Reginald Haynes (March 24, 1949 – July 11, 2020) – Disrespect Can Wreck (1974)

The founder of The Escorts who formed the group at Rahway State Prison in NJ sang lead on this funky message song from their second LP, produced by George Kerr.

View most updated version of this post on Substack

Search our full archives

Reginald Haynes was the founder and lead singer of the soul/funk vocal group the Escorts. He put it together with other inmates while serving time in New Jersey during the late 1960s, and a few years later they became the only group formed in prison to ever be allowed to record an album while still behind bars in the United States.

Reginald “Reggie” Haynes, aka “Prophet” was convicted of armed robbery after holding up a New Jersey liquor store as an 18-year-old teenager and sentenced to Trenton State Prison. Soon afterwards in 1968 he began singing doo-wop with fellow inmates and formed a vocal group. Two years later, he and some members were transferred to the infamous Rahway State Prison (used as the location for the 1978 documentary Scared Straight in which young offenders were given a crash course in the realities of prison life by veteran inmates).

There they recruited additional singers and performed at a prison talent show as the Escorts for the first time. Besides Haynes, other members were Lawrence Franklin, Robert Arrington, William Dugger, Stephen Carter, Frank Heard, and Marion Murphy. In a 2012 interview, Haynes described this period:

“I found a couple of guys who were around my age and put together a group. We had no name. We just sang to occupy our time, give ourselves something to do. Rahway had what they called institutional talent shows, in which groups and individual singers, guys who had any type of talent, would get together and put on a show for the prisoners. They allowed us to invite our families, mothers, sisters, brothers, wives, etc.”

Another friend of Haynes who was also incarcerated in Rahway at the time was JJ Jones, the great soul singer Linda Jones’ twin brother. He invited Linda to come to one of the talent shows, and she showed up with her manager, George Kerr. Haynes recalled what happened next:

“After our performance this guy came running backstage and said his name was George Kerr and he’s been in the business for over 30 years, he was with Motown, and we’re the best group he’s ever heard and he’s got to record us. Of course, we thought he was crazy. This was a maximum security prison and we were all doing time. It was unheard of. But he was serious.”

Over the next two years, according to Haynes, Kerr and the rest of the group wrote “everybody we could think of, we begged and cajoled.” Years later, Kerr claimed he sent more than 500 letters to prison officials asking to be allowed to record them. In the interim, Linda Jones died tragically at age 27 when she fell into a diabetic coma on March 14, 1972. Finally Kerr was given permission to return to the prison in the fall of 1972 with a mobile recording unit.

In a little over nine hours, the Escorts recorded the material that became their debut album, All We Need Is Another Chance.

The session was arranged by the prolific composer, arranger and musical director Bert Keyes, with assistance from Kerr’s brother Napoleon aka Victor Kerr.

Released in 1973 on the independent New Jersey-based label Alithia Records, its opening cut (and one of the LP’s singles) was a superb cover of “I’ll Be Sweeter Tomorrow,” written by brothers Richard and Robert Poindexter. Kerr had previously produced versions of the track for both Jones (on Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff’s Neptune Records in 1969) and The O’Jays (when he produced their 1968 Bell Records LP On Top). It led off with a partial spoken word intro that included a short statement by Haynes about the project.

The album’s title track was an epic funky Norman Whitfield-esque psychedelic soul message song, written by Kerr, with a spoken word intro he recorded letting the world know the Escorts had all expressed remorse for their crimes and deserved another chance. It first aired on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, January 15, 1973 on New Jersey station WNJR, and was officially released in an edited single version that spring, although it did not chart.

Its second single was another O’Jays cover, this one co-written by Kerr and Larry Roberts. “Look Over Your Shoulder” went to #45 R&B and put the group on the map. Another of the LP’s highlights was the upbeat love song “I'm So Glad I Found You,” co-written by Kerr, Roberts, and Napoleon Kerr. It was released as the B-side of the LP’s third single “I’ll Be Sweeter Tomorrow” which peaked at #83 R&B. Like its A-side, “I'm So Glad I Found You” had also been previously recorded by both Linda Jones and the O’Jays.

On the strength of its singles and the novelty of having been recorded behind bars, All We Need Is Another Chance became a moderate hit, peaking at #41 on Billboard’s R&B albums chart. It would go on to sell over 300,000 copies.

Their second album 3 Down 4 To Go was released in 1974, again produced by Kerr, arranged by Keyes, and issued on Alithia. Its lead single was the epic funky opening cut “Disrespect Can Wreck,” co-written by Kerr with his frequent songwriting partner Raymond Walker, b/w the edited, single version of “All We Need (Is Another Chance).” The single reached #61 R&B.

The powerful unity jam “Brother” was written by Michael Watson, the core guitarist in the backing band for artists on Sylvia Robinson’s All Platinum Records.

Watson also wrote the funky message song “Corruption (Man's Self Destruction)” which insightfully called out “politicians stealing from the people while breaking the laws that only they can make.”

Other highlights included a stellar cover of the love song standard “I Only Have Eyes For You,” the beautiful “Within Without” co-written by lyricist Edna Lewis and songwriter/producer Les Ledo aka Lester Lopez, and the funky jam “The Shoo Nough” which attempted to start a whole new dance craze. Kerr and Haynes co-wrote “The Shoo Nough,” one of only two songs Haynes ever had a hand in writing. The album did not sell as well as their first, but still hit #57 R&B.

Years after their release from prison, Haynes was approached by Hollywood producers who wanted to make a movie based on the Escorts’ story. But he and the surviving members of the group turned them down once they learned the producers wanted to tell the story with the Escorts portrayed as white. According to Haynes:

“Either Hollywood or America was not prepared, in their opinion, to accept an all-Black group recording an album while the entire group was in a maximum security prison. They didn’t think that would go.”

In 2012, plans were made for a documentary to be filmed about the Escorts. Although the Kickstarter campaign the producers initially set up was unsuccessful, they were eventually able to complete the project in 2017, titled All We Need Is Another Chance.

Happy 75th Birthday to the late Reggie Haynes.

Further info:

“Music from the Big House: The Story of the Escorts,” by Andy Markowitz, The Ask / MusicFilmWeb, September 18, 2012.

“The Untold Story of The Legendary George Kerr & The Escorts,” by George Kerr, YouTube, July 30, 2021.

#soul #funk #BertKeyes #GeorgeKerr #TheEscorts #ReginaldHaynes