The good: Fifty performances from many of the most venerable soul and R&B artists of all time; from Aretha Franklin, James Brown and Marvin Gaye, to Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield and The Jackson 5. Though lip-synching was par for the course on Soul Train, the artists featured in this collection prove why they became legends, imbuing their vocal-less performances with moxie and magnetism. Though there is a shortfall in what could be described as truly the “best of” moments, clips of some of the shows rare live performances, such as the Queen of Soul and Smokey Robinson’s duet of “Ooo Baby Baby,” are charming, they are the type of rare one-offs that a “best of” collection should really be about.
The bad: The powerhouse performances give this collection heart, but leaving out the show’s other popular segments, robs it of its soul. Though Soul Train was most certainly a major platform for black artists to have their music heard, it was also the premier place for ya mama and ‘nem to flex their fancy ‘fits and footwork. Instead of including the best footage of the Soul Train Line, the Soul Train Gang, or even the Soul Train Scramble Board, you get to watch the theme song and Johnson Products commercials play ad nauseam. Those who grew up watching Soul Train on Saturday mornings would tell you that it was the dancing, the clothing, and the camaraderie created by the music that made for some of the show’s most memorable moments. It’s too bad this DVD collection doesn’t give more of those moments their just due.
The ugly: The whole thing seems slapdash and simplistic, not thoughtfully curated like an audio-visual anthology of an iconic television show should be. This collection, the first DVD release of Soul Train footage ever, presented a rare opportunity to craft an artful commemoration of a trailblazing show. It seems opportunity knocked and no one answered the door, and what we’re left with is more of a hodgepodge of lowlights than a cohesive collage of crowning moments.
There’s no rhyme or reason to how the performances are organized. Editing is choppy or just plain odd, producers glossed over more than two decades-worth of episodes, and of the 18 artists featured in the collection, only two are women. Bonus footage includes interviews with artists (Smokey Robinson, Brian McKnight, Jody Watley) and behind-the-scenesters (Don Cornelius, Clarence Avant), but they’re mostly overlong, uninteresting, and lack any apparent connections to the “best of” performances that make up the bulk of the collection. The bits and pieces presented here do little to show Soul Train in its true context. If there’s anything to be learned from this collection, it’s that sometimes, the parts don’t constitute the whole.
published on Okayplayer.com