Sing Sing Prison Concert (1972) Joan Baez, Thomas Beitard, Tito Butler | Hollywood Classics movie
B.B. King & Joan Baez and other great artists came to New York's Maximum Security Prison, Sing Sing, and gave one of the best shows of their lives. B.B. called it one of his greatest performances. New York's Daily News called it one of the greatest moments in live entertainment.
#hollywoodclassics #classichollywood #hollywoodclassicmovies #oldhollywoodclassicfilms #classichollywoodmovies #hollywood #classic
#hollywoodclassics #classichollywood #hollywoodclassicmovies #oldhollywoodclassicfilms #classichollywoodmovies #hollywood #classic
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00:00Hi, uh, what's your name, sir?
00:00:27Uh, yeah, behind me is the, uh, the Hudson River and, uh, panorama of the Palisades.
00:00:40Maybe you think that I'm up in, uh, Cascades somewhere, but, uh, you're wrong.
00:00:48Though I'm here and the river is behind me, it's true, I'm up the river.
00:00:54I'm up in a place where I'm just a number and a face among 1,200 other faces and other names and numbers.
00:01:09This is a place where people such as, uh, the famous Willie Sutton, the Rosenbergs, uh, Trigger Burke, Joe Bellacci, they all pass through here.
00:01:23This is the, uh, arson and correction facility known the world over as the famous Sing Sing Prison.
00:01:35Goin' on a journey up the Hudson, goin' on a lonesome train.
00:01:50Goin' on a journey up the Hudson, goin' on a lonesome train.
00:02:02They can put me in the death house or keep me in the same same jail.
00:02:15I wrote and asked the warden why they call the jail the same same.
00:02:27I wrote and asked the warden why they call the jail the same same.
00:02:39He said, stand here by this rock pile and listen to them hammers ring.
00:02:52Big tunes in the courthouse, paper sellin' for 50 cents.
00:03:03Big tunes in the courthouse, paper sellin' for 50 cents.
00:03:15All the judge tryin' to jail me, my lawyer pleadin' self defense.
00:03:26River, I'll send me to that mean old jail.
00:03:35You can send me up the river, I'll send me to that mean old jail.
00:03:48I killed my man, and I don't need no bail.
00:03:59This is my cell here, where I keep all my supplies, where I can get them handy.
00:04:04My fish tank is over here, at night I pass away my time, look at my fish.
00:04:09And I got my refrigerator here out in the window, where I keep all my supplies, keep it fresh and cold.
00:04:16There's a little cabin here, where I keep my underwear and other shirt and stuff.
00:04:21Then here I keep my, my tuna fish and sardines and stuff, whatever I need when I cook down the hill.
00:04:31And this is my bed here at night, this is where I sleep.
00:04:35Good morning, B.B.
00:04:40How's it going, man?
00:04:45All right now, I guess.
00:04:54Had a good day today?
00:04:56Yeah, it's gonna be a fine day.
00:05:00I'm like an old engine, I'm gonna start turning now, once I start turning I'm all right.
00:05:06I'm ready.
00:05:08I'm surprised they haven't taken down my clothes line, because they usually say people hang out with them, you know.
00:05:15My desk, my chair, you know, the only thing they let you have, you know, when you come in here, man, is like what you see.
00:05:23Tallest bowl, six inches from my head, and a, and a wash basin, man, that's it.
00:05:30All these years went by when everybody thought I didn't wear makeup.
00:05:35It was this big image, you know, natural.
00:05:39I wore makeup the whole time.
00:05:41I just smeared it around a little bit so they couldn't tell.
00:05:46Some prisons you're not allowed to wear perfume in.
00:05:50I don't want to excite anybody at the warden.
00:05:56They don't have no ownership in here.
00:05:59These little things, they intensify their meanings, man, like the books is all really I have.
00:06:07Then the pictures from home means a great deal.
00:06:11Several of them I had to put them down because I just couldn't take looking at them no more.
00:06:17A woman representing, you know, like to me, beauty.
00:06:21She has a beautiful, beautiful face.
00:06:23And a short ass piece, you know.
00:06:26Hey, man, you don't got a short ass piece, you're just not a con.
