Paul David Wilson
He became the president of a start-up record label begun by Frank Thomas, who was then the starring player on the Chicago White Sox baseball team.
Due to the terribly limiting effects of aphasia, a common but complicated and severe post-stroke condition, he was for a number of years unable to communicate without great difficulty.
Wilson's early lessons on piano came from his mother, and he grew up absorbing the classical and gospel music of the choirs and vocal ensembles his parents directed.
At age 12, Wilson began organizing "street corner" vocal ensembles to perform his songs at parties and selected school functions.
Inspired by Primous Fountain III, a young composer at DePaul University, Wilson enrolled and majored in music composition and theory.
He studied music composition with Dr. Leon Stein, Dr. Phil Winsor and Darlene Cowles, while taking flute with Philip Seeburg and Joseph Kainz.
In May 1974, while a senior at DePaul, he landed part-time employment at "Star Point 7," a music production company founded by Chuck Colbert, a producer/musician with a jazz-rock band, American Breed ("Bend Me, Shape Me").
At the time, Danny was a talented songwriter and electric guitar player, but would later become one of America's foremost recording studio engineers and one of Wilson's closest and most frequent collaborators.
In the Fall of 1975, Danny played a significant role in Wilson's life by introducing him to Ian Levine, a producer and songwriter, who was a celebrated member of the European black music fan base known as the Northern Soul scene.
In 1975, while working with Ian, Wilson composed, arranged and produced for Dance, R&B and Northern Soul recording artists, in the course of which he traveled in the U.S. and England.
"[3][4][5] As the writer, Neil Rushton, wrote in a review which appeared in Black Echoes, "Paul put the incredible zinging, scurrying strings in "Your Magic Put A Spell In Me" [6][7] performed by [L.J Johnson Ian Levine] for Ian Levine productions and also served as the songwriter and arranger for the "1976 Disco classic, originally sung by James Wells,[8] called "Baby I'm Still The Same Man.
Wilson was soon creating and producing a long list of memorable and award-winning spots for Burrell and many other ad agencies, often working with such established artists as: Phyllis Hyman, Lena Horne, Anita Baker, Midnight Star, Walter Jackson, The Dells, Peabo Bryson, Ada Dyer[15] Vickie Winans, Tramaine Hawkins, The Bar-Kays, Valerie Simpson, Joshie Jo Armstead, Millie Jackson and Rufus Thomas.
Also of note is the score Wilson composed for a television film "Happy Birthday, Martin" sung by Joshie Jo Armstead, which is on permanent display at the King Center in Atlanta.
In 1977, a chance meeting at a barbershop brought Wilson to the attention of Don Richards, a young vice-president and account executive at Leo Burnett Worldwide, Chicago's largest and most celebrated advertising agency.
Richards had been hired to facilitate Burnett's efforts to identify promising new African American staffers and suppliers, so he was ready to talk business even on a weekend trip to his barber.
In 1985, Wilson scored a true "crossover hit" when a song he had created for Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau and composed both lyrics and music featuring Lee Montgomery "Calling Me Home, Chicago," a song written for a $10 million state tourism campaign,[21] became so instantly popular that it was released as a single and sold through area record stores.
One airing of Wilson's musical vision was enough to win him the job, and to help us create one of the most memorable and successful tourism campaigns in Chicago history.
Ruth L. Ratny, the owner of the magazine "Screen" and editor, she wrote, "Among the most memorable for the Illinois Department of Tourism, are the unforgettable "Calling Me Home, Chicago."
State tourism director Lynda Simon says is not surprised that Wilson was able to write words and that went a long way towards popularizing the agency's first major television campaign.
[27] In early 1989, Wilson was called on by noted choral conductor Nathan Carter to orchestrate Robert Ray's "Gospel Mass" for a joint performance of the Morgan State University Choir and the Detroit Symphony.
[13]In 1997, Wilson accepted an offer from Frank Thomas, "The Big Hurt"[citation needed] the star player and home run hitter of the Chicago White Sox, to serve as President of Un-D-Nyable Entertainment, an independent record label.
6, February 10, 1997)Their initial release was a CD single entitled "3-5, The White Sox Got’em Open Up Wide," with Frank Thomas featuring D.
[33] Soon, both Dejah Gomez and Entourage were starting to "take off," but, in January 1999, just as the action and excitement was building for his young record company, Wilson suffered a stroke.
Wilson was told he had to accept lasting and severe restrictions on his ability to verbally communicate, due to the post-stroke condition known as Aphasia.
Wilson eventually found and studied with Dr. Walter Tokishi, a speech therapist, but the scarcity of expert medical support to help him overcome the limitations imposed by his aphasia was still a drawback of living on Maui.
Wilson has been married and divorced two times and has one stepchild: He has been a Chicago Chapter Governor and National Trustee of The Recording Academy (NARAS) and active on its Education, Finance, Restructuring and Long Range Planning Committee.
