Hi all

I recently recieved some nice memorabilia that once belonged to Willie Wright ,

probably best known for his cover of the Curtis Mayfield masterpiece "right on for the darkness"

Through a bit of research i have managed to track down Willie ,through his manager and long time friend Bob Green.

Willie is an amazing talent and at 73 is still active in making his music ,despite having advanced stage Parkinsons disease

For anyone who isn't aware of Willie or his recent work ,here is a facebook link to his page ,which is managed by Bob

https://www.facebook.com/#!/WillieWrightMusic

The black and white pic of Willie performing was one of the items in the post ,along with original flyer for the record and a letter from Hotel records promoting the song.

Here are a few of the items of interest

Great stuff Nev, so did you find a box of the 45 then or just the one...

the recent Numero Group reissue of WW Telling The Truth LP is great stuff. As ever well packaged with great sleeve notes etc.

The original lp carries the written WARNING:

This is not a disco record

It's designed for ADULTS of the world

TEENAGERS this album may be too lyrically heavy for you, especially if you're into fast music.

the recent Numero Group reissue of WW Telling The Truth LP is great stuff. As ever well packaged with great sleeve notes etc.

The original lp carries the written WARNING:

This is not a disco record

It's designed for ADULTS of the world

TEENAGERS this album may be too lyrically heavy for you, especially if you're into fast music.

Plus you get a nice 45 of "Right On For the Darkness" to play at home.

Jordi

Great stuff Nev, so did you find a box of the 45 then or just the one...

It was actually 2 Sam

Here's one that made me chuckle ...

I sent a scan of the photo below to Bob Green to see if he could identify the white guys on the Yacht with Willie ?

He was'nt sure who they were, but went on the say that Willie used to get paid a nice little earner to entertain the rich white folk who owned these big yachts in Rhode Island .

Bob remembered a story that Willie had once told him about a particular incident .......

" The yacht owner used to pay Willie $1000 US to entertain his guests at gala parties he threw on the boat; one time, in arranging with Willie about when to be there, he rudely asked him to pick his dry cleaning up on the way out to the dock. When Willie politely (he's always very courteous - like a traditional old Southern gentleman) reminded him that he was being paid to entertain, not to do chores and pick up things at the store, the guy said something to the effect of, "When you work for me, you do what's expected of you..." Willie ended the conversation and the relationship with the statement that , "Well, I guess I don't work for you anymore, but thank you and have a great party."

P.s ..can anyone here help identify the famous rich folk in the picture please

great pass on Nev

highlights from the artist gallery be showing on front page soon so may be worth a upload of photo there?

https://www.soul-source.co.uk/gallery/category/27-soul-artists/

Thanks Mike .

I will sort out something soon and do my best to put a piece together and post it up in the link you added and hopefully give this guy the decent exposure he rightfully deserves !

sorry nev no help but the couple in the center of the piccy look like prince charles and camilla parker bowles

Thanks Mike .

I will sort out something soon and do my best to put a piece together and post it up in the link you added and hopefully give this guy the decent exposure he rightfully deserves !

Nev

the link was just to the gallery eg for a photo upload

but will bite your hand off if do put together something

sorry nev no help but the couple in the center of the piccy look like prince charles and camilla parker bowles

Cheers Dave ..it was about 1975 ish so unless Charlie was knocking her off all that time ago ,theyve not aged much .lol

I thought the guy on this end looked like Liberace or maybe Donald Trump ??

Wille said " those people on the Yachts wer'ent millionaires ...they were trillionaires " !

nev,,whats the score with yellow and green copies or did it just get issued twice or something as an a then a b side

You could be right about it being Prince Charles ......

... I'm told he's got a massive collection of soul 45's (he got into collecting when he was sent promo copies of 3 Degrees 45's).

I believe he's a committed OVO-tinie and would never consider playing boots at any of the big bashes he hosts at Highgrove.

............. WATCH FOR NEWS of the upcoming Highgrove Soul Weekenders; Camilla is running the memoribilia room ...........

.... expect Barber coats with 'KTF' emblazoned across the back & Hunter green wellies with a black fist on the side.

looks a bit young for liberace....probably wernt tv personalities maybe, shares, oil type people

nev,,whats the score with yellow and green copies or did it just get issued twice or something as an a then a b side

originals are only Green copies ...the only other copies are Re-issues liKE the one on youtube (issued by Numero group as a promo with the Lp they re-issued)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk2H8o2Bmoo

originals are only Green copies ...the only other copies are Re-issues liKE the one on youtube (issued by Numero group as a promo with the Lp they re-issued)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk2H8o2Bmoo

cheers nev

P.s ..can anyone here help identify the famous rich folk in the picture please

The one on the left, with the guitar, is Willie Wright. Not sure on the others.

P.S...great work Nev

Ah but Dave ...I said the "rich folk"

Don't think Willie would regard himself as Rich

Well, not financially but at least he followed his dream

Rich in voice and soul Nev

he might be rich now if nevs bought a couple o copies off him

Lol

Sadly they weren't in Willie possession .

Some guy in Rhode island found two copies tucked inside a original copy lp .

They were part of a lot of stuff that were once Willies ,left in a disused farm building .

I was offered both copies but only took the one ,and a good portion of the memorabilia ,which was a unexpected bonus

However,some of it is of a personal nature (letters and a notebook ),which prompted me to find out Willies whereabouts and return them back to him

if some rich dude was consistently paying me 1k to play for a few hours on a boat, i'd get his dry cleaning and do a lot more. but good on willie for retaining his dignity.

Great thread nev - this is what it's all about. And top work on sourcing a truly sublime 45. That pic of willie singing into the mic is great, check out the tie and suit. Amazing.