This Harlem Singing Group Made Prison Inmates Nearly Riot

[@livingbeings]

David Hoffman should be as well known as Ken Burns.

[@jackieann5494]

Living Being ..... he WILL be 👍

[@robertbrooks3849]

He isn't? Is to me!

[@EddieWinebauer]

that vocalist was absolutely amazing.

[@kwamestamps35]

She's my first cousin.

[@HFLHFLHFL]

@@kwamestamps35 does she still sings and is as cool as here?

[@kwamestamps35]

@@HFLHFLHFL Indeed she does.

[@kwamestamps35]

@@HFLHFLHFL Her sister is on the far left. Her other cousin is the gentleman on the far right. And her younger brother does the final solo.

[@douglas_drew]

Around '76 or '77 I switched jobs from Parks to DMV and had the great pleasure of working with a gentleman, a true gentle man, that had been the third (if memory can be trusted) guard taken hostage during the Attica prison uprising. He displayed a severe stutter when he spoke, which immediately drew me in as a new friend, my having overcome a stuttering problem by going to speech therapy in summer school way back between second and third grade. One time when visiting his house contemplating buying a powerboat he had, I took the opportunity while he went inside to get the paperwork, asking his wife why he hadn't received speach therapy when he was younger. She replied that he never had a stutter until after the uprising, and related some harrowing details my new friend had never mentioned. While on the job together he told me he had sympathy for the inmates, for so many had been victims of bad times and bad judgement rather than being just outright evil people. To him, so many of the inmates just needed to be treated with decency and given the opportunities the rest of us had received in life. I always admired his lack of bitterness, as I admire you David for having treated the inmates at Sing Sing with decency and the opportunity for entertainment we can all enjoy. Great video.

[@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker]

Thank you Douglas. And a great reflection you shared. David Hoffman - filmmaker

[@nobaloneymahoney7940]

Heartwarming but disturbing story. Thank you for sharing😗

[@L0j1k]

Mr. Hoffman is one of only three people on the whole internet for whom I will gladly click their Amazon referral links.

[@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker]

Thank you so much for your support. I work to deserve it. David Hoffman - filmmaker

[@aktake2]

Can we know who the other 2 are?

[@HorseLesbian]

I've shown this clip to countless other people where it's appeared elsewhere on KZbin, it's one of THE great live performances captured and film and I'm delighted you had a hand in this, it's blown numerous people I know sideways when they've seen it.

[@robertbrooks3849]

I was 7 when this happened. Thursday is my 53rd and I'll take this as an early birthday present. I enjoyed that thoroughly. Amazing sounds. Best $20 you ever spent I bet. Thank you, Mr Hoffman, for once again sharing!

[@genevincent7505]

Brilliant

[@ArinGokdemir]

I love this channel so much. You have such a varied archive of fantastic films, it’s clear to me that you have a love for the medium of film and a love for storytelling. Thank you from an aspiring filmmaker.

[@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker]

Thank you for the comment and the support. Good luck in your filmmaking career. David Hoffman - filmmaker

[@robertcronin6603]

"37 years later and some of them are probably still there" ...that's heavy 🔥

[@jackieann5494]

So powerful. So beautiful

[@hbsvictor]

You’re an artist, brother. You make it happen.

[@planetbrooklynsupreme]

I just finished watching the performance, and was bawling like a baby. You felt the life that they brought into that prison...even if it were just for one day.

[@paulgibby6932]

You didn't say whatever happened with the Voices of East Harlem (2:10). They were fantastic!

[@brettbenham5829]

David, love your Documentaries!

[@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker]

Thank you Brett. David Hoffman filmmaker

[@davidwilder7542]

Mr. Hoffman, more than excellence. 👍✌

[@451degreesF]

Oh my god, that energy, that's overpowering.

[@777jones]

fahrenheit451 it’s thick, isn’t it.

[@451degreesF]

@@777jones as hell man, how did they not riot after this gig hahaha

[@niamhryan9677]

Thank you Mr Hoffman. That was incredible 💖

[@Braglemaster123]

Excellent

[@adamrodriguez4091]

Shalom, Godbless you David

[@stevebailey5591]

I loved this, thank you so much for posting it and for your fascinating contextual introduction and afterword.

[@emmantoast310]

David Hoffman. The gentle spoken “Badass!”

[@danielolsson8481]

I am so thankful to have found this youtube channel

[@StLennyBruce]

You're so cool. Seriously, you're really a wild guy!

[@lonniegibson7675]

Wow, what a great and inspiring video, i was grooving to that drummer and giutarist man, thanks, just what i needed, just sat back and closed my eyes, thanks again man! Also, loved that vibe back in thearly 70s, i was ten then and my thirteen yearold bro died in a car crash in april of that year.

[@lonniegibson7675]

Thanks david!

[@sonofode902]

I'm sure Tony very much appriciate your help (loan) sir, where ever he is now.

