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Listen, Whitey!: The Sounds of Black Power, 1965-1975
Noted music producer and scholar Pat Thomas spent five years in Oakland, CA researching Listen, Whitey! The Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975. While befriending members of the Black Panther Party, Thomas discovered rare recordings of speeches, interviews, and music by noted activists Huey Newton, Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver, Elaine Brown, The Lumpen and many others that form the framework of this definitive retrospective. Listen, Whitey! also chronicles the forgotten history of Motown Records.
From 1970 to 1973, Motown’s Black Power subsidiary label, Black Forum, released politically charged albums by Stokely Carmichael, Amiri Baraka, Langston Hughes, Bill Cosby Ossie Davis, and many others, all represented. Also explored are the musical connections between Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Graham Nash, the Partridge Family (!?!) and the Black Power movement. Obscure recordings produced by SNCC, Ron Karenga’s US, the Tribe and other African-American sociopolitical organizations of the late 1960s and early ’70s are examined along with the Isley Brothers, Nina Simone, Archie Shepp, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Clifford Thornton, Watts Prophets, Last Poets, Gene McDaniels, Roland Kirk, Horace Silver, Angela Davis, H. Rap Brown, Stanley Crouch, and others that spoke out against oppression.
Other sections focus on Black Consciousness poetry (from the likes of Jayne Cortez, wife of Ornette Coleman), inspired religious recordings that infused god and Black Nationalism, obscure regional and privately pressed Black Power 7-inch soul singles from across America. 90,000 words of text are accompanied by over 250 large sized, full-color reproductions of album covers and 45 rpm singles — most of which readers will have never seen before.
From 1970 to 1973, Motown’s Black Power subsidiary label, Black Forum, released politically charged albums by Stokely Carmichael, Amiri Baraka, Langston Hughes, Bill Cosby Ossie Davis, and many others, all represented. Also explored are the musical connections between Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Graham Nash, the Partridge Family (!?!) and the Black Power movement. Obscure recordings produced by SNCC, Ron Karenga’s US, the Tribe and other African-American sociopolitical organizations of the late 1960s and early ’70s are examined along with the Isley Brothers, Nina Simone, Archie Shepp, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Clifford Thornton, Watts Prophets, Last Poets, Gene McDaniels, Roland Kirk, Horace Silver, Angela Davis, H. Rap Brown, Stanley Crouch, and others that spoke out against oppression.
Other sections focus on Black Consciousness poetry (from the likes of Jayne Cortez, wife of Ornette Coleman), inspired religious recordings that infused god and Black Nationalism, obscure regional and privately pressed Black Power 7-inch soul singles from across America. 90,000 words of text are accompanied by over 250 large sized, full-color reproductions of album covers and 45 rpm singles — most of which readers will have never seen before.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published February 29, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 13, 2012
A enthralling visual history of rare and not-so-rare recordings of music and spoken word related to the Black Power movement in the US in the late 60s/early 70s.. In this eye-catching and beautifully designed volume, music critic Pat Thomas has collected some truly fascinating and little-known stories about the music, speeches, and poetry that shaped (and were shaped by) the Black Power movement. The big names (Huey P. Newton, Stokely Carmichael, Eldridge Cleaver, Nina Simone, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, etc) are well-represented here of course, but it is the more obscure figures and recordings that provide the most captivating details. Who knew that the Black Panthers had their own in-house music group, The Lumpen (as in Lumpenproletariat), which toured the US in the early 70s and included in their repertoire a reinterpretation of the traditional standard of "Ol' Man River" as "Ole Pig Nixon"?!?!?! I am SO SAD that there is no widely available recording of this song! Or that Motown had a subsidiary label, Black Forum, which released recordings of speeches by black civil rights leaders such as MLK and Stokely Carmichael and the first album by Black Panther leader Elaine Brown? Or that right-wing cultural critic Stanley Crouch once recorded a spoken word album entitled "Ain't No Ambulances for No Nigguhs Tonight" (title inspired by an alleged response to a black Watts resident who dialed 911 during the 1965 riots)?
