On The Attica Tapes, you can hear the prisoners in the background, as they took in their first taste of entertainment after the Attica Prison Rebellion. This album is the recording of Barish & Wolff’s entire show at Attica, which was captured on a single-track, 1/4-inch, reel-to-reel tape recorder. Half of the proceeds from its sales will go to help prison reform.
The Attica Tapes
The Attica Prison Rebellion took place on September 9 - 13, 1971 when the inmates revolted, seizing thirty-nine guards as hostages and demanding changes to the inhumane conditions they lived under. The New York State Police and other law enforcement answered their demands with overwhelming force. Forty-three men died—making it the most fatal uprising in the history of the U.S. prison system. With the exception of one officer and three inmates, all the deaths were caused by law enforcement gunfire.
Jesse Barish and William D. Wolff were musical partners for years. Accompanied by their manager, Michael Barnes, they were the first musicians to play Attica State Prison after the rebellion. The first thing they noticed when they got on stage was the prisoners in the first three rows. They were all in wheelchairs, on crutches or wearing bandages—a testimony to the bloody riot that shook the nation.
Because some only think of “Attica” as a rallying cry, Michael Barnes conceptualized this video to educate those who don’t know about the atrocities the government committed there—and remind those who do about what happened during those horrendous days. Kit Vandervort was the video and sound editor. He and Michael spent many hours culling through public video footage and using only original tapes to tell this tragic story.
WARNING:
Please only watch the video below if you understand that upsetting images of real-life events are shown in an effort to understand this part of civil rights history. Attica was violent, and the video doesn’t conceal that fact.
