A music documentary following The Legendary Escorts' journey as a soul group formed and recorded behind bars in 1970s America.
SYNOPSIS
The unsung story of The Legendary Escorts is that of the musical group, formed behind bars in the early 70s at Rahway State Prison. It carries the weight and wisdom of both their tumultuous and celebratory experiences from the past decades up to modern day. Through their successes, trials, and tribulations, the storyline will explore the soul generation, civil rights movement, and penal reform from the inside.
THE STORY
The car door opens. Reginald Prophet Haynes, the founder of The Legendary Escorts, twists himself out of the car to plant two feet solidly on the ground. This was where it all started. An armed robbery on this very spot sent Reggie to serve his first seven-year prison sentence in 1968. In the midst of deplorable conditions and never-ending days, Reggie’s true self persevered and broke through – he began to sing in the yard and caught the attention of other inmates that wanted to harmonize.
Reggie waits as a garage door opens and reveals a cozy den with two men stand playing pool. Billy, an ex marine, and LaGrant, a retired police officer, partnered with Reggie in 1986 to keep the group alive. The three remaining members of the Legendary Escorts dive into shooting the breeze. While it’s clear both Billy and LaGrant have heard Reggie’s history countless times, they sit absorbing his narration, learning new details with each retelling. The conversation inevitably returns back to the beginnings of the Legendary Escorts, and how Reggie was transferred to the infamous Rahway Prison. It was here at an inmate variety show that the Escorts sound caught the attention of prolific record producer George Kerr.
After two years of correspondence spent convincing the warden, Kerr was allowed to bring a mobile recording studio to the prison and laid down the vocals for the first album “All We Need Is Another Chance” in just 9 hours. With their quality sound and unique story, The Escorts became a hit enjoying success on the Billboard Top Soul charts. A follow up album "3 Down 4 To Go" received similar success and a newly liberated Reggie was beginning to enjoy the view from the mountain top.
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