These gems and many, many others are in store for the readers of "Listen, Whitey!" I have only 2 minor complaints about this book: 1) I wish Pat Thomas had provided a bit more critical analysis of some of the albums he covered. Often his description was simply a literal retelling of the album's contents and/or production history,, which, while informative, does not provide the reader with a greater understanding of the cultural and social impact of the recordings. It was interesting to learn about the albums' design and content, but it would have been more interesting to hear from actual listeners, critics, etc, about how these albums were received by their audiences when they were released. 2) Since so many of these recordings are so difficult for most readers to access (despite digital downloads and streaming music services), it would have been wonderful if the publishers could have included a CD with some track listings from key, rare recordings discussed in the book. I would kill to hear "Outlaw" or "Silent Majority" by Eugene McDaniels (a popular 60s R&B singer who turned radical with his 1970 release "Outlaw") but since I am not a hard-core crate-digger, it's unlikely that will happen any time soon. [UPDATE: Looking at the other reviews on Goodreads, it appears that there IS a companion CD that was released separately.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006...
However I am not retracting this criticism because this compilation DOES NOT include any tracks by Eugene McDaniels. For shame!]
Those criticisms aside, "Listen, Whitey!" is a thoroughly entertaining and eye-opening read which will appeal to anyone interested in the intersection of art, culture and politics. And vinyl aficianados will dig the mind-blowing album cover art and visual ephemera. Definitely recommended.
These gems and many, many others are in store for the readers of "Listen, Whitey!" I have only 2 minor complaints about this book: 1) I wish Pat Thomas had provided a bit more critical analysis of some of the albums he covered. Often his description was simply a literal retelling of the album's contents and/or production history,, which, while informative, does not provide the reader with a greater understanding of the cultural and social impact of the recordings. It was interesting to learn about the albums' design and content, but it would have been more interesting to hear from actual listeners, critics, etc, about how these albums were received by their audiences when they were released. 2) Since so many of these recordings are so difficult for most readers to access (despite digital downloads and streaming music services), it would have been wonderful if the publishers could have included a CD with some track listings from key, rare recordings discussed in the book. I would kill to hear "Outlaw" or "Silent Majority" by Eugene McDaniels (a popular 60s R&B singer who turned radical with his 1970 release "Outlaw") but since I am not a hard-core crate-digger, it's unlikely that will happen any time soon. [UPDATE: Looking at the other reviews on Goodreads, it appears that there IS a companion CD that was released separately.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006...
However I am not retracting this criticism because this compilation DOES NOT include any tracks by Eugene McDaniels. For shame!]
Those criticisms aside, "Listen, Whitey!" is a thoroughly entertaining and eye-opening read which will appeal to anyone interested in the intersection of art, culture and politics. And vinyl aficianados will dig the mind-blowing album cover art and visual ephemera. Definitely recommended.
April 10, 2012
My kind of coffee table book. Bought at Goner Records in Memphis. Added several "Holy Grail" records to my quest-list. Basically, it's an overview of music productions (famous and VERY obscure) that grew out of the Black Power movement. It is not always written deftly, but it IS fun, and the pics are a gas. Has a companion CD you might want to pick up.
November 29, 2012
An interview with Pat Thomas, author of Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of the Black Power 1965-1975
Available from Fantagraphics Books.
The Latin origin of the word "radical" is radix — meaning the from, or of the root. By this measure, Pat Thomas' Listen Whitey! The Sights of Sounds of Black Power is a deeply radical work. As a coffee table size book full of graphics and sharp observations, the book captures the very tempo behind the rhetoric and controversies of the 1960s. The tempo behind the rhetoric and demands of the moment had its own root — the project of reclaiming stolen human dignity. There's few things more radical than that and few better vehicles for it than the music this book celebrates.
