Nostalgia Kinky

Coming soon from Liberation Hall is the Soul to Soul (1972) collection, featuring the landmark film restored on Blu-ray, and its incredible soundtrack remastered on CD and Vinyl. Here are my thoughts on these essential releases, along with dozens of vintage clippings I discovered.
Pre-order the Blu-ray, Vinyl, and CD from MVD.
You can also pre-order everything, along with a digital copy of the soundtrack, over at Liberation Hall’s Bandcamp.

A year after he captured a primal Elvis Presley at his absolute height in Elvis: That’s The Way It Is (1970), filmmaker Denis Sanders traveled to Africa to chronicle yet another instantly legendary performance. Soul to Soul (1971) is the result of Sanders efforts. A 93-minute celebration of culture and music starring Ike and Tina Turner, Santana, The Staple Singers, Wilson Pickett, and more iconic musical figures, Soul to Soul is a startling companion to a festival with weight.

Originally from New York, Sanders never quite achieved the career he deserved. After winning an Oscar at the dawn of his career for a short, Sanders spent the sixties alternating between film and television. He directed a few interesting films in this period, including the strange Carol Lynley starring Shock Treatment, but the promise of his early career wasn’t fulfilled until he met and filmed Elvis Presley in one of the most memorable documentaries of the seventies.

The incredible Soul to Soul has been out of circulation for two decades. It has now been lovingly restored in 2K from the original film elements by Liberation Hall, along with Reelin’ in the Years. For anyone, like myself, who has previously only experienced the film via Rhino’s 22 year old DVD, this is a major upgrade. Restored at the 4:3 ratio it was shot in, Soul to Soul hasn’t looked this vivid, or sounded this soulful, since its original theatrical run.

Selling a studio-free documentary about the Independence Day concert held in Accra, Ghana, on 6 March 1971 proved to be a tough one for Sanders and distributor Cinerama. Despite this, the film managed a nationwide theatrical release in the late summer of 1972 to mostly positive reviews. The complete theatrical version briefly appeared on VHS in the early eighties, before being withdrawn quickly. At that point, the film and Sanders fell into rights hell. By the time it was finally prepped for DVD release in 2004, Roberta Flack refused to allow her footage to be used. Even though she exclaimed early on that the film “will give everyone a look at what the real Africa is about, the joy of the people and the dignity and pride they have in their freedom and traditions,” she decided that an out-of-tune piano was enough to keep her footage out of the DVD and now Blu-ray.

Nobody will miss Roberta Flack once you get ahold of a smouldering Tina Turner backed by the monstrous Ike Turner playing one devastating guitar lick after another. In fact, every performance here SMOKES, although Sanders’ film is perhaps at its most alive via all of the incredible audience footage. The excitement and joy of everyone there still radiates after all these decades.

Liberation Hall’s Blu-ray comes with a whopping four commentary tracks, as well as an additional Ike and Tina performance. Even in its altered form, Soul to Soul is a more essential experience than most concert films and is highly recommended. I’m so glad it’s back.

As mentioned, Liberation Hall is also releasing the film’s blazing soundtrack, which lives up to an ‘all-killer/no-filler’ label.
Kicking off with Tina Turner enthusiastically saying “Hi, Everybody”, the Soul to Soul soundtrack is still a scorching listen more than fifty years later. Originally released in 1971 by Atlantic Records via a gatefold vinyl edition, the original soundtrack only featured 10 tracks. In contrast, the new expanded Liberty Hall edition features 14 songs, making it a more complete and consistently thrilling listen.

A big selling point for the new soundtrack edition is the inclusion of Ike and Tina performing a splendid “River Deep Mountain High”, which wasn’t included on the original. Unlike the Atlantic LP, the Liberty Hall edition also wisely groups the acts together, so the experience is much closer to the actual show. Ike and Tina are particularly on fire here, with Ike just laying down one demonic funky lick after another. Dude was a beast on guitar.

Along with more Ike and Tina, the Liberty Hall edition features two houseburning tracks from Santana, an artist Atlantic left off completely. “Black Magic Woman” is here, but “Jungle Strut” might be the highlight of the entire album.

Like the film, the two Roberta Flack songs have been removed from this new edition. It’s a bummer, but a small trade-off as the Liberty Hall pressings represent the best presentation of this soundtrack ever released. It is simply more cohesive and enveloping.

Sound-wise, the lossless streaming version I’ve been jamming to on Tidal sounds phenomenal. While I haven’t yet had the opportunity to play the CD or vinyl, this streaming version promises a phenomenal listen. Powerful sounding for a live recording from the early seventies, Soul to Soul via Liberation Hall sounds especially electrifying and vivid.

Celebrated music historian Rob Bowman contributes lengthy liner notes to both the film and soundtrack releases. Liberation Hall and Reelin’ in the Years have done a terrific job resurrecting an important moment in film and music history despite many obstacles. A big recommendation for these releases.

-Jeremy Richey, March 2026-

Enjoy these further clippings related to Soul to Soul that I discovered while writing this piece: