Harlem To Hollywood is the story of the most famous person most people have never heard of: singer, songwriter, producer Billy Vera.
Thanks to his hit with Judy Clay “Storybook Children,” Billy became the first white male to play Harlem’s fabled Apollo as part of a duet with a black woman — which took place at the time of the Newark riots.
Thanks to his hit with Judy Clay “Storybook Children,” Billy became the first white male to play Harlem’s fabled Apollo as part of a duet with a black woman — which took place at the time of the Newark riots.
After penning hits for Dolly Parton, Ricky Nelson, and others, Billy’s song “At This Moment,” which was recorded for a Japanese label that went out of business, years later became arguably the surprise hit of all time thanks to its use on TV’s “Family Ties,” thus thrusting Billy & the Beaters to the top spot on the charts, above the likes of Madonna and Bon Jovi.
A man of multiple talents, Billy, together with his friend Michael Cuscuna, produced several award-winning albums for the great Lou Rawls.
An archivist and historian of note, Billy spearheaded the reissue of classics from the vaults of Specialty, Capitol, and other labels.
His liner notes for a Ray Charles box set won him a well-deserved Grammy.
More to come!
THE CAST ------ Click for more
Dolly Parton
A true superstar, Dolly has made her mark on records, “Here You Come Again,” Billy Vera’s “I Really Got The Feeling,” as a songwriter, “I Will Always Love You,” “Jolene,” movies, Steel Magnolias, 9 to 5 and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. She’s won nine Grammys (47 nominations), two Academy Award nominations and is one of only seven female artists to win the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year Award.
Dionne Warwick
Best known as the muse for songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David, the five time Grammy winner has charted 56 times, beginning with the pair’s “Don’t Make Me Over” and including such classics as “Walk On By,” “Alfie” and “I Say A Little Prayer.”
Mable John
The elder sister of R&B star Little Willie John was the first female artist signed to Berry Gordy Jr.’s Motown Records. She spent several years as the “den mother” of Ray Charles’s back-up group, the Raelettes. On Stax Records, she hit the charts with “Your Good Think Is About To End” and “You’re Taking Up Another Man’s Place” and appeared at the Apollo Theatre with Billy Vera & Judy Clay. She was also featured in the 2013 documentary, Twenty Feet From Stardom.
Joey Dee
Joey Dee & the Starlighters turned the Peppermint Lounge into New York’s major night club in 1960, kicking off the Twist phenomenon, with hit records like “Peppermint Twist,” “Shout,” “What Kind Of Love Is This” and “Hot Pastrami With Mashed Potatoes.” He starred in the movies, Hey, Let’s Twist and Two Tickets to Paris.
Mike Stoller
One half of the team Leiber & Stoller, Mike is co-writer of dozens of classic songs (26 for Elvis alone!), including “Hound Dog,” “Kansas City,” “Stand By Me,” “Charlie Brown,” “Yakity Yak,” “On Broadway,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “Ruby Baby” and “Is That All There Is.” The duo’s productions include the Drifters’ “Save The Last Dance For Me,” “There Goes My Baby” and “Up On The Roof” and “Spanish Harlem” for Ben E. King.
Benny Golson
Co-leader with trumpeter Art Farmer, the legendary tenor saxophonist/arranger/songwriter has penned such jazz standards as “Killer Joe,” “Whisper Not,” “Blues March,” “Stablemates” and “I Remember Clifford,” plus numerous film and television soundtracks.
Nona Hendryx
Founding member of Patti LaBelle & the Bluebelles, the group best known for “Down The Aisle,” “Danny Boy,” “Groovy Kind of Love” and “Over The Rainbow” was one 60s girl group that no one wanted to follow, so overwhelming was their performance. The group evolved into LaBelle, charting with “Lady Marmalade,” and set the disco world on fire with their outrageous visual style.
Chip Taylor
One of the finest songwriters to come out of the Brill Building era, the brother of actor Jon Voight and uncle to Angelina Jolie is the writer of “Angel of the Morning” “I Can’t Let Go” and “Wild Thing,” among others, including, with Billy Vera, “Make Me Belong To You” and “Storybook Children.
Richard Roundtree
He’s been called “the first black action hero” for his role as John Shaft in 1971’s Shaft and its sequels, Shaft’s Big Score and Shaft in Africa. On television, he’s appeared in the original Roots miniseries in 1977, Beverly Hills, 90210 and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and many more.
Art Rupe
Rupe founded Specialty Records in 1945, going on to discover and record Little Richard, Sam Cooke, Lloyd Price, Larry Williams, Percy Mayfield and Don & Dewey. His Venice Music published songs covered by rockers Elvis Presley, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Buddy Holly, the Everly Brothers as well as pop stars Pat Boone and Donnie & Marie Osmond. He celebrates his 100th birthday in 2017.
L. Russell Brown
Brown’s songs, including “Sock It To Me Baby,” “C’mon Marianne,” “Knock Three Times” and “Tie A Yellow Ribbon ‘Round The Ole Oak Tree” have sold many millions of copies for artists like the Four Seasons, Mitch Ryder and Tony Orlando & Dawn.
Steve Binder
As a director, Binder made music history when he had white singer Petula Clark touch Harry Belefonte’s hand while singing a duet. He made further history when he brought back the career of Elvis Presley with the singer’s 1968 comeback special. The TAMI SHOW, featuring James Brown, the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys and the Supremes has been called the greatest rock’n’roll film of all time.
Tim Hauser
The late Tim Hauser was the founder of the jazz vocal group the Manhattan Transfer, winning Grammy Awards for their recordings of “Birdland” and “The Boy From New York City.” The group picked up twelve Grammy nominations for their album Vocalese, second only to Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Our film was Tim’s final performance.
Joe Smith
Holding the distinction as the only person to ever head three major record labels Warner Bros, Elektra and Capitol, Smith started in Boston as a pioneering 1950s rock’n’roll disc jockey, appearing the movie Jamboree. His book interviews with rock stars, Off the Record, is a classic in its genre.
The Filmmaker:
Alan Swyer – Director
Alan Swyer has been writer, director, and/or producer for film, television, music videos, and commercials ranging from HBO’s much-honored “Rebound” with Don Cheadle, Forrest Whitaker, and James Earl Jones to “The Buddy Holly Story;” and “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.” In the realm of documentaries, “Beisbol,” narrated by Andy Garcia, won the Imagen Award winner for best feature-length documentary, while “Diabetes: Challenges & Breakthroughs” won a Golden Mic Award for best TV documentary. Other feted films include “Spiritual Revolution,” “It’s More Expensive To Do Nothing,” “Leimert Park,” and the recent festival hit “El Boxeo.” Plus, he spent time at the beach as showrunner on LA’s own “Baywatch.” He is currently finishing a documentary called “From Harlem To Hollywood” about musical legend Billy Vera.
In the music business he has worked with artists such as Solomon Burke, Billy Preston, and Jerry Butler, and produced an album of Ray Charles love songs, as well as writing liner notes for scores of CDs.
His short stories have appeared in Ireland, England, Germany, India, and in many American publications and anthologies. His novel “The Beard” was published recently by Harvard Square Editions.
An activist of note, he created, together with the Presiding Judge of Juvenile and the Chief Probation Officer, Los Angeles County’s highly successful Teen Court program.
He has been a faculty member at the American Film Institute, USC, Pepperdine, and Chapman University. Fluent in French, he taught a writing-directing workshop at France’s Universite de l’Ete. He has also presided over two week-long screenwriting workshops in Singapore.
Mr. Swyer is a member of the Board of Directors of the Compton Baseball Academy as well as of the West Coast Boxing Hall of Fame. For several years he was also in the Board of the Institute of Advanced Journalism at North Carolina A&T.