As a work of history, Listen Whitey! will likely do much to familiarize a new generation to the histories of the Black Panther Movement, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and other pillars of the movement. Thomas, as a Music Historian, is uniquely positioned to communicate the politics here in a fresh, non-dogmatic language. Don't be surprised if after reading his book, you feel a burning desire to pump your fist in the air, fight the power, start a breakfast program for kids, or burn it all down. This is powerful stuff, respectfully written. It's a revolution you can dance to, literally. Listen Whitey also comes with its own soundtrack, sold separately.
- James Tracy
____________________________________________________________________
> JAMES TRACY | Listen Whitey is such a grand project, both from an archival perspective and a political one. What was it that inspired you to immerse yourself in the sounds of Black Power for such a long time?
> PAT THOMAS | Well, after decades of checking out English Folk, Krautrock, 60's Psychedelica, and tons of other genres – I got inspired by meeting several key Panthers and that led me to check out the music, speeches and other recordings connected to the Black Power Movement, it became something that I didn't 'want' to do – as much as I felt like I 'needed' to. I was inspired more than just curious.
>JT You spent a lot of time with various Black Power icons such as Panthers David Hilliard and Elaine Brown. What questions did they have for you as a white guy who was a kid when this history was being made? Did you go through a process of building trust?
>PT They didn't really have questions for me, as much as they quickly realized that I was sincere and I had no hidden agenda – no axe to grind with their legacy. Trust came over time, as they realized I wasn't trying to 'put words in their mouth' (which a fellow journalist tried to do around the time that I was hanging out with them). I wasn't trying to fit them into a 'mold' that I'd already created in my mind. I was just trying to get to know them as people, rather than pin them down looking for facts and figures about what occurred in the past. It was more about making friends with them, and less about being an academic shake-down of the where, what, why of events.
JT> You observe in your introduction that out of so many books written about Motown, few mention their Black Power subsidiary label, Black Forum. Why do you think that the cultural work of the of the Black Power Movement has been neglected in this way?
PT> Those records didn't sell, coupled with other journalists writing the Motown story who wanted to hear a good Marvin Gaye or Diana Ross story – they could care less about a collection of social-political records, mainly of speeches. I was the first person who came along and really cared. A few other people did mention it, for maybe a page at the most. I wrote like 30 pages on it. My passion was different than other authors.
JT> Panther Huey Newton had a take on Bob Dylan's song Ballad of a Thin Man, as an allegory of a upper-class white man's fetishization of ghetto life. Is there always going to be this danger when white people take an interest in Black culture? If so, can it be transcended?
PT> I don't know if it's a danger, unless it's KKK member or some twisted "White Power" kook… otherwise, there will always be a reason (good or bad or misguided) for Whites to explore Black culture. Frankly, America needs to have more dialogue between races, embracing their differences as well as what they have in common. I didn't try to pretend to be Black – and that was something that Elaine Brown liked about me. I didn't put on a 'mask' and start to talk Black or pull that kind of shit.
JT> As someone who received most of his political tutoring from ex-Panthers, even I didn't know about their band the Lumpen! Are these musicians still around? Any chance of their music being reisssued?
PT> I did reissue their music – at least the A-side of their single on the Listen Whitey CD compilation. Of course there's still the B-side – and some very lo-fi live recordings. A friend of mine is writing a book specifically about the Lumpen (all the members are still alive) and he might oversee a limited pressing of their other recordings. We shall see. The Lumpen single was not distributed to record stores as such, but sold at Party events and maybe even street corners. It's a hard record to find.
JT> Artists like Gil Scott-Heron, Nina Simone and the Last Poets are remembered today as the musical expressions of Black Power Movement. Yet, the upsurge of the time also influenced mainstream performers to add explicitly political songs to their reperatoires. In general, did this fusion of pop sensibilities and revolutionary consciousness work on both fronts?
