On the heels of the Civil Rights Movement came a man with a vision and an idea. This man was growing rather weary of being an insurance salesperson and a traffic police officer. Despite having only a few hundred dollars in his bank account and a family to raise, the U.S Marine who was a Korean War veteran known as Don Cornelius would pursue a career in broadcasting. During the 1960′s, a world-famous producer named Dick Clark produced American Bandstand. Essentially, “American Bandstand” was a nationally syndicated show that featured teenagers dancing to the current Top 40 hits and special guests ranging from Jerry Lee Lewis to Run DMC would special guest on the show and lip-sync their current smash hit. Don Corenlius, while being an announcer on the Chicago radio station WVON, had a vision. This man felt that the African-American community was not being represented well enough on the heels of the Civil Rights Movement. Don envisioned a variety show whose target audience would be more towards the African-American population and he created a variety-show called “Soul Train” in the 1960s.
The show, which was aired locally in Chicago, received so much success and fanfare that the show packed up and moved to Los Angeles, California and received national syndication. The very first episode aired on October 2nd, 1971 and it featured Bobby Hutton, The Honey Cone, Eddie Kendricks, and one of the most famous Motown groups in history, Gladys Knight and The Pips. Check out the video below from the very first episode since it became nationally syndicated.
This particular variety show brought about a widespread popularity to Motown, disco, r & b, and gospel music. This show gave birth to the “soul train line”, where two lines would form on either side and people would take turns showcasing their dance moves. This was more than a show, it was an escape for people to celebrate life, show off the latest dance crazes and fashions, and to enjoy the music. “Soul Train” was also famous for its “Soul Train Scramble Board”, which two contestants would attempt to unscramble a name on the board, and the name was either a special guest or who is currently topping the charts. “Soul Train” gave a jumpstart to the careers of the Jackson Five, Aretha Franklin, The Staples Singers, Barry White, and so much more. Celebrities such as Rosie Perez, MC Hammer, Pebbles, Nick Cannon, and even Walter Payton would appear on the show and dance. The “Soul Train Awards” presented awards for music production, and for awards in soul, hip-hop, r & b, blues, and gospel music. They even named an award after Sammy Davis Jr. for “Entertainer of the Year’. The episode did not end without Don Corenlius’ baritone voice which became a catchphrase, “and you can bet your last money, that it’s going to be a stone gas, honey! And as always, we wish you peace, love, and soul!”. Ironically, Don Cornelius, who was a lover of soul music, became quite uncomfortable with the upcoming trend in music. He never understood the love and the trend of hip-hop music. He reluctantly put the hip-hop guests on the show in order to maintain the audience. He also became quite uncomfortable with the east-coast dance trends that were sexually suggestive dances. This decision ended up alienating the middle-aged African American audience, and Don stepped down as a host in 1993. Don was also famous for telling rapper Kurtis Blow to his face, that he didn’t understand the hip-hop craze.Don continued to work behind the scenes for Soul Train while various hosts would attempt to fill his shoes, however, the show would never peak in its popularity. The longest-running nationally syndicated show in history,(even longer than Entertainment Tonight and Wheel of Fortune), would go off the air in 2006.
Don’s last public appearance was in 2009 when BET presented The O’Jay’s with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Suffering from dementia and early stages of Alzheimer’s Diseases, Don Cornelius committed suicide on February 1st, 2012.
Spike Lee said it best when he described Soul Train as an “urban time capsule”. Without this show that served as a catapult for many artists and musicians, there wouldn’t have been the huge popularity of Motown, gospel, r & b, and disco music in mainstream America. The show allowed people of all walks of life to learn about a culture and an idea that through music, peace, love, and harmony is possible. Soul Train was more than a television show during the Cornelius Era. It was a revival of the African-American spirit, it was his vision that people would come together to dance and to have a good time, or a gas if you will. It was his vision that people would forget about their problems for an hour and cast their worries aside and celebrate life for an hour. For your vision Mr. Cornelius, The Monk’s House thanks you for the wonderful music that you introduced to us. Without you, we might not have heard the sweet harmonies of Gladys Knight and The Pips or the soulful singing of Barry White’s bass vocals. In a society that desperately needed to learn about tolerance, celebrating diversity and the individual like, and have the hope for racial harmony, Mr. Cornelius provided that springboard through his vision. Through your vision, you made the world a better place, and The Monk’s House says Thank You. Check out the perfect song to the “Soul Train Line” below.
“They backslide back to church and call a minister’s bluff