00:06:31Hey, yeah, hey, look at him, Dick.
00:06:35Yeah, I like that, don't you like that?
00:06:38Now, how about a brown?
00:06:40Yeah, yeah, get a brown, brown, brown shirt.
00:06:45Yeah, I like that.
00:06:47And then we'll wear brown shoes with the, with, you know.
00:06:51I think the fellas ought to dig that.
00:06:54This is the, uh, decorations for backstage.
00:07:02We're doing, uh, we did, uh, Joan Baez, B.B. King and the Voices.
00:07:08And they're gonna get equal billing.
00:07:11I've been involved for almost a year now.
00:07:14And, uh, since I was given the assignment as stage manager, I feel that this is my, part of my responsibility.
00:07:21He didn't do all this kind of stuff. What did this stage look like?
00:07:23Like a piece of shit.
00:07:25Oh, we're gonna start working on a film today.
00:07:28And this is the first time we have a film take on Cin Cin.
00:07:31First time, and I hope it won't be the last one either.
00:07:34And we thank you, all you guys, for everything you've done.
00:07:37It's coming.
00:07:38And we're gonna have B.B. King, the Voices of East Highland, Joan Baez, and all the guys from the Cin Cin.
00:07:44All right. Back to work.
00:08:14Well, we're going to Cin Cin.
00:08:34I've never been to it before.
00:08:36I've played many recombinatories.
00:08:41Never been up here.
00:08:45Want an interview about something?
00:08:47Want an interview?
00:08:48We're supposed to have turkey today, but them seagulls is gone up there.
00:08:52You understand?
00:08:54They got you good, boy.
00:09:04We have turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, peas, pie, coffee, milk.
00:09:15The regular procedures that you have in any institution.
00:09:19This is about the best Thanksgiving that I had since last Thanksgiving.
00:09:26First of all, I didn't do it.
00:09:28I didn't do it.
00:09:30The food in here is terrible.
00:09:32I really mean it.
00:09:33You cannot eat this food.
00:09:35If it wasn't for my parents and the other parents of the guys that I hang out with, we never would be eating.
00:09:40How much time do you got?
00:09:42Oh, I got many.
00:09:43I got five years.
00:09:44I should be going home by next month anyway.
00:09:48What are you here for?
00:09:49Oh, I'm here for armed robbery.
00:09:52You want robbery?
00:09:53Oh, yeah.
00:09:54Is that right?
00:09:55Sure.
00:09:56I'm not proud of it.
00:09:58In fact, I don't get enough understanding.
00:10:01I hope the sun doesn't come out.
00:10:05See you inside.
00:10:06Yeah.
00:10:29Lord, Lord, they shut your Judson down.
00:10:33Lord, Lord, they laid him in the ground.
00:10:37Push it back up on the bar.
00:10:41Where is this going?
00:10:43That's the organ speaker.
00:10:45That's the organ?
00:10:46That's the organ.
00:10:47Put the organ over there.
00:10:48On the other side of the organ.
00:10:49You can put one over there and keep one over there.
00:10:50Ain't that the organ?
00:10:52No, that's the piano.
00:10:53Keep one over there and keep one over there.
00:10:56Hey, watch my back.
00:10:57What are you?
00:10:58This goes on the other side of the organ.
00:11:00I told you that.
00:11:01No, I told you that.
00:11:02I don't know.
00:11:03Because I gave him the keys this morning.
00:11:05You gave him the keys then?
00:11:07Yeah, I gave them to Pat Canavan to open up that room.
00:11:10Hey, Sarge, he's down at Crystal Science Room.
00:11:12Hey, come on.
00:11:13You want to let me out?
00:11:14Open it up.
00:11:15You want to let me out, Sarge?
00:11:16No.
00:11:17No, you stay.
00:11:18Visit 149628 Hoffman.
00:11:245292
00:11:273960151433
00:11:33152302 visit.
00:11:54152302 visit.
00:12:08Well, I think that we are here to provide as much protection for outside people as possible
00:12:14because anything can happen.
00:12:17We are nervous and excited.
00:12:19We're going to do everything we can to put as much protection on these people as possible.
00:12:22Not that we expect anything.
00:12:24We don't expect the population to be tough.
00:12:26We expect them to get all excited, yes.
00:12:28We don't expect anything.
00:12:29You think you can handle anything that might happen?
00:12:30I think we can.
00:12:31I know we can.
00:12:33Right now, everybody's coming in,
00:12:36and they're trying to get themselves situated in a seat.
00:12:41I'm nervous because I'm anxious for this thing to start
00:12:45so once we get started, we start picking up one, two, three,
00:12:48and I won't be nervous no more.
00:12:50We need some princes.
00:12:51Anybody want to donate some?
00:12:54All inmate performers report to the chapel.
00:12:59Right now.
00:13:03Yes?
00:13:04Can I have everybody else that's going to help us here on stage,
00:13:07and then we'll get everything together so that we're together.
00:13:09We got it here.
00:13:10Okay.
00:13:11That's the village of, how do you pronounce it, Austin?
00:13:14Austin.
00:13:15Austin, yeah.
00:13:18Well, we're here.
00:13:21Excuse me.
00:13:23This is Dave Hoffman.
00:13:25He's the executive producer and director of this picture
00:13:29and the institution today.
00:13:30Would you like to say a few words?
00:13:35My partner and I have been working for this concert for about a year.
00:13:40You haven't seen most of us, and I guess I haven't seen most of you,
00:13:43but it took us a year to get this thing to come off,
00:13:45and I still don't know what it's going to be like.
00:13:47Joan Baez and B.B. King aren't even in here yet.
00:13:50There's some hang-up outside.
00:13:52I understand that people don't want to be photographed,
00:13:55so anyone who's behind that line will not be shot by the cameras.
00:13:59Okay?
00:14:04Remember, Thursday night is Latin night at the Cheetah.
00:14:07Stop it, fellas.
00:14:09The food, the man with the food.
00:14:11There he is.
00:14:14Hey, wait, wait, wait.
00:14:16It's the comida, brother.
00:14:18Hey, ¿qué te adelanto? What's happening?
00:14:20What took you so long?
00:14:21Hey, not them, us.
00:14:23What's happening with this dude?
00:14:24He's one of us.
00:14:26They're beating us in that concert.
00:14:29You go over there, you think you're in Shop Rite.
00:14:32Listen, if you can't see a dude that look like a Martian, don't worry.
00:14:35It's only the camera crew.
00:14:38Joan Baez just came in.
00:14:39I just got the wire, fellas.
00:14:42Joan Baez just came in, man.
00:14:44She got her together self in here.
00:14:46She'll be in soon.
00:14:48There it is, fellas.
00:14:50Yeah?
00:14:52There it is.
00:14:55There's the wall.
00:14:58Good.
00:14:59God, look at that.
00:15:00Yeah, man.
00:15:02Anyway, I want you all to know that we're going to have a hip happening
00:15:04with Indio in the front.
00:15:07Let's go, let's go.
00:15:15Indio, gentlemen.
00:15:16Indio.
00:15:17Indio right here.
00:15:18Come on, let's go get an F for Indio.
00:15:37Beat him.
00:15:38Beat him.
00:15:39Beat him.
00:15:40Beat him.
00:15:41Beat him.
00:15:42Beat him.
00:15:43Beat him.
00:15:56Indio.
00:15:57Yeah.
00:15:58Tournament's happening, man.
00:16:00Yes?
00:16:01BB King, part of the group for the concert today.
00:16:05BB King.
00:16:06So you going inside or what?
00:16:07Yes, sir.
00:16:08I think they're having a dinner inside there.
00:16:10Let me check over here.
00:16:11All right.
00:16:16What do you think about the show that's taking place today, man?
00:16:19Well, the damn thing haven't started yet.
00:16:26It ain't started yet.
00:16:27We're waiting for, is Joan Baez going to be here or what?
00:16:29Yes, sir.
00:16:30Yeah, well, I think this is going to be nice.
00:16:32You got a whole bunch of sisters up there, too.
00:16:34Yeah, well, I think that's going to be beautiful.
00:16:36I appreciate that.
00:16:38Let me see what's happening here.
00:16:40Are we going to get it together?
00:16:42All right.
