this film is the truth! I saw a screening of this last year around this time.... the scene with the ray barretto learning some congas techniques and teaching some himself to some of the local african musicians in the street was priceless!!!
I caught the DC premiere last month. Fred Wesley was there too. The entire documentary never leaves 1974 (ie no modern shots, no narration). Very entertaining, very interesting.
I saw the movie a few months ago on a documentary movie festival in Munich and it was truely great from beginning to end. It was shot by the same team that did the original Zaire footage of "When We Where Kings". I remember something like "Soul Power" was made by the guy who edited "When We Were...". My favorite scenes where when all the musicians were together on the plane getting high and the Fania All-Stars were jamming. Good Vibrations. Also Manu Dibango playing sax in the street communicating musically with a bunch of streetkids.
If you have the chance to see this on the big screen - don't miss it.
The outro by JB after the credits was great. BB King looked a little disappointed after "Thrill Is Gone" for some strange reason. Stewart Levine stoned out of his dome with the Fania crew practicing on the plane and Sister Sledge backstage ("In America, you could get arrested for that!") were my favorite parts
yeah man, that scene was crazy with bb king playing the guitar, larry harlow playing a pepsi can, and celia cruz tapping her heel on the ceiling of the plane to the beat...you certainly couldn't that now!
Saw this Saturday, and I gotta say, I haven't walked out of a theater with that big of grin in a while. Really well put together from start to finish, too many incredible moments to name. SEE THIS FILM
New Yorkers, this is playing at Lincoln Square till Thursday...
Yeah, if there's one thing to say its that they could've made it longer and had a little more of the . It was a really well made summation of the tremendous effort involved in organizing and staging the show, and the impact people felt it had on their lives, from the performers and organizers down to the locals, but I could've easily watched another hour or more if I got to see more of each act.
I'll probably cop the DVD regardless, but I would love to spring for a deluxe multi-disc set of the complete run.
One more thing, anyone remember the name of the African performer, the dude who had the two dancers with him. Don't really know how else to describe it, pretty sure it was after Miriam, and it was real funky..
when i went to see it in may of last year, the guy who did when we were kings said that there was not a lot of footage of the concert that survived. he said that they only had 100 hours of footage...that may sound like a lot but in the film world that's nothing.
from the exchange I saw at the Toronto Film Festival between Gast (dir. When We Were Kings) and Levy-Hinte (dir. Soul Power), there may be some clearance issues. Apparently the version they screened at TIFF was not fully cleared....so who know where all the extra footage stands in that regard.
Comments
The Bill Withers and Ray Barretto parts sound particularly amazing..
I read Brown and Withers had a fight... reportedly the first telling to the second "you ain't shit and you can't sing shit"
amir
The entire documentary never leaves 1974 (ie no modern shots, no narration).
Very entertaining, very interesting.
if this does exist, it wasnt in the film. Bonus features perhaps?
It was shot by the same team that did the original Zaire footage of "When We Where Kings". I remember something like "Soul Power" was made by the guy who edited "When We Were...".
My favorite scenes where when all the musicians were together on the plane getting high and the Fania All-Stars were jamming. Good Vibrations.
Also Manu Dibango playing sax in the street communicating musically with a bunch of streetkids.
If you have the chance to see this on the big screen - don't miss it.
I read it on here :
peace, stein. . .
amir
New Yorkers, this is playing at Lincoln Square till Thursday...
another cool clip:
Yea! Given all the things that didn't make the final cut, I can't wait to see the extras.
I'll probably cop the DVD regardless, but I would love to spring for a deluxe multi-disc set of the complete run.
One more thing, anyone remember the name of the African performer, the dude who had the two dancers with him. Don't really know how else to describe it, pretty sure it was after Miriam, and it was real funky..
Hope this builds up some steam, the 7:45 Saturday screening I went to was almost sold out.
amir
amir