Roberta Flack Performing at the “Soul to Soul” Concert in Ghana, 1971

Here are some wonderful photographs of Roberta Flack performing at the “Soul to Soul” concert in Accra, Ghana on March 6, 1971. The photos were taken by Dennis Stock.

On March 6, 1971, Tina and Ike Turner – the African-American husband-and-wife musical duo played an epic 15-hour Independence Day concert dubbed the Soul to Soul Concert in Accra, Ghana, as part of the 14th Anniversary of the county’s independence.

Till date, the concert remains a very important Pan-African moment in history and it should be cherished forever. In 1971, the length of the concert was a big deal. However, this is not what places reputation on the concert. It is the value of people of African descent in America bringing back culture (through music) that is greatly influenced by their African roots to their own people.

The Turner duo was with Wilson Pickett, also a black-American singer and songwriter. The show also featured the Staples Sisters, Santana (who played with the drummer Willie Bobo), Roberta Flack, Voices of East Harlem, Les McCann and Eddie Harris, as well as local musicians like Kwaa Mensah, Charlotte Daddah and the Magic Aliens.

“I think it was that they’d never seen a big show like that,” Wilson Pickett said afterwards. “They were spellbound, because I saw them looking at me so hard. And they were very curious about the whole thing.”