The Story Of Soul-to-Soul

People from the 1960s hold on to a certain kind of black identity. But recent generations have a different agenda. That's progress - each generation dealing with its own reality," notes cultural critic Nelson George in The Story Of Soul To Soul, an extended version of the 1971 documentary Soul To Soul.

The 2003 rendering, showing on Friday night on BBC4, chronicles the expedition to Accra undertaken by 143 leading African-American soul musicians to mark the 14th anniversary of Ghanaian Independence.

The week of festivities, culminating in an electrifying 15-hour concert by the likes of Wilson Pickett and Roberta Flack, began at JFK in a rickety marijuana-infused plane - "Well, it was the 70s and they was drug days," points out a mumbling Ike Turner - before an emotional touch-down in West Africa. Full of humour, pathos and the occasional discerning remark, director Moise Shewa's film splices grainy footage with modern-day interviews of the participants.

In addition to celebrating independence, the festival was inherently a pilgrimage in honour of the Return To Africa movement of the 1960s. "As long as I'm black, I'll never forget that," observed Ike of his time in Ghana. From touring former slave fortresses to performing in front of 200,000 Africans, for all involved the experience was, and remains, life-altering.