[@agochoa]

Warden: I’ll sign your release papers if you can set my soul on fire with your voice. .....A week later all 20 performers were freed.

[@nobaloneymahoney7940]

The Voices of East Harlem got a standing ovation from prisoners at SingSing! Glad Tony got the film😁and got away. I'm sure he paid for his petty crimes. Bravo on your efforts.

[@musharrafdog]

David's story about making Tony part of his crew brings to mind Cassavetes hiring his mugger to be an actor in his film.

[@toussantlbisso]

Any particular film or year. ?

[@musharrafdog]

@@toussantlbisso I was trying to remember...I either saw that in the documentary Almost Not Crazy or a long interview with Peter Falk, Peter Bogdonavich and Gena Rowlands from around fifteen years ago.

[@toussantlbisso]

@@musharrafdog Reckon I'll just try "googling" it ! Thanks 🎥

[@musharrafdog]

@@toussantlbisso let me know if you find it

[@musharrafdog]

@@toussantlbisso like some of the best he doesn't have a lot online about him

[@kanescrimes4848]

HEAVY!

[@Simonjose7258]

So good🤯

[@RADIUMGLASS]

Actually 47 years.

[@mdbarton1979]

Wow.

[@leroyhall5556]

being this young so long ago and now these movements have known consequences.

[@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker]

Movements? David Hoffman filmmaker

[@planetbrooklynsupreme]

This was only a third of the performance by the way

[@StLennyBruce]

If you come to Paris, let me know!

[@aileenm.6492]

An observation, Mr Hoffman... 95% of the time you have no real accent. When you talk about NY it all floods back ... I know right where you're from. Personally, I love listening to it ❤

[@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker]

Aileen: although I have been away from New York for so long, I never did lose all of that accent. And I'm proud to be from New York and also proud to have lived so many other places. By regularly must return to get that New York energy again and my accent does quickly return. David Hoffman

[@patriciasalvatore2394]

@@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker Please pardon me for jumping in here, but I'd like to add my story about the New York accent. I was born in Red Hook in 1952 and that accent stays with you. NY accents can be very specific to the area of NY where a person lived. I was 45 yrs old, working in a Drs office in Atlanta when one days a priest came in for his appointment. As soon as he spoke one sentence I knew he was from Red Hook and the church he worked at was Visitation Church, the church i'd attended as a child.

[@mj99a]

about "charley 37X's" name: In the Nation of Islam essentially, the "X" represents the unknown African surname that the convert has lost; when there are multiple people with the same first name in a temple, they get assigned numbers in front of the X to distinguish them. "Some temples have gone as high as X to the '17th power'"

[@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker]

I never knew that. Thank you for sharing that info. David Hoffman-filmmaker

[@Anonymous-zr5sc]

❤

[@MARKETMAN6789]

Loved the video but I don't understand the title nearly made them riot

[@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker]

I understand your question. If you watch the entire film or other clips you will see that at some point, the Warden had to get up as men started jumping up on the stage to get autographs and maybe more. It was such an exciting moment. I don't believe a riot would actually have occurred but it was shortly after the Attica rebellion and everyone was nervous. David Hoffman-filmmaker

[@MARKETMAN6789]

Love your videos thank you

[@kanescrimes4848]

I wanna see a piece done of Hoffman himself, but I also want Hoffman to do it...🤔

[@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker]

Thank you. I do regular posts on my channel of me speaking about my life past present and in some cases future. I try to post one of these every few weeks. Search recent videos on my site and you will find the old man himself opining. David Hoffman-filmmaker

[@recusantbile9829]

Hey, them foxes were bad jack!!!

[@recusantbile9829]

BAD*

[@guillermo907]

Your ego is massive I'm going to add a response to the original comment so that people understand my reasoning. I'm not new. I've watched many videos. I'm subscribed because the videos themselves are interesting. But I just hate it when he constantly refers to himself as a filmmaker. He is a filmmaker but it is dumb to be constantly mentioning it. He often says, hi I'm David Hoffman, filmmaker. I also find it annoying when he relies a comment and puts his name at the end. People with big egos do that. But it's ok, no one is perfect

[@L0j1k]

You must be new to the channel. How about we talk about that after you spend a few days watching his videos?

[@guillermo907]

@@L0j1k I'm not new. I've watched many videos. I'm subscribed because the videos themselves are interesting. But I just hate it when he constantly refers to himself as a filmmaker. He is a filmmaker but it is dumb to be constantly mentioning it. He often says, hi I'm David Hoffman, filmmaker. I also find it annoying when he relies a comment and puts his name at the end. People with big egos do that. But it's ok, no one is perfect

[@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker]

@@guillermo907 Nothing much I can say to you. It is not my ego that has me commenting as I do. It is my respect for my audience who includes new folks who have not seen my older clips and don't know why am commenting as I do and what I am presenting. You will find in the comments many people who enjoy hearing the perspective of the filmmaker. I understand that you don't. Clearly you would not do the same on your channel. David Hoffman - filmmaker