JIMMY SCOTT: IF YOU ONLY KNEW (Matthew Buzzell, 2004)

I've been really into Jimmy Scott recently, particularly his 1969 album "The Source", and this beautiful documentary really gave me a deeper insight into him as a person and an artist. It features extensive interviews with the man himself, his friends and family and his biographer David Ritz, as well as lots of fantastic footage of him performing in Japan in the early 2000's. I highly recommend it. It's out on DVD (I rented it at The Movie Reel in Westgarth). Without laying his whole story out, I'll simply say that Jimmy Scott has had a hard row to hoe, and his resilience and depth of character is nothing short of remarkable. And his voice and phrasing only to seem to get more beautiful with age.

Here's a couple video's to hopefully peak your interest.

This is a short that director Matthew Buzzell made on Jimmy (I would image as a way to get funding to make the feature. it comes as an extra on the dvd).

Here's Jimmy's appearance on the last episode of Twin Peaks

And here's his revelatory take on "Unchained Melody", from "The Source"

PS

You should listen to the audio commentary on the DVD, it has great extra stories on it, including one hilarious one about the REAL Caldonia a teenage circumcision on the road...