00:16:43All right, the voice is ready.
00:16:45Huh?
00:16:46The voice is ready now.
00:16:47Wow.
00:16:48Well, here they are, man.
00:16:52They're getting ready now, man.
00:16:54Is everything cool?
00:16:55I'm going to leave you now and let you have a tremendous happening.
00:16:59Solid, fellas.
00:17:00Hey, the voices will be solid.
00:17:02The voices will be solid, fellas.
00:17:04♪♪
00:17:33♪♪
00:17:53♪♪
00:18:13♪♪
00:18:33♪♪
00:18:53♪♪
00:19:13♪♪
00:19:33♪♪
00:19:53♪♪
00:20:13♪♪
00:20:33♪♪
00:20:45It seemed like they would have told them about it.
00:20:48It seemed like nobody knowing about it here.
00:20:51We have quite a few people in the institution now.
00:20:54We must have your cooperation, especially the ladies on the bus here.
00:20:59We're not used to this sort of thing.
00:21:01But we're trying to put as much protection as we can on each and every one of you.
00:21:06So you have to pay attention or you're going to get lost.
00:21:10And you're going to be confused.
00:21:12If you get lost in here, that means we can't go home and eat Thanksgiving dinner.
00:21:16I can't go home if you don't come out.
00:21:18Don't you understand?
00:21:19That's right.
00:21:21This is the most opportune time for one of these guys to go.
00:21:25Three years ago today, there was two guys that hit out right down there.
00:21:31We couldn't go home until about 11 o'clock Thanksgiving night.
00:21:35We've been here for years.
00:21:37We know what's happening.
00:21:38We know the people that we're dealing with.
00:21:40These people in here that you're dealing with are cunning and they're shrewd.
00:21:45Freedom in the spirit, y'all.
00:21:47Right on.
00:22:19Open up your hearts to what I'm in.
00:22:23I'm in the whole world.
00:22:28You've got to know there's a million boys and girls who are young and black.
00:22:46And that's so black.
00:22:54You are young and dead and black.
00:23:00We must begin.
00:23:03We've got to begin tonight.
00:23:08There's a whole lot of world waiting for you.
00:23:16How I long, how I long to know the truth.
00:23:21Said there are times when I look back and I'm haunted.
00:23:33I am haunted by my youth.
00:23:36But my joy, but my joy, but my joy.
00:23:44Is that we can all be proud to say it should be.
00:23:52Young and dead.
00:23:56Young and dead.
00:23:59Young and dead.
00:24:03Young and dead.
00:24:06Young and dead.
00:24:11Young and dead.
00:24:13Young and dead.
00:24:15Young and dead.
00:24:17Young and dead.
00:24:19Young and dead.
00:24:21Young and dead.
00:24:22Young and dead.
00:24:24Young and dead.
00:24:26Young and dead.
00:24:27Young and dead.
00:24:28Young and dead.
00:24:29Young and dead.
00:24:30Young and dead.
00:24:31Young and dead.
00:24:32Young and dead.
00:24:33Young and dead.
00:24:34Young and dead.
00:24:35Young and dead.
00:24:36Young and dead.
00:24:37Young and dead.
00:24:38Young and dead.
00:24:39When they say Harlem, they weren't jiving
00:24:42were they fellas?
00:24:44That's sure enough ghetto soul jumpin' off.
00:24:46showing up ghetto soul jumping off.
00:24:52Hey listen.
00:24:55How you doing man, huh?
00:24:59Hey listen man, I got Jimmy Walker,
00:25:02the man who'll always be at that up-low.
00:25:06He's gonna do a thing for us.
00:25:07So Jimmy, come on out here, man.
00:25:08He's gonna let you know about who's really happening.
00:25:11Somebody else.
00:25:11Jimmy Walker.
00:25:13Let's have this, god damn.
00:25:15I just finished a thing at the Apollo with Melvin Watt.
00:25:20Nah, shit, you know, when I work with white folks,
00:25:23you know, if I don't do well, it don't bother me.
00:25:25But if you don't do well at the Apollo,
00:25:28the backstage leads into alleyway.
00:25:30And dudes be waiting for you back there, you know.
00:25:37You wasn't funny, sucker!
