Miriam Makeba passed away on Nov. 10. We unearthed an episode of the late 60s/early 70s show Soul! from the WNET archives, including a number of songs performed by Makeba, an in-depth interview with her about her political activities, and a little about her then-husband, Black Panther Stokely Carmichael. Watch… (originally aired: January 5, 1972)
Part I:
An Interview/Performance with Miriam Makeba [Carmichael], conducted by Poet Nikki Giovanni
* The Delfonics perform “Trying To Make a Fool of Me”–Makeba starts at 6:30 in.
* Makeba and band perform “Brand New Day”
* Host/Poet Nikki Giovanni interviews Makeba on the differences and similarities between (pre-apartheid) South Africa and America, Makeba’s husband Stokely Carmichael, the difference between men in Africa and in America.
* Makeba performs “Liwa Wechi” with interpretive dance by Judy Dearing
* Makeba performs “La Guinee Guine”
* Makeba performs “Amampondo”
28 minutes.
(Notes: This video is Part I of this episode of Soul! from 1972; Part III of contains Makeba singing as the credits roll)
Part II
An interview with Muhammad Ali:
Ali talks with Nikki Giovanni about his recent fights, Wide World of Sports, Joe Frazier, and how he doesn’t recommend young black men take up boxing.
14 minutes.
Part III
Performances by the Delfonics AND Miriam Makeba (again):
* The Delfonics do “Didn’t I Blow Your Mind This Time”
* The Delfonics perform “The Love That I Gave to You”
* Nikki Giovanni reads from her book Gemini.
* Miriam Makeba performs an African Pop song, “Mo Lou Yame”.
17 minutes.
more about Soul!
Aired 1968-73
Hosts: Ellis Haizlip, Nikki Giovanni, more
The entertainment-variety-talk show was not only a vehicle to promote black artistry, community and culture, but also a platform for political expression and the fight for social justice. It showcased classic live musical performances from funk, soul, jazz, and world musicians, but had in-depth, extraordinary interviews with political, sports, literary figures and more. It was the first program on WNET/Thirteen to be recorded on the then-new technology of videotape.
I watched “Soul” religiously, loved it, and remember this specific episode, with The Delfonics having just arrived on the scene. Ms. Makeba, of course, was very well-known at this point. (BTW, you failed to note her song “Amampondo” in Segment One, one of her classics!) Thanks WNET for giving us this wonderful piece of nostalgia from your classic archives!!
Wonderful!!!! So many memories evoked by watching this footage. Thank you!!!
I,M INTRSTED IN MIRIAM MAKIBA, CAN YOU SEND ME SOME VIDIO,S
Classic vintage. Kisses….
the ” click song ‘ still facinates me
thank you wnet for posting this footage. born in 1978; california. part of the hip hop generation that through our parents record collections and sampling helped keep the spirit of years past alive. there are many more just like me who anxiously await a box set of SOUL! i saw a clip of horace silver, andy bey, bobby humphrey, lee morgan, cecil bridgewater + more- on SOUL- amazing! i’ve seen stevie and al green on SOUL! can we get some funk like that on tv today? please? there’s some really exciting jazz talents like the Robert Glasper Trio- young jazz cats; versed- they need the kind of exposure only public televsion can provide. soul acts like Van Hunt! Hip Hop acts like Mikah 9! how are those classial sales doing? american folk music? they get an hour anyway. can the drummers get some! peace & thank you again for posting these great clips. Much love to Miriam Makeba & Kwame Toure & all the ancestors. E. Monster.
I hope the people at WNET are not using the lack of comments here as a negative. The real action and excitement over these episodes are on the blogs and the soul music websites. Soulful Detroit, Soul-Patrol, and Deephouse Page are some of the websites I have seen with extensive threads, not to mention the 3 or 4 diffrent email referrals I received personally to this website. PEOPLE are excited and WE CARE. Undertstand THIS. And then? Give us more…..
Wow! This is amazing. Total classic! Wish we had 13classicTV so we can see shows like this again. It’s lucky that we can view stuff like this online.
[...] New Day,” “Mo Lou Yame” and “La Guinee Guine”) in 1971, go here. An added bonus of the Makeba feature is that Muhammed Ali also came on the show. If you [...]