Hey SoulTrackers. Here is information about an interesting movie being worked on about a long lost, but influential soul music giant. Check out this story below and consider participating:
An influential Memphis soul singer tells his stunning, emotional life story as he returns to the spotlight after 40 years.
If kindness and talent were dollars, John Gary Williams (iseehopememphis.com)would be a millionaire many times over.
Hey SoulTrackers. Here is information about an interesting movie being worked on about a long lost, but influential soul music giant. Check out this story below and consider participating:
An influential Memphis soul singer tells his stunning, emotional life story as he returns to the spotlight after 40 years.
If kindness and talent were dollars, John Gary Williams (iseehopememphis.com)would be a millionaire many times over.
Instead, Mr. Williams — an influential American soul singer — has largely lived out of the spotlight, always choosing principles over profits, and friendships over fame. The “I See Hope” project is documenting his professional re-emergence as it unfolds this year. We're asking music and documentary fans around the world to join us to help make it happen.
Visit our project page at iseehopememphis.com. Here's more on John Gary's story:
As a young man, Mr. Williams led The Mad Lads — one of the first major acts on the legendary Stax Records label — to worldwide fame. Daryl Hall and John Oates, among others, were greatly influenced by seeing The Mad Lads perform. But a series of tragic events soon conspired to push Mr. Williams and the group from the spotlight. The Vietnam War, Mr. Williams' involvement in the Black Power Movement and Stax Records' untimely closure combined to effectively ruin his career.
We're working with Mr. Williams throughout the year to tell his remarkable life story in his own words in a feature-length documentary. Our goal is for "I See Hope" to be broadcast globally and appear at film festivals worldwide beginning in 2014, and ultimately be available as a digital download and on DVD.
In our film, you'll see Mr. Williams reflect back on his life as he undertakes a journey of professional rejuvenation — recording original soul music in Memphis, and preparing for his first-ever major solo concert on Sept. 28 at Memphis' beautiful, historic Levitt Shell. If you love soul music — or simply stories that speak to the soul — we're making "I See Hope" especially for you.
As we film, we're also following Mr. Williams on a quest to find his master tapes of thesolo work he made at Stax before its untimely demise. Those tapes contain never-before-heard original Stax music made by Mr. Williams with the same studio musicians who created some of the world's most cherished popular music. We are excited to see what Mr. Williams finds — and we hope he can share this music with you, and see him receive the benefit from his classic work that has long been denied him.
We've been researching Mr. Williams' story for more than six years. We think the world of him, and have worked without funding for several months to begin creating a work sample needed for TV networks, charitable foundations and others who may help us tell his story.
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