Greatest Festival Moments in Rock and Roll History: Wattstax 1972

Isaac Hayes at Wattstax, 1972

Taking place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Wattstax was organized by Memphis-based Stax Records as a way to recognize the seventh anniversary of the Watts Riots. Isaac Hayes' set began with him being driven to the stage in a gold station wagon, as emcee Jesse Jackson hyped the crowd. The band played the theme from Shaft as Hayes walked on stage in a hood and cloak. Hayes threw the cloak off, revealing his bare chest covered in a vest of gold chains. And that's all before he sang a single note! The performance that followed was perfect hot buttered soul.

Isaac Hayes, "Shaft," Wattstax, 1972, with introduction by Richard Pryor.

 

Isaac Hayes, "Rolling Down a Mountainside," Wattstax, 1972.

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Songwriters to Soundmen with Al Bell of Stax Records, Wattstax (February 2008).

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