PBS R&B Special
P.W. Fenton
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Soul music legends such as the Isley Brothers, Percy Sledge and Eddie Holman sing their greatest hits on stage in an upcoming PBS Television special celebrating 40 years of R&B classics, the network said on Friday.
``Rhythm and Blues 40: A Soul Spectacular'' features some of the greatest soul and R&B acts of the 1960s and '70s performing in a pair of concerts taped in late November before live audiences at Pittsburgh's Heinz Hall.
Highlights include Ronald and Ernie Isley performing the Isley Brothers' call-and-response classic ``Shout,'' Sledge singing his wrenching ballad ``When a Man Loves a Woman'' and Holman crooning his falsetto hit ``Hey There Lonely Girl.''
Ben E. King rejoined the Drifters for an encore performance of his R&B chart-topping solo hit ``Stand By Me,'' while Billy Griffin sang again with the Miracles and Jerry ``The Iceman'' Butler reunited with the Impressions for the first time since 1958. Little Anthony and the Imperials and the Chicago soul group the Chi-Lites also appear.
The telecast also will include rarely seen performance footage of Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, James Brown, the Supremes and others.
The program is co-hosted by Dionne Warwick, Jerry Butler, Sam Moore of the soul duo Sam and Dave and Richard Roundtree of ''Shaft'' fame. It follows a recent trio of PBS concert specials, also produced by WQED Pittsburgh, featuring the stars of 1950s doo wop and early rock 'n' roll, which together raised $45 million for the public broadcasting network.
The show is culturally significant as it marks the ''first-ever televised gathering'' of talent from the Motown, Stax, Atlantic, Volt, Muscle Shoals and Philadelphia International labels, according to its creator, T.J. Lubinsky, the director of on-air fund-raising for WQED.
``This is the only record we have and we're getting them recorded before it's too late,'' he said in a statement announcing the telecast. ``Most of the performers are in their sixties and seventies.''
PBS, based in Alexandria, Va., is a private nonprofit network owned and operated by the nation's 349 public television stations serving an estimated 90 million viewers each week.
P.W. Fenton
Tampa, FL
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