Willie Hutch - The Willie Hutch Story

An affectionate portrait of the late Californian soul man

Although Willie Hutch hit big at Motown in the early 70s with funky soundtracks to blockbusting blaxploitation movies The Mack and Foxy Brown, his career began a decade earlier, when he cut a clutch of 45s for indie labels Dunhill, Modern, Soul City and Maverick. Come the late 60s, Hutch was working with producer Marc Gordon and penning songs alongside Jimmy Webb for The Fifth Dimension, resulting in an album deal at RCA.

This excellent DVD captures the husky-voiced soul auteur the year before he died, performing in front of a captive UK audience. Here, accompanied by a band led by sax player/flautist Snake Davies, Hutch performs several of his pre-Motown tunes, including Northern soul favourites The Duck, Loves Run Out and Let’s Try It Over. The most interesting aspect of this package, though, is the extensive footage of Hutch talking to the camera and clarifying some of the hitherto hazy facets of his life and career. Of particular interest to Motown fans is Hutch’s recollection of how he came to write I’ll Be There for the Jackson Five in the early 70s. Riveting.

Expansion Films | XEDV 100201

Reviewed by Charles Waring
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