By the summer of 1972, Stax Records had expanded its vision and operations beyond its roots as “the little soul label from Memphis that could.” The company had gradually incorporated executives, producers, musicians and styles from other major musical cities in the US. For example, producer / arranger Don Davis and The Dramatics were signed to Stax out of Detroit, home of “the Motor City sound” (Motown Records), and The Emotions were signed out of Chicago. A west coast office, Stax West, had been opened and was running the direction of Forest Hamilton, son of drummer Chico Hamilton, a leading proponent of cool “west coast jazz.” Isaac Hayes’ triumphant 1971 Shaft: Music from the Motion Picture soundtrack suggested another possible direction, the film score and soundtrack industry.

The August of ‘72 seemed as hot as any other August in Los Angeles except for perhaps the summer of ‘65, the summer when riots erupted in the South Central Los Angeles community known as Watts. At the end of six violent, riotous days and nights, 34 people had been killed and hundreds of neighborhood buildings and properties had been burned and destroyed.

Soon thereafter, local leaders organized the Watts Summer Festival to help channel that community energy and to raise money for providing ways to channel it. Hamilton pulled Stax into the summer of ‘72 festival and a benefit concert that would simultaneously expose the label’s repertoire to, while raising money for, the sizeable Los Angeles constituency was quickly realized. Stax agreed that its artists would perform for free. Tickets were priced at $1 to be affordable for as many as possible. To many, Wattstax was more than a play on “Watts” and “Stax”; it was meant to imply “the black Woodstock.”

Wattstax filled the Los Angeles Coliseum with more than 110,000 revelers. It lasted seven hours, featuring The Bar-Kays, Rufus Thomas, the Staples Singers, and others, with Hayes as headliner. It was filmed, the first project for Stax Films, and audio was recorded by Wally Heider. Performances by other Stax artists such as Johnnie Taylor and Luther Ingram, who appeared at area venues throughout the time of the festival, were also recorded and filmed.

The concert raised more than $73,000 for local charities. The filmed concert documentary Wattstax: The Living Word premiered in Los Angeles, coinciding with the release of a companion double live album with the same name, the following February. With no shortage of material, Wattstax: The Living Word 2, a second double album, was released in the fall of ‘73.

Hayes’ climactic performance of “Theme from Shaft” could not appear in the film, and consequently appeared on neither album; his contract with MGM studios, which owned the movie Shaft, forbid Hayes from performing music from Shaft in any other motion picture.  By 2004, the terms of that MGM/Stax agreement had long since expired, and Hayes’ “Theme from Shaft” was restored to the climax of the 30th Anniversary of Wattstax Special Edition DVD released that year, as was its companion Wattstax: Highlights from the Soundtrack CD. Ingram’s smoldering “(If Loving You is Wrong) I Don’t Want to Be Right,” Albert King’s stinging “I’ll Play the Blues For You,” and Thomas’ psychedelic funk teeter-totter “The Breakdown,” along with Hayes’ resplendent “Shaft,” reflect like gemstones their brilliant, enduring artistry.

In a press statement released at the time of the festival, Stax Vice President Larry Shaw said, “Any strong record label could do something like this to support their community. We hope that Wattstax ‘72 will be a model for other companies to put forth similar events. This sort of all-star benefit is not so humanitarian as to be entirely without profit. And it’s a rare opportunity that lets you do something corporately valuable without being guilty of exploitation.”

“Sure, Stax could have just given the Watts Festival $100,000. But, this way we have a prototype for something that can be done by many other record companies in many other cities, and it involves the community rather than being a handout. A successful all-star concert like this also focuses pride in a community image.”

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