Soul Train Creator Don Cornelius Dies

[Carl]

Walter Payton went on Soul Train. Aretha Franklin showed up. Elton John asked to appear when he was the hottest star in the land.

Soul Train was a cultural triumph, filled with a casual elegance that would never survive a focus group. Don Cornelius was the fatherly host, always in control and making sure it stayed classy - not easy when Rosie Perez was dancing. He kept the show on the air by following his instincts and focusing on the dancers. "The Line" seems like a pretty simple idea, but no one had done it before, and it was impossible to take your eyes off of it.

In the brilliant VH1 documentary of the show, we learned that James Brown was shocked when he went on the show and found out that Don didn't have some white conglomerate putting up the cash. The Robot went national when Michael Jackson did it on the show; the Moonwalk originated with an enterprising Soul Train dancer. We also found out how Cornelius scrambled the troops when Dick Clark launched a copycat show called Soul Unlimited, which lasted exactly one episode thanks to the uproar. The Soul Train brand extended to a music label (the group Shalimar) and awards shows, but Cornelius kept it manageable and focused on the show. It would have spread him too thin, but it's too bad he didn't start BET when cable was in its infancy.

It was the Olympics of black music: you went on Bandstand for the exposure, but Soul Train for the love. Former guests on the show tell a familiar story of the excitement they felt, and that warmth that Cornelius showed them. As Penny Ford put it:

"Mr. Cornelius came into my dressing room to welcome me to the ST family. Such a memory forever stamped into my being. RIP Don Cornelius...Thanks for being such an incredible part of my journey and the journey of all of us little black kids with a dream..."