Synopses & Reviews
Soul! was where Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind and Fire got funky, where Toni Morrison read from her debut novel, where James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni discussed gender and power, and where Amiri Baraka and Stokely Carmichael enjoyed a sympathetic forum for their radical politics. Broadcast on public television between 1968 and 1973, Soul!, helmed by pioneering producer and frequent host Ellis Haizlip, connected an array of black performers and public figures with a black viewing audience. In Itand#39;s Been Beautiful, Gayle Wald tells the story of Soul!, casting this influential but overlooked program as a bold and innovative use of television to represent and critically explore black identity, culture, and feeling during a transitional period in the black freedom struggle.
Review
andquot;The next step should have been, needed to be, had to be a strut. And no one strutted like Ellis Haizlip. We on the radical side of Civil Rights needed someone to listen; those on the more traditional side needed a platform from which to explain their views. Soul! brought it all together. Opera to Rap; Muslim to Christian; men to women; straights to gays. Soul! didnandrsquo;t back off of any aspect of our community. Brave, Bold and downright Simply Wonderful. Haizlip lead all the shows that followed: Blacks on national television shows doing news; doing entertainment; from Tony Brownandrsquo;s Journal to Don Corneliusandrsquo;s signature andldquo;Peace, Love and Soul!andrdquo; Ellis was the leader. Now his story and the story of that great show can be told. Excellent job, Gayle Wald. Ellis would be proud.andquot;
Review
andquot;Gayle Waldand#39;s examination of
Soul! offers new ways of interrogating the imbricated discourses of Civil Rights and Black Power politics in the context of popular culture.
Itand#39;s Been Beautiful contributes to cultural and televisual studies, adds new dimensions to sonic studies and black performance studies, intervenes in and expands the racial and political dimensions of affect studies, and builds in exciting ways on new advances in black queer cultural studies.andquot;
Review
andldquo;[An] evocative, detailed book. . . . Waldandrsquo;s book is both a timely and a galvanizing addition to what might be described as black analog studies.andrdquo;and#160;and#160;
Review
andldquo;Waldand#39;s writing energises the reader when describing specific episodes. She was granted full access to the 30 or so episodes that survive as well as securing photographs for the book from Chester Higgins, who shot publicity stills each week during filming. When the narrative and the photographs intersect, the book really begins to resonate. Every couple of pages, you wish that you could view the Thelonious Monk performance being described, or hear the voice of Malcolm Xand#39;s widow Betty Shabazz detailing her struggles. This is a singular book that will never be bettered or repeated. . . .andquot;
Synopsis
In
Itand#39;s Been Beautiful, Gayle Wald examines
Soul!, the first African American black variety television show on public television, which between 1968 and 1973 was instrumental in expressing the diversity of black popular culture, thought and politics, as well as helping to create the notion of black community.
About the Author
Gayle Wald is Professor of English and American Studies at George Washington University. She is the author of Shout, Sister, Shout!: The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and Crossing the Line: Racial Passing in U.S. Twentieth-Century Literature and Culture.
Table of Contents
Illustrationsand#160; vii
Photographerand#39;s Note: A Vision of Soul! / Chester Higginsand#160; ix
Introduction. andquot;Itand#39;s Been Beautifulandquot;and#160; 1
1. Soul! and the 1960sand#160; 36
2. The Black Community and the Affective Compactand#160; 70
3. andquot;More Meaningful Than a Three-Hour Lectureandquot;: Music on Soul!and#160; 104
4. Freaks Like Us: Black Misfit Performance on Soul!and#160; 145
5. The Racial State and the andquot;Disappearanceandquot; of Soul!and#160; 181
Conclusion. Soul! at the Centerand#160; 213
Acknowledgmentsand#160; 221
Notesand#160; 225
Bibliographyand#160; 253
Indexand#160; 265