Wattstax: The Living Word
is a two-CD document of the all-day festival of
Stax
acts in Los Angeles in 1972 contains decent performances by
the Staple Singers
,
Eddie Floyd
the Bar-Kays
Carla Thomas
Rufus Thomas
Albert King
the Soul Children
and
Isaac Hayes
. It's not remarkably different from what you'll find on those artists' records, however, and
does none of his more popular singles, his contribution being limited to a 17-minute cover of
Bill Withers
'
"Ain't No Sunshine."
Check out
' outrageous eight-minute
soul
-
rock
workout on
"Son of Shaft,"
though, which goes into some
Santana
-like grooves in the middle;
launches into three dance
novelties
in a row (
"The Breakdown,"
"Do the Funky Chicken,"
"Do the Funky Penguin"
). Note: a couple of these cuts (
"Oh La De Da"
"Lay Your Loving on Me"
), although programmed as if they were recorded live at the event, are actually versions that were re-recorded in the studio. ~ Richie Unterberger