"Soul Train" Arrives at Smithsonian

The TV show Soul Train, a platform for popular music performers for decades, will contribute artifacts from the program to the Smithsonian Museum of African-American History and Culture. The donations were featured in a June 30th celebratory event on the museum grounds. (One of them, an "applause" sign, is a curious choice for an exhibit extolling the skills, drive, and chutzpah of the show's staff and guest talent.) The Washington Post covered the story. The article is fun to read, and I'll let the characters in the Post article speak for themselves.

There are a number of Soul Train segments available on YouTube. Here are three I enjoy:

1. Michael Jackson with The Jackson 5 singing "I Want You Back."

2. Marvin Gaye lip-synching "Let's Get It On". The Q&A preceding his song includes a moving reference to Tammi Terrell.

3. Soul Train Line Dance to Curtis Mayfield's "Get Down".

The image shows a Soul Train dance segment.