PT> It worked nicely for Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" – that certainly turned some heads around. Most of the music I focus on in my book didn't have 1/1000th of that popular response. Someone like Sly Stone, was able to speak both the 'underground' and the popular masses for awhile. It was a time when music and politics merged nicely at times. Even Rolling Stone magazine was a social-political magazine as much as it was a music magazine.
JT> Along with the music, you explore the use of Spoken Word LPs, recordings of speeches extensively. Did these albums reach a wide audience and have much of an impact?
PT> No, spoken word recordings have always sold in small numbers and reached small audiences, and rarely get listened to more than 1 or 2 times at most. That said, some of them did strike a nerve with people who were eager to listen and be inspired.
JT> The very title of your book reminded me of a observation from James Baldwin. He recalled how a white juror in the Huey Newton trial said that she knew that racism existed, but couldn't believe that a police officer would ever lie. What message was the Black Power Movement trying to get Whitey to listen to?
PT> Respect, freedom, equal rights – everything that people all over the world are still demanding and fighting for to this very day. It never really stops does it? And in terms of the police, there's always some good cops out there and a lot of bad ones.
JT> Are there any acts around today who you would consider to be the musical grandchildren of the acts you chronicled in Listen Whitey?
PT> There's probably several, but I think of two: The Coup from Oakland and Michael Franti in San Francisco.
Available from Fantagraphics Books.
The Latin origin of the word "radical" is radix — meaning the from, or of the root. By this measure, Pat Thomas' Listen Whitey! The Sights of Sounds of Black Power is a deeply radical work. As a coffee table size book full of graphics and sharp observations, the book captures the very tempo behind the rhetoric and controversies of the 1960s. The tempo behind the rhetoric and demands of the moment had its own root — the project of reclaiming stolen human dignity. There's few things more radical than that and few better vehicles for it than the music this book celebrates.
As a work of history, Listen Whitey! will likely do much to familiarize a new generation to the histories of the Black Panther Movement, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and other pillars of the movement. Thomas, as a Music Historian, is uniquely positioned to communicate the politics here in a fresh, non-dogmatic language. Don't be surprised if after reading his book, you feel a burning desire to pump your fist in the air, fight the power, start a breakfast program for kids, or burn it all down. This is powerful stuff, respectfully written. It's a revolution you can dance to, literally. Listen Whitey also comes with its own soundtrack, sold separately.
- James Tracy
____________________________________________________________________
> JAMES TRACY | Listen Whitey is such a grand project, both from an archival perspective and a political one. What was it that inspired you to immerse yourself in the sounds of Black Power for such a long time?
> PAT THOMAS | Well, after decades of checking out English Folk, Krautrock, 60's Psychedelica, and tons of other genres – I got inspired by meeting several key Panthers and that led me to check out the music, speeches and other recordings connected to the Black Power Movement, it became something that I didn't 'want' to do – as much as I felt like I 'needed' to. I was inspired more than just curious.
>JT You spent a lot of time with various Black Power icons such as Panthers David Hilliard and Elaine Brown. What questions did they have for you as a white guy who was a kid when this history was being made? Did you go through a process of building trust?
>PT They didn't really have questions for me, as much as they quickly realized that I was sincere and I had no hidden agenda – no axe to grind with their legacy. Trust came over time, as they realized I wasn't trying to 'put words in their mouth' (which a fellow journalist tried to do around the time that I was hanging out with them). I wasn't trying to fit them into a 'mold' that I'd already created in my mind. I was just trying to get to know them as people, rather than pin them down looking for facts and figures about what occurred in the past. It was more about making friends with them, and less about being an academic shake-down of the where, what, why of events.
JT> You observe in your introduction that out of so many books written about Motown, few mention their Black Power subsidiary label, Black Forum. Why do you think that the cultural work of the of the Black Power Movement has been neglected in this way?
PT> Those records didn't sell, coupled with other journalists writing the Motown story who wanted to hear a good Marvin Gaye or Diana Ross story – they could care less about a collection of social-political records, mainly of speeches. I was the first person who came along and really cared. A few other people did mention it, for maybe a page at the most. I wrote like 30 pages on it. My passion was different than other authors.