00:25:42I was coming in with B.B. and the boys
00:25:49and we was doing a little drinking.
00:25:54And I was sitting in the bar over at 125th Street
00:25:57with the niggas.
00:25:58The niggas are something, ain't they?
00:26:00I'm glad I'm one.
00:26:05Shit, it's tough to be a nigga nowadays.
00:26:08All these colored people and Negroes out here,
00:26:10it's tough to be a nigga.
00:26:13But I was sitting in the bar
00:26:14and there's always an argument in the bar.
00:26:16Guy sitting there, he says, hold on, man, hold on.
00:26:19The woman sat next to me, man.
00:26:25Nah, man, the woman sat next to me.
00:26:27Don't be bad-mouthing.
00:26:31You talking to sweet Willie Johnson.
00:26:35Pull something out, nigga!
00:26:39Pull something out!
00:26:41So you got a gun.
00:26:50Shoot me!
00:26:54Shoot me, nigga!
00:26:56What you gonna do?
00:26:57I said, shoot me, goddamn!
00:27:01Shoot me, nigga!
00:27:05Shoot me!
00:27:17Oh, wow.
00:27:19I wanna come on back,
00:27:20but right now I wanna bring on a fabulous young lady
00:27:23who's been an idol of mine for years,
00:27:26and I really dug her.
00:27:27And I think y'all will really enjoy what she's doing
00:27:29because she's really working,
00:27:30doing her thing in her own way.
00:27:32And need I say any more than Ms. Joan Baez.
00:27:35Come on.
00:27:40Important, important, man.
00:27:41Listen, 1-3-5-6-2-3 and 1-4-4-5-3-3.
00:27:46The deaf wants to see you immediately, man.
00:27:48Let's get it together.
00:27:51Hey, listen, man.
00:27:53Hey, here she is, man.
00:27:55Ms. Joan Baez.
00:27:57Come on, let's hear it for her.
00:27:59She's outta sight!
00:28:01Let's hear it for Ms. Joan Baez.
00:28:13I'd like to start off by singing a song
00:28:15called, I Shall Be Released.
00:28:19♪ They say everything can be replaced ♪
00:28:25♪ They say the distance is not near ♪
00:28:33♪ And I remember every face of every man who put me here ♪
00:28:48♪ I see my light come shining through the darkness ♪
00:28:54♪ I see my light coming from the west down to the east ♪
00:29:06♪ Any day now, any day now, I shall be released ♪
00:29:24♪ I understand the man in this lonely crowd ♪
00:29:31♪ A man who swears he's not to blame ♪
00:29:39♪ All day long I hear him shouting so loud ♪
00:29:46♪ Keeps crying out that he was framed ♪
00:29:51♪ I see my light come shining from the west down to the east ♪
00:30:09♪ Any day now, any day now, we shall be released ♪
00:30:21♪ Released! Thank you very much for letting us in this place. I
00:30:43know you're not crazy about being here, but I'm really glad that – I mean, some prisons
00:30:49don't let us in even, you know?
00:30:58And the most thing that we could hope for today
00:31:01is that everybody have a good time.
00:31:06Okay, this is my sister Mimi Farina.
00:31:20My country is Bolivia, a great nation.
00:31:32I adore you my life, I love you all.
00:31:38I adore you my life, I love you all.
00:31:46That's my song, my love song.
00:31:53Long live my country Bolivia, as I love it.
00:31:59Long live my country Bolivia, as I love it.
00:32:15La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la.
00:32:29Long live my country Bolivia, as I love it.
00:32:34Long live my country Bolivia, as I love it.
00:32:41I don't know where my life is now, where is my heart?
00:33:11My first bus was in 1956. After that, I've been coming in and out of prison.
00:33:17I tried to stay out a few times, but I couldn't get myself together outside.
00:33:22And I have been spending this 14 out of the past 17 years in and out of prisons, county jails, doing all kinds of bits.
00:33:32This is my cat, Pinto. I had him since he was a little baby. Be cool. Relax.
00:33:39A little scared. I built a house there for him.
00:33:43And at lunchtime, when I have time, I go in the mess hall, pick up some leftovers from the inmates, and bring it down to him.
