Soul!
Plot Summary
Soul! or SOUL! (1968–1973) was a pioneering performance/variety television program in the late 1960s and early 1970s produced by New York City PBS affiliate, WNET. It showcased African American music, dance and literature. The program was created and often hosted by Ellis Haizlip, an openly gay African American closely associated with the Black Arts Movement. Poet Nikki Giovanni was also a frequent host. Among the musical performers who appeared on the show were Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind, and Fire, the Dells, Labelle, Ashford and Simpson, Al Green, Tito Puente, McCoy Tyner, Max Roach, and Gladys Knight, as well as African performers Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba. Others who appeared on the program included boxer Muhammad Ali, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, minister (later politician) Jesse Jackson, actor / singer Harry Belafonte, actor Sidney Poitier, and Kathleen Cleaver, wife of Eldridge Cleaver.
Where to watch free (US)
Seasons (6)
Season 1 - 1968
2 episodes
Aired: 1968
Guests include: Barbara Acklin, Patti LaBelle, Betty Shabazz, Sam & Dave, Redd Foxx, The Last Poets, The Manhattans, Billy Taylor, Jimmy McGriff, Mary Wells, Maxine Brown, Hal Jackson, Señorita Carla Pinza, Chuck Jackson, and others.
Season 2 - 1969
1 episode
Aired: 1969
Guests include Ben E. King, James Baldwin, Mario Van Peebles, Jerry Butler, Eddie Floyd, The Last Poets, Shirley Chisholm, Joe Tex, King Curtis, Roberta Flack, Pharoah Sanders, Archie Bell & the Drells, Clarence Carter, Wilson Pickett, and others.
Season 3 - 1970
0 episodes
Guests include: James Earl Jones, Curtis Mayfield, Eddie Floyd, Patti LaBelle, Muhammad Ali, LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka), Pharoah Sanders, Candi Staton, Kool and the Gang, The Emotions, Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, Marion Williams, The Delfonics, Len Chandler, The Manhattans, Kim Weston, Bobby Hebb, Cissy Houston, Herbie Hancock, Nikki Giovanni, and others.
Season 4 - 1971
1 episode
Guests include: Nikki Giovanni, The Sweet Inspirations, The Black Dance Union, Leon Thomas, The Staple Singers, The Three Degrees, Esther Phillips, Andrew Hill, Thelma Houston, Billy Paul, Junior Walker, Clayton Riley, Buddy Miles, Odetta, Betty Carter, Valerie Simpson, Nick Ashford, Roy Haynes, Betty Shabazz, The Reverend Louis Farrakhan, Rufus Thomas, Richie Havens, Herbie Hancock, Mandrill, Max Roach, Hugh Masekela, Ron Carter/M'Boom, Wilson Pickett, Melvin Van Peebles, James Baldwin, Bill Withers, and others.
Season 5 - 1972
9 episodes
Aired: 1972
Guests include: Muhammad Ali, Miriam Makeba, Nikki Giovanni, Jerry Butler, Horace Silver, Bobbi Humphrey, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Al Green, Vertamae Grosvenor, Merry Clayton, The Reverend Jesse Jackson, The Dells, Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Gerry Bledsoe, Amiri Baraka, Tito Puente, Willie Colon, Ron O'Neal, Carmen McRae, Cicely Tyson, Stevie Wonder, and others.
Season 6 - 1973
8 episodes
Aired: 1973
Guests include: Al Green, Earth, Wind & Fire, The Spinners, Stokely Carmichael, Esther Phillips, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Billy Preston, and others.
Production
Thirteen