

You can see the uploaded episodes here:

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

People have also put individual performances on Youtube.

If you're interested, here's a list of all the episodes:

SOUL!

Thanks!

I saw bits of Labelle's 1972 performance. Man you think Patti's wild now... that girl was actually moving like a mad woman during "We Won't Get Fooled Again", Patti, Nona and Sarah. They were letting loose!

My favorite episode is the one with The New Birth. I always watch it online when I need a pick me up...should watch it right now...lol

lyecry said:

My favorite episode is the one with The New Birth. I always watch it online when I need a pick me up...should watch it right now...lol

Love that one.