00:33:55How do you feel about that cat?
00:33:57I like him, because I got him since he was a little baby, and every time I call him or anything, he just comes running to me.
00:34:03Like I said, Pinto, Pinto, two or three times, he comes running, he starts meowing, that means he wants food.
00:34:10So I gave him the food, and everything is straight. But I'm going to take him home when I get out.
00:34:16Right, Pinto? Come on, don't be scared. Go ahead and run. Go ahead. Go ahead.
00:34:24Beautiful cat.
00:34:26We're going to bring some right from the organization on to do their thing.
00:34:30A little quickie, a little quickie, and a little quick thing.
00:34:37I want you all to bring on, because they have a message to deliver.
00:34:41I want you all to dig the message, and dig where they're coming from.
00:34:44Let's check out our own workshop, the drama workshop. Come on, let's hear it for them.
00:34:56Wait a minute.
00:35:05What's up, what's up, what's up?
00:35:35What's up?
00:35:55What happened?
00:35:58Hey, you! You're under arrest.
00:36:04I didn't do it. I didn't do it.
00:36:07I didn't do it. I didn't do it.
00:36:15All right, son. Now sing, sing, prance. Do what we tell you to, or else.
00:36:20I didn't do it.
00:36:24Good morning. I am the prison psychiatrist. I'm here to determine your sanity.
00:36:27Did you commit the crime?
00:36:28I didn't do it.
00:36:29Did you commit the crime?
00:36:30I didn't do it. I didn't do it.
00:36:32Goodbye.
00:36:34Goodbye. Goodbye.
00:36:37I was the parole board. We're here to determine your medical status.
00:36:40Did you commit this crime?
00:36:41I didn't do it.
00:36:42Did you do it?
00:36:43I didn't do it. I didn't do it.
00:36:50Boy, ask your employer to check your background.
00:36:53Now, if you didn't tell us you had a record, you're fined.
00:36:55I didn't do it.
00:36:57Oh, my God.
00:36:59What have you done to me?
00:37:01I didn't do it.
00:37:04Get out of my house. Get out.
00:37:11You're going back for parole by the end of the month.
00:37:19You're going back for parole by the end of the month.
00:37:43Hey!
00:37:47Hey! Can you hear me calling the line?
00:37:49What's your number?
00:37:51T-block.
00:37:52Solitary confinement.
00:37:53The hole!
00:38:00Leave me alone!
00:38:01All right!
00:38:02All right! I did it! I did it!
00:38:04I did it!
00:38:05I did it!
00:38:06I did it!
00:38:07I did it!
00:38:09I did it!
00:38:10I did it! Goddamn it!
00:38:11I did it!
00:38:24Next case!
00:38:26The federal government, they want to get rid of all this, what they call crime in the street?
00:38:30I think they should take the ex-con, right, and have jobs prepared for the man out there.
00:38:40A job that not only could pay $40 or $50 a week, because that ain't gonna make it.
00:38:46$40 or $50 a week, man, I can get a gun and buy me a gun for $40 and I make me $200 or $300 a day.
00:38:53Like, they have the alleviation of going to them streets, man, and going to their wives and their kids,
00:38:59and having a little bit of love, that's what they have, that's what they want to consider it, you know?
00:39:04Having a little bit of love out there, man. We don't have none of this, man.
00:39:07We got to wait for visits, we have to wait for mail, we have to go through all the changes,
00:39:12we have to go to the service unit, everything, man, is dependent upon them.
00:39:16We don't have no self-reliant thing, except our minds, and few of us know how to use it,
00:39:21you know, it's conditioned already, man, to react to four walls.
00:39:25I rapped to a guy, I was in Auburn, and I talked to a guy that did like 38 years, you know,
00:39:32and he, 38 years behind the wall, I tried, I got stabbed in the joint, you know,
00:39:37and that was a hell of an experience for me, man, and like, this guy was like telling me,
00:39:41like, that ain't nothing, kid, it was an old guy, and he's telling me, like, 38 years in here, man,
00:39:47and, uh, don't worry, you know, you'll get over it, you know.