JT> Panther Huey Newton had a take on Bob Dylan's song Ballad of a Thin Man, as an allegory of a upper-class white man's fetishization of ghetto life. Is there always going to be this danger when white people take an interest in Black culture? If so, can it be transcended?
PT> I don't know if it's a danger, unless it's KKK member or some twisted "White Power" kook… otherwise, there will always be a reason (good or bad or misguided) for Whites to explore Black culture. Frankly, America needs to have more dialogue between races, embracing their differences as well as what they have in common. I didn't try to pretend to be Black – and that was something that Elaine Brown liked about me. I didn't put on a 'mask' and start to talk Black or pull that kind of shit.
JT> As someone who received most of his political tutoring from ex-Panthers, even I didn't know about their band the Lumpen! Are these musicians still around? Any chance of their music being reisssued?
PT> I did reissue their music – at least the A-side of their single on the Listen Whitey CD compilation. Of course there's still the B-side – and some very lo-fi live recordings. A friend of mine is writing a book specifically about the Lumpen (all the members are still alive) and he might oversee a limited pressing of their other recordings. We shall see. The Lumpen single was not distributed to record stores as such, but sold at Party events and maybe even street corners. It's a hard record to find.
JT> Artists like Gil Scott-Heron, Nina Simone and the Last Poets are remembered today as the musical expressions of Black Power Movement. Yet, the upsurge of the time also influenced mainstream performers to add explicitly political songs to their reperatoires. In general, did this fusion of pop sensibilities and revolutionary consciousness work on both fronts?
PT> It worked nicely for Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" – that certainly turned some heads around. Most of the music I focus on in my book didn't have 1/1000th of that popular response. Someone like Sly Stone, was able to speak both the 'underground' and the popular masses for awhile. It was a time when music and politics merged nicely at times. Even Rolling Stone magazine was a social-political magazine as much as it was a music magazine.
JT> Along with the music, you explore the use of Spoken Word LPs, recordings of speeches extensively. Did these albums reach a wide audience and have much of an impact?
PT> No, spoken word recordings have always sold in small numbers and reached small audiences, and rarely get listened to more than 1 or 2 times at most. That said, some of them did strike a nerve with people who were eager to listen and be inspired.
JT> The very title of your book reminded me of a observation from James Baldwin. He recalled how a white juror in the Huey Newton trial said that she knew that racism existed, but couldn't believe that a police officer would ever lie. What message was the Black Power Movement trying to get Whitey to listen to?
PT> Respect, freedom, equal rights – everything that people all over the world are still demanding and fighting for to this very day. It never really stops does it? And in terms of the police, there's always some good cops out there and a lot of bad ones.
JT> Are there any acts around today who you would consider to be the musical grandchildren of the acts you chronicled in Listen Whitey?
PT> There's probably several, but I think of two: The Coup from Oakland and Michael Franti in San Francisco.
July 13, 2014
Why, yes, it did take me six months to read this. But I think it's the only way to read this book.
Pat Thomas explores the speeches, poems, songs and otherwise that were recorded during the throes of the Black Power Movement, and how they affected historical events during the years 1965 through 1975. Throughout, Thomas offers album art, posters, and advertisements alongside explanations of what they were trying to achieve.
All the key players are here: Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Amiri Baraka, John Lennon, Bobby Seale et. al. There were also a few names I recognized, but could not place: Stokely Carmichael, Eldridge Cleaver, Huey Newton, and that little corner of Motown known as Black Forum. There were a few incredible artists and events I didn't know about: I had never learned about Angela Davis or the roles of the SNCC in school, and Elaine Brown is one of my new favorite artists (check her out, even Spotify has yo' back!). It was exciting to explore this book in little bits, Youtube-ing whatever clips and recordings I possibly could while reading about them.
