The true story of a 1970s soul music group that was founded and recorded albums behind bars.
Serving time in prison in 1968, teenager Reginald Haynes decided to start a singing group as a way to try to focus on the positive during his incarceration. By 1970, his group, The Escorts, were performing for inmates, staff, and visitors, unexpectedly gaining the attention of seasoned Motown producer, George Kerr, who proposed working with the group to record the first album behind prison walls. After years of red tape, they succeeded, and The Escorts hit the charts, eventually releasing two albums before Haynes’ story took an unexpected turn. Producer Christopher Black, a lover of classic soul, gathered director Corbett Jones and producers Anna Rau and Josiah Bultema to explore the past and the present of the group, now known as The Legendary Escorts, against the backdrop of late 20th century African American history – from civil rights to soul music, institutionalized racism to penal reform. Continue reading