00:39:51And finally, I remember when he was going home, and this guy was like 70-something years old,
00:39:55he was acting like a young boy, man, you know, hey, kid, they're letting me go, you know,
00:40:00they're letting me go, kid, you know, and I said, right, doc, we used to call him doc,
00:40:03he wasn't a doctor, he just was the cook, man, in the hospital.
00:40:07This next little song is just like three stories, and I don't know whether you guys have the patience
00:40:12to listen all the way through, but it will be nice, okay?
00:40:16And they're all true.
00:40:23Billy Rose was a low rider, Billy Rose was a night fighter,
00:40:28Billy Rose knew trouble like the sound of his own name.
00:40:34Busted on a drunken charge, driving someone else's car,
00:40:39the local midnight sheriff's claim to fame.
00:40:44In an Arizona jail, there is some who tell the tale
00:40:48how Billy fought the sergeant for some milk that he demanded.
00:40:55Knowing he would pay the cost, knowing they'd remain the boss,
00:40:59they saw he was severely reprimanded.
00:41:06In the blackest cell on A block, he hanged himself at dawn
00:41:16with a note stuck to the bunkhead,
00:41:21don't f*** with me, just take me home.
00:41:26Come on, lady, help us lay young Billy down.
00:41:36Luna was a Mexican, the law calls an alien,
00:41:41for coming past the border with a baby and a wife.
00:41:47While the clothes upon his back were wet,
00:41:50still he thought that he could get some money and things to start a life.
00:41:57But it hadn't been too very long when it seemed like everything went wrong,
00:42:02didn't even have the time to find themselves a home.
00:42:07When this foreigner, brown-skinned male, thrown inside a Texas jail,
00:42:13left the wife and baby quite alone.
00:42:19He's the pain inside him, with a needle in his arm,
00:42:29but the dope just crucified him and he died to no one's great alarm.
00:42:39Come on, lady, help us lay poor Luna down.
00:42:48And then we'll raise, raise the prisons to the ground.
00:42:59Lila White was an aging con of sixty-five who stood a chance
00:43:04to stay alive and leave the joint and walk the streets again.
00:43:10At the time he was to go to near, he suffered all the joy and fear
00:43:15of leaving thirty-five years in the pen.
00:43:20Then on the day of his release, he was approached by the police
00:43:25and took into the warden, walking slowly by his side.
00:43:31The warden said, you won't remain here, but it seems the state retainer claims
00:43:37another ten years of your life.
00:43:43He stepped out in the Texas sunlight and the cops all stood around.
00:43:53The old king of water ran fifty yards, then threw himself down on the ground.
00:44:02They might as well just have laid that old man down.
00:44:12And we're gonna raise, raise the prisons to the ground.
00:44:22We're gonna raise, raise the prisons to the ground.
00:44:32We're gonna raise, raise the prisons to the ground.
00:44:42We're gonna raise, raise the prisons to the ground.
00:44:53I'm a reporter for the New York Daily News.
00:44:57Well, I think it's a remarkable event.
00:45:00I've never seen anything quite like it where the audience and the performers
00:45:04and the people on stage are all kind of part of a big happening.
00:45:09It's really a happening we're handing out.
00:45:11Here he is, Tommy Benchard.
00:45:14Is it Benchard, brother?
00:45:19This is a little poem I hooked up.
00:45:21It's called A Game in the Apple.
00:45:24A Game in the Apple.
00:45:26Dig it.
00:45:28In the players' game, you need no fame.
00:45:33Around town, uptown, or downtown.
00:45:37Morning, noon, and evening, too.
00:45:40You've been in that scuffle, too.
00:45:43Smoking bush, dealing stuff, popping pills, curing ills.
00:45:47Rubbing thighs, checking fives, and getting high.
00:45:51Mr. Big Stuff, pushing tough, that angel dust.
00:45:56Dumping the scene with plenty green.
00:45:58Your brother, man, extending his hand to give you the muscle to put in your hustle.
00:46:04Got beat, blew that cash, got the crash, got no stash, can't lay a blow today.
00:46:10You name it, they gave it, making plays to top those trades.
00:46:15Morphine, opium, codeine, methadrine, cocaine, cocaine.
00:46:21DMT, STP, LSD, E, A, T, H.