There are some incredibly rare works discussed in this book, which is exciting, but also kinda fucking irritating. Some things are nowhere to be found on teh interwebz, and if I really wanted to hear them, I'd have to invest in the upgraded edition of this book with all pertinent speeches and songs on vinyl. Bitch move, really; you can't just dangle the fact that Amiri Baraka did a cover of The Supremes' Come See About Me in my face and expect me to go about my normal life. Iwant NEED TO HEAR THIS.
But, overall, a fantastic investment on my part.
Buy this title from Powell's Books.
PS- Spell-Check is a wonderful feature of computers these days, Pat Thomas. ;)
Update, July 2014: I JUST FOUND THE COMPANION CD FOR THIS BOOK IN A USED CD STORE AND OMG. I thinking these will become fixtures in my future classroom, baby.
Pat Thomas explores the speeches, poems, songs and otherwise that were recorded during the throes of the Black Power Movement, and how they affected historical events during the years 1965 through 1975. Throughout, Thomas offers album art, posters, and advertisements alongside explanations of what they were trying to achieve.
All the key players are here: Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Amiri Baraka, John Lennon, Bobby Seale et. al. There were also a few names I recognized, but could not place: Stokely Carmichael, Eldridge Cleaver, Huey Newton, and that little corner of Motown known as Black Forum. There were a few incredible artists and events I didn't know about: I had never learned about Angela Davis or the roles of the SNCC in school, and Elaine Brown is one of my new favorite artists (check her out, even Spotify has yo' back!). It was exciting to explore this book in little bits, Youtube-ing whatever clips and recordings I possibly could while reading about them.
There are some incredibly rare works discussed in this book, which is exciting, but also kinda fucking irritating. Some things are nowhere to be found on teh interwebz, and if I really wanted to hear them, I'd have to invest in the upgraded edition of this book with all pertinent speeches and songs on vinyl. Bitch move, really; you can't just dangle the fact that Amiri Baraka did a cover of The Supremes' Come See About Me in my face and expect me to go about my normal life. I
But, overall, a fantastic investment on my part.
Buy this title from Powell's Books.
PS- Spell-Check is a wonderful feature of computers these days, Pat Thomas. ;)
Update, July 2014: I JUST FOUND THE COMPANION CD FOR THIS BOOK IN A USED CD STORE AND OMG. I thinking these will become fixtures in my future classroom, baby.
May 19, 2024
A great collection of photos and journalism on the radical drive of politics and music - insurrection!
January 20, 2019
The time and effort researching Thomas put in is staggering...the images and layout are amazing...concise and insightful writing.
Everything about this book is top notch.
Everything about this book is top notch.
February 7, 2025
Great detail on the people and times. This is a ready reference book that I will keep going back to. It carries me back into the wild and longing to be a free spirit of the times.
July 30, 2012
Listen, Whitey! The sounds of Black power 1976-1974 By Pat Thomas and Various Artists.
(www.lightintheattic.net for the CD www.fantagraphics.com for the book)
I've been listening to the cd since Pat Thomas's lecture about the book and cd at Cafe Oto back in May http://www.whisperinandhollerin.com/r... and Having now also read the book I have to say that for anyone needing an introduction to both the causes that the artists that Pat is talking about are fighting for this is a very good place to start as Pat delves into the records put out by key and not so key figures in both the American Black Power movement and also the Black Nationalist. Pat also makes sure to explain the differences between them.
The album opens with the Shahid Quintet's Invitation To Black Power that is a very pertinent spoken word rap about how you will never achieve equal rights and justice through carrying a can of petrol or resorting to guns and violence over a light jazz backing, but the words hit with force. what the book does is to explain what they were talking about the civil unrest and oppression and of course the Vietnam War. The artwork and articles that Pat has found by going and being the Whitey who listened to as many of the remaining Black Panthers and SNCC and as many of the players as he could find to give us a picture of the big causes like the wrongful arrests of Huey Newton ar the murder of George Jackson an event that Bob Dylan put out a protest single about that this cd is the first time it has ever appeared on CD as Pat managed to get Bob's permission to use it.
But the contrast of going from Dylan's telling of another sorry tale of injustice is then juxtaposed by The Watts Prophets Dem Niggers Ain't Playin a song that a lot of people might find troublesome but put into the context in the book about the troubles around them and the Watts riots it is almost a cry for empowerment.
The book also delves into the labels involved and how many of the bigger labels like Motown would have little side labels for this music and in motowns case they ran Black Forum a label that they seem to have tried to write out of the labelds history, well Pat goes where they might prefer you don't go to astonish us with this micro lables roster that includes Martin Luther King Jnr, Stokely Carmichael, Amiri Baraka and Bill Cosby so not exactly a bunch of obscure nobodies and just for the amount of times Amiri Barakas Who Will Survive In America that closes the cd has been sampled should have made Motown proud of the work Black Forum put out.
One of the funny moments on the cd is hearing Dick Gregory's stand up routine on Black Power where he questions if white folk would be as scared of Brown Strength as they are of Black Power among many very good observations that show that the movement had to work on as many levels as possible to get us to a brighter day.
Of the real obscurities that Pat found is a very tough tune by Kain called I Ain't Black that has a band that sounds a bit like Henry Cow style Jazz prog rock married to a singer calling out to someone "You Black Bastard" over and over again before the rap opens out and goes rather mad in places with the rage of the oppression around them a very clever and thought provoking tune that needs to be heard.
Reading about Elaine Browns fight and everything that became the Wattstax and finding out that in the 70's one of the first black Mayors Carl B Stokes put out an album on Flying Dutchman that contains A Black Suite for String Quartet and Jazz Orchestra that I was left wondering if it was at least in part inspiration of Yusef Lateefs much later African American Suite for Quintet and Orchestra.
One of the stranger episodes covered in boththe book and cd is Timothy leary's exile in Eldridge Cleavers compound in Algiers and Eldriges track is his explanation of why he told Timothy to leave as he feels the last thing young Blacks in America need is to be dropping out on acid when they need to be sober and straight to bring about change. He manages very succinctly to put Tim in his place as someone fighting for things the Black man cannot even dream of fighting for when they don't have decent education or normal rights.
The book also makes clear that the Black Panthers and other organisations were often providing services the local city councils should have from ambulances and education to school buses and after school creches to make sure all the kids got the best education they could and could get out of the ghetto's.
To sum up not only are this book and cd educational they look and sound great as well and I haven't even mentioned the Gil Scott Heron or John Lennon and Yoko Ono tunes or much much more in this fantastic coffee table book.
(www.lightintheattic.net for the CD www.fantagraphics.com for the book)
I've been listening to the cd since Pat Thomas's lecture about the book and cd at Cafe Oto back in May http://www.whisperinandhollerin.com/r... and Having now also read the book I have to say that for anyone needing an introduction to both the causes that the artists that Pat is talking about are fighting for this is a very good place to start as Pat delves into the records put out by key and not so key figures in both the American Black Power movement and also the Black Nationalist. Pat also makes sure to explain the differences between them.
The album opens with the Shahid Quintet's Invitation To Black Power that is a very pertinent spoken word rap about how you will never achieve equal rights and justice through carrying a can of petrol or resorting to guns and violence over a light jazz backing, but the words hit with force. what the book does is to explain what they were talking about the civil unrest and oppression and of course the Vietnam War. The artwork and articles that Pat has found by going and being the Whitey who listened to as many of the remaining Black Panthers and SNCC and as many of the players as he could find to give us a picture of the big causes like the wrongful arrests of Huey Newton ar the murder of George Jackson an event that Bob Dylan put out a protest single about that this cd is the first time it has ever appeared on CD as Pat managed to get Bob's permission to use it.
But the contrast of going from Dylan's telling of another sorry tale of injustice is then juxtaposed by The Watts Prophets Dem Niggers Ain't Playin a song that a lot of people might find troublesome but put into the context in the book about the troubles around them and the Watts riots it is almost a cry for empowerment.
