FLASHBACK – Dance Break with Rufus Thomas

This rousing rendition of the Funky Chicken was part of the Wattstax Festival concert at the LA Coliseum on August 20, 1972.

From Wikipedia: The concert was “organized by Memphis’s Stax Records to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the Watts riots. Wattstax was seen by some as “the Afro-American answer to Woodstock.” To enable as many members of the black community in L.A. to attend as possible, tickets were sold for only $1.00 each. The Reverend Jesse Jackson gave the invocation, which included his “I Am – Somebody” poem, which was recited in a call and response with the assembled stadium crowd. In the film, interspersed between songs are interviews with Richard Pryor, Ted Lange and others who discuss the black experience in America.”