00:46:28Black, yellow, and brown, not black, red, and green.
00:46:32Popping out of L's, working here so well.
00:46:35Popping out of L's, giving suckers hell.
00:46:38Popping out of L's, sending chicks to hell.
00:46:42Yeah, I saw you niggas.
00:46:44Old niggas, young niggas, little niggas, big niggas, slow niggas, fast niggas.
00:46:49Afro niggas and borinqua niggas.
00:46:52Yeah, black, yellow, and brown niggas.
00:46:55Ward niggas, niggas.
00:46:57What a time you had, nodding off that gag.
00:47:01How you dig that bag, nodding off that coat.
00:47:05If that's the life you dig, don't call that man a pig.
00:47:09Can you dig it?
00:47:10All right.
00:47:14I'm reading Rolf Ellison's The Invisible Man.
00:47:19I've saw it around, man, but I've never picked it up.
00:47:24I've been through the Marxist theory, man, the communist theory and so on.
00:47:33I have over here help with all psychoanalysis.
00:47:39To me, this is what's happening, man.
00:47:41This is how I want to fight this battle because now I have really dug into myself.
00:47:46I'm not saying I have found myself, but I know where I'm going.
00:47:52I know what I want to do.
00:47:53Ain't nobody that can stop me.
00:47:56To stop me is going to have to take what I stand for, and that right there is my life.
00:48:011-3-5-6-2-3.
00:48:031-4-4-5-3-3.
00:48:05The deaf want you.
00:48:07Watch out.
00:48:081-4-7-9-6-6, man.
00:48:11Boston furlough, Jack.
00:48:12Get out there.
00:48:13That's 1-4-7-9-6-6.
00:48:15Jimmy.
00:48:18All right.
00:48:229-7-7-6-4-5-7-15-95.
00:48:29Yeah.
00:48:32You know what I'm waiting for?
00:48:34I'm waiting for the first black president.
00:48:37I could have manned the cat now.
00:48:39Walks out on the inaugural day and says,
00:48:42Thank you very much for electing me president of the United States,
00:48:45and I really thank you for electing me the first black president of the United States.
00:48:50Right now, I'd like to give you the State of the Union address,
00:48:54but first, the number for today.
00:49:017-5-4.
00:49:03Anybody 7-5-4?
00:49:07Y'all ready?
00:49:08They're ready. All right, then.
00:49:10I'm used to warming people up.
00:49:12See, that's my job.
00:49:13I just warm the crowd up.
00:49:16And after they're at their peak of ecstasy,
00:49:18I'll bring the big one on.
00:49:21That's my job.
00:49:22See, I'm not the conventional type of comic.
00:49:25I'm what they call in the business a jazz comic.
00:49:28You see that last five minutes?
00:49:30That was a rip.
00:49:39But anyway, I want to bring on the big one.
00:49:42And I guess y'all know who it is.
00:49:44Y'all all set up?
00:49:45They're getting their thing together?
00:49:46Because you're going to be setting up.
00:49:47I want y'all to make them feel at home,
00:49:49because the man's been traveling and he's kind of tired.
00:49:51But I want y'all to make them really feel at home.
00:49:53Let's hear it for him. Come on now.
00:49:54Mr. B.B. King. Come on.
00:50:00Come on.
00:50:10Reese?
00:50:11At the apartment.
00:50:14He's balling right now.
00:50:17While they're getting it together,
00:50:19I was told that some of you dudes don't know anything about blues.
00:50:26That's what they told me.
00:50:28So I want to say this to you.
00:50:29I came to swap some with you.
00:50:31I imagine that quite a few of you dudes have the blues already.
00:50:35But today...
00:50:39That's my signal to shut up.
00:50:42Today being Thanksgiving...
00:50:46This is Thanksgiving, right?
00:50:50Thanksgiving?
00:50:51All right.
00:50:53Well, let me say this to you.
00:50:56It seems like a lot of things have been happening today.
00:50:59And when I came in, I had to sign in.
00:51:07And I noticed...
00:51:09I noticed one of the members of my group you seem to know very well.
00:51:15How'd it make me feel?
00:51:17Make me feel good, because he works with me.