The book also delves into the labels involved and how many of the bigger labels like Motown would have little side labels for this music and in motowns case they ran Black Forum a label that they seem to have tried to write out of the labelds history, well Pat goes where they might prefer you don't go to astonish us with this micro lables roster that includes Martin Luther King Jnr, Stokely Carmichael, Amiri Baraka and Bill Cosby so not exactly a bunch of obscure nobodies and just for the amount of times Amiri Barakas Who Will Survive In America that closes the cd has been sampled should have made Motown proud of the work Black Forum put out.
One of the funny moments on the cd is hearing Dick Gregory's stand up routine on Black Power where he questions if white folk would be as scared of Brown Strength as they are of Black Power among many very good observations that show that the movement had to work on as many levels as possible to get us to a brighter day.
Of the real obscurities that Pat found is a very tough tune by Kain called I Ain't Black that has a band that sounds a bit like Henry Cow style Jazz prog rock married to a singer calling out to someone "You Black Bastard" over and over again before the rap opens out and goes rather mad in places with the rage of the oppression around them a very clever and thought provoking tune that needs to be heard.
Reading about Elaine Browns fight and everything that became the Wattstax and finding out that in the 70's one of the first black Mayors Carl B Stokes put out an album on Flying Dutchman that contains A Black Suite for String Quartet and Jazz Orchestra that I was left wondering if it was at least in part inspiration of Yusef Lateefs much later African American Suite for Quintet and Orchestra.
One of the stranger episodes covered in boththe book and cd is Timothy leary's exile in Eldridge Cleavers compound in Algiers and Eldriges track is his explanation of why he told Timothy to leave as he feels the last thing young Blacks in America need is to be dropping out on acid when they need to be sober and straight to bring about change. He manages very succinctly to put Tim in his place as someone fighting for things the Black man cannot even dream of fighting for when they don't have decent education or normal rights.
The book also makes clear that the Black Panthers and other organisations were often providing services the local city councils should have from ambulances and education to school buses and after school creches to make sure all the kids got the best education they could and could get out of the ghetto's.
To sum up not only are this book and cd educational they look and sound great as well and I haven't even mentioned the Gil Scott Heron or John Lennon and Yoko Ono tunes or much much more in this fantastic coffee table book.
September 13, 2016
LIsten, Whitey! is an unusual creature: a graphics-oriented coffee table type book about the recorded artifacts of a political and cultural movement. Lots of fun photos, album covers, etc., and interesting stories. Pat Thomas is entirely uncritical of the extremist politics depicted, which works in a way: those involved get to tell their stories uninterruptedly. On the other hand he is pleasantly willing to criticize recordings for being boring or cheesy. A Listen, Whitey! CD is available separately: http://www.amazon.com/Listen-Whitey-S...
July 4, 2012
Fascinating cultural history of Black Power through music and spoken word recordings. Certainly makes me appreciate YouTube where some of this material may be found.
A must read for those interested in Black liberation, Black Panthers, and the cross cultural movements of the Sixties. Love the cover with Huey P. Newton holding Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited."
Appropriately finished on July 4, a day to celebrate revolution.
A must read for those interested in Black liberation, Black Panthers, and the cross cultural movements of the Sixties. Love the cover with Huey P. Newton holding Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited."
Appropriately finished on July 4, a day to celebrate revolution.
September 15, 2013
i wanted to love this - but providing the context for revolutionaries as pop icons was something great and the record covers and ads were mind-blowing ("burn baby burn, the uncensored version of the los angeles riot - this is an educational album and is not designed to incite violence"). plus, Black Forum Label, who knew!?
July 18, 2013
Fascinating book filled with amazing photographs & tons of music that I'm going to have to track down! The writing is not stellar & there are more than a few editorial mistakes. The author's passion for his subject overrides all of that most of the time though.
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