In 1972, having topped the pop charts with a series of hits, Aretha Franklin returned to her family’s gospel roots. She held two concerts of the most deeply moving spirituals at a Baptist church in Watts, a Los Angeles neighborhood still recovering from the riots six years earlier.
In the mid-60s big changes were afoot in the US, culturally, politically, and musically. Four rock music/concert films that explore these changes are being released in theaters this summer; we are hosting a two-week “micro-festival, ” including a screening of all four films at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater on July 21st. Jimi Hendrix, Aretha Franklin, The Byrds and Brian Wilson are just some of the performers you’ll see on the big screen.
Les Blank was one of America’s keenest documentarians of regional musical traditions — blues, Cajun, Appalachian, Creole, Hawaiian and more. These new, 4k restorations of two of his films-are a zesty introduction to Norteña music and culture that exists along the Texas-Mexican border.
