FEATURED MOVIE: SOUL POWER

Movie Trailer | Interview with director Jeffrey Levy-Hinte | Bill Withers Interview

Movie Trailer

In 1974, the most celebrated American R&B acts of the time came together with the most renowned musical groups in Africa for a 12-hour, three-night long concert held in Kinshasa, Zaire. The dream-child of Hugh Masekela and Stewart Levine, this music festival became a reality when they convinced boxing promoter Don King to combine the event with The Rumble in the Jungle, the epic fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, previously chronicled in the Academy Award-winning documentary WHEN WE WERE KINGS.

SOUL POWER is a verité documentary about this legendary music festival (dubbed Zaire 74), and it depicts the experiences and performances of such musical luminaries as James Brown, BB King, Bill Withers, Celia Cruz, among a host of others. At the peak of their talents and the height of their careers, these artists were inspired by this return to their African roots, as well as the enthusiasm of the Zairian audience, to give the performances of their lives. The concert has achieved mythological significance as the definitive Africa(n)-American musical event of the 20th Century.

SOUL POWER is crafted from the extensive outtakes that remained after making WHEN WE WERE KINGS, which documented the epic title fight, but relegated the music festival to a small, supporting role. The outtakes have remained vaulted for the past 34 years, until now. The film was ultimately edited down from over 125 hours worth of footage. Lensed primarily by celebrated cinematographers Albert Maysles, Paul Goldsmith, Kevin Keating and Roderick Young, SOUL POWER finally provides todays audience the opportunity to experience this historic musical event in all of its magnificent, filmed glory.

Interview with Director Jeffrey Levy-Hinte

Interview with Bill Withers

Bill Withers (born July 4, 1938) is an American vocalist and hall-of-fame songwriter who performed and recorded from 1970 until 1985. Some of his best-known songs are "Ain't No Sunshine," "Use Me," "Lovely Day," "Lean on Me", "Grandma's Hands", and "Just the Two of Us".

Bill Withers was born the youngest of nine children in the small coal-mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia. Raised in nearby Beckley, West Virginia, he was thirteen when his father died. He joined the United States Navy at eighteen and served for nine years, during which time he became interested in singing. He began writing songs to fill a need for lyrics that expressed what he felt. Following his discharge from the Navy in 1965, he moved to Los Angeles in 1967 to pursue a career in music.

Withers worked as an assembler while recording demo tapes with his own money, shopping them around and performing in clubs during the night. When he debuted on the music scene with "Ain't No Sunshine" he refused to give up his job because be believed the music business was a fickle industry and that he was still a novice compared to other working acts.

In early 1970, Clarence Avant of Sussex Records signed Withers to a record deal and assigned Booker T. Jones to produce his debut album. Just As I Am was released in 1971 with the tracks "Harlem" and "Ain't No Sunshine" as singles. The album was a hit and Withers began touring with a band assembled from members of The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band: drummer James Gadson, guitarist Bernoce Blackmon, keyboardist Ray Jackson, and bassist Melvin Dunlap. At the 14th annual Grammy Awards in 1972, Withers won his first Grammy for Best Rhythm and Blues Song for "Ain't No Sunshine. During a break in touring, Withers recorded his second album, Still Bill. The single "Lean on Me" went to number one in 1972. A performance that October was recorded for the live album Bill Withers, Live at Carnegie Hall released in 1972. Withers recorded the album +'Justments in 1973, then became involved in a legal dispute with the Sussex label and was unable to record thereafter. During this time, he wrote and produced two songs on the Gladys Knight & the Pips record I Feel a Song.

Withers signed with Columbia Records in 1975. His first release with the label, Making Music, Making Friends, included the single "She's Lonely" which was featured in the film LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR. The next three years saw an album released each year with Naked & Warm (1976), Menagerie (1977, containing the hit "Lovely Day") and 'Bout Love (1978).

Due to problems with Columbia, he focused on joint projects between 1977 and 1985, including the hit, "Just the Two of Us", with jazz saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr., which was released in June 1980, and won a Grammy in 1982. Withers next did Soul Shadows with The Crusaders, and In the Name of Love with Ralph MacDonald, the latter being nominated for a Grammy for vocal performance. In 1985 came Watching You, Watching Me, which featured the Top 40 R&B single "Oh Yeah". Withers left the Columbia label after this release.

In 1988, a new version of "Lovely Day" from the 1977 Menagerie album, titled "Lovely Day (Sunshine Mix)" and remixed by Ben Liebrand, reached the Top 10 in the United Kingdom, leading to Withers' performance on the long running Top of the Pops that year. In 1987, he received his ninth Grammy nomination and in March 1988 his third Grammy for Best Rhythm and Blues Song as songwriter for the re-recording of Lean On Me by Club Nouveau on their debut album. Withers contributed two songs to Jimmy Buffett's July 13, 2004 release "License To Chill."

Bill Withers was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 and into the inaugural class of the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2007. Also, in 2007 his "Lean On Me" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Currently, a feature documentary entitled STILL BILL THE MOVIE is being made about Withers.