168-Soul to Soul at 50 — A Homecoming Festival in Ghana for African American Artists, 1971

The Kitchen Sisters Present

The Kitchen Sisters & Radiotopia

Society & Culture

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 8 June 2021

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Fifty years ago, a group of some of the top musicians from the United States — Ike and Tina Turner, Wilson Pickett, the Staple Singers, Santana and more -– boarded a plane bound for Ghana to perform in a musical celebration that was dubbed the “Soul to Soul Festival.” Thousands of audience members filled Accra’s Black Star Square for a continuous 15 hours of music. The festival was planned in part for the annual celebration of Ghana’s independence, but also as an invitation to a “homecoming” for these noted African-American artists to return to Africa. This episode revisits the famed music festival on its 50th anniversary and explores the longstanding legacy of cultural exchange with African diasporans originally set forth in the 1950s by Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana. Noted musicologist John Collins, poet and scholar Tsitsi Ella Jaji, concert goers and more.

Produced by Brandi Howell for Afro Pop USA.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Radio to you.
0:02.3	Welcome to the Kitchen Sisters' presenter, PRX.
0:05.7	We are the Kitchen Sisters, Davian Nelson and Nikki Silva.
0:09.7	Whether it's high speed rail or offshore wind, it seems like America is not great at building
0:15.1	infrastructure.
0:16.4	And if you're wondering why that is, then check out a podcast called The Big Dick.
0:21.2	It's the story of one of the most notoriously expensive projects in American history, and
0:26.4	it will change the way you see the infrastructure in your life.
0:29.9	Find The Big Dick from G.B.H. News wherever you listen.
0:33.9	50 years ago, a group of some of the top musicians from the United States, I canteen
0:41.6	a Turner, Wilson Pickett, the Staplesingers, and many more, boarded a plane bound for Ghana
0:47.6	to perform in a musical celebration that was dubbed the Soul to Soul Festival.
0:52.5	Thousands of audience members filled Aakras Black Star Square for a continuous 15 hours
0:58.4	of music.
0:59.4	The festival was planned in part for the annual celebration of Ghana's independence, but
1:04.7	it was also an invitation to a homecoming for these noted African-American artists to return
1:11.1	to Africa.
1:18.2	Today, Soul to Soul produced for Afropop Worldwide by Kitchen Sisters Producer Brandy Hout.
1:27.6	We are hearing Aakantina Turner, recorded live in 1971 at Black Star Square in Aakra
1:36.5	Ghana, when they played alongside a meal of American and Canadian musicians at the Soul
1:42.8	to Soul Music Festival.
1:45.0	There were about 100,000 people in that square, so it was a celebration in itself, but
	...

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