It’s been a while since our last podcast (I have another one in the clip – Lee Fields and hopefully, Leon Michels, to be shared after they come to town in a few weeks). This one was recorded live in Los Angeles a couple of weeks back with Pat Thomas, author of the new Listen Whitey: The Sounds of Black Power 1965-75, as well as the companion CD of the same name.
Pat and I talked about how he got interested in looking at the music of the Black Power Movement, how Berry Gordy funded one of the most militant labels in that era, how the Black Panther Party had its own funk band and why Eugene McDaniels’s Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse sucks compared to Outlaw (diggers be damned).
The Sidebar #27: Pat Thomas
[podcast]http://latinboogaloo.com/sounds/podcasts/pat%20thomas.mp3[/podcast]
Music in this episode (selections from the Listen Whitey CD marked by *.
- Nina Simone: Backlash Blues
- *Lumpen: Free Bobby Now
- *Amiri Baraka: Who Will Survive America?
- James Brown: Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud
- *Elaine Brown: Until We’re Free
- *John Lennon and Yoko Ono: Angela
- *Shahid Quintet: Invitation to Black Power
- *Marlena Shaw: Woman of the Ghetto (Live)
- *Dick Gregory: Black Power
- Gary Bartz w/ Andy Bey: Celestial Blues
- Eugene McDaniels: Cherrystones
- *Eddie Harris: Silent Majority (Live at Newport)
- Nina Simone: Backlash Blues
I grew up in the 1970s and that left me with the impression that Black people were the coolest people on the planet. Cinema, music, and art all seemed to make that point constantly.
Nice interview and I have been eyeing the book and CD for a few weeks…I guess I gotta get it.
When I think “Black Panthers”, I think of free breakfasts because that is what I got–though those scrambled eggs sure sucked. (I think they were from a mix? Just saying.)