The Whispers and Tony Cornelius Plan a “Family Reunion” at A Wine Tasting Event
The Whispers and Tony Cornelius plan a "Family Reunion" at a Wine Tasting Event saluting The Don Cornelius Family of Wines.
The Whispers being recognized by Tony Cornelius for their outstanding contribution to R&B music and over 50 years in the entertainment business onboard the 2013 West Soul Train Cruise.
Soul Train fans know that the show was so much more than a groundbreaking television series. It was a cultural touchstone, a social phenomenon and hands down the best way to spend a Saturday morning. But to the people who were blessed to work there and to come by to perform on its legendary stage, Soul Train was a family that extended far beyond the neon lights and platform shoes.
No other group can attest to this more than The Whispers, whose members became lifelong friends of Don Cornelius and his son, Tony, after their first appearance on the show in in the early ‘70s. The 411 recently got to listen in as Tony, Walter Scott and Wallace “Scotty” Scott reminisced about Soul Train and planned their reunion aboard the Soul Train Cruise 2016, where they will host the Don Cornelius Family of Wines Wine Tasting event.
The Whispers have been a part of the Soul Train family since the earliest days of the show, making their first appearance back when the production was still based in Chicago. They became fast friends with founder Don Cornelius, returning year after year to perform, recording the show’s official theme song, becoming the first act to sign with his Soul Train Records and sharing their lives outside of the studio, doing everything from bowling nights to playing board games together.
TONY CORNELIUS: My father was extremely close to those guys, really respected them for what they did and they’ve always been close from the very beginning. I was introduced through my father and I became very close to them as well, so it’s been a lot of years for me and even more years for them and my father.
I remember The Whispers coming on Soul Train many, many times and on set it was always business for me. I was always in the background doing the work because my father would have killed me if he thought I was out there fraternizing with the bands (laughs). I enjoyed them every time they performed.
WALLACE SCOTT: The first time we did Soul Train in Chicago, Tony was a little, little, little bitty guy. Once he came to Los Angeles, we became personal friends over the years. As a matter of fact - Don Cornelius, Barry White and myself - we would get all our families together to play games: boards, card games, dominoes over the weekends.