The Legendary Marion Williams

Last year, Searchlight Films produced a documentary on this gospel icon's life. This week, I discuss the film and the global impact of her work with her son, Robin Williams Sr.

Before we get to the feature…

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And…

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The Legendary Marion Williams

She was one of the primary influences for artists like Little Richard and Aretha Franklin, was given the McArthur Foundation Genius Grant, was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque in France, was inducted into the Philadelphia Walk of Fame and the only gospel artist to be a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors. Who is she?

Marion Williams.

Philadelphia Tribune, May 10, 1977

While there has been much rightful revisiting of the weight of the career of Sister Rosetta Tharpe and her impact on global music, the public has not quite caught up in the same way with the importance of Marion Williams’ career. With the documentary The Legendary Marion Williams (now streaming on Amazon Prime and Tubi), released in the summer of 2023, her son, Robin, hopes to change that.

An archival interview with Marion and Philadelphia radio personality, the late Linwood Heath, gives the film its grounding and historical timeline, while interviews with her longtime producer, gospel historian Anthony Heilbut, Ward Singers/Stars of Faith accompanist Reverend Johnny Thompson, Grammy-nominated, Stellar Award-winning singer/songwriter Richard Smallwood, and Robin Williams, among others, augment Williams’ story with their own experiences with Williams and perspectives on her work.

From her beginnings in the Clara Ward Singers in 1947, a collaboration which begat the blockbuster hits “Surely God Is Able” and “Packing Up,” until her last recording in 1993, Can’t Keep It To Myself, Williams set about making a distinct brand of vocal art that remained rooted in gospel music, but also fearlessly addressed the political (like Bob Dylan’s “Wicked Messenger” and “I Pity the Poor Immigrant” and Anthony Heilbut’s “Bad News, Bad Times”) and colored outside of conventional faith lines (“Hare Krishna”). Whether joyously scatting on songs like “Didn’t It Rain,” impersonating a guitar on “The New Gospel Train,” or moaning through one of the Dr. Watts hymns, Williams’ body of work covers a vast terrain of American music.

The documentary goes beneath the surface of her art and reflects the more personal aspects of her life. The film doesn’t shy away from Williams’ positioning as a working, single mother with her busiest years coinciding with Robin’s childhood and adolescence, and the toll that took on their relationship. He says that the film offers the opportunity to “really find out what she wanted to be and [how she] wanted people to remember her. Her being not only a gospel legend, but also a person that loved people and loved singing.”

This summer, I was honored to talk with Robin Williams at length about the documentary and his memories of his mother. We discuss Mahalia Jackson, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Marion’s performances in supper clubs and colleges, and the challenges and blessings of growing up as the son of a gospel legend. You can hear that interview in the brand new episode of the God’s Music Is My Life podcast which is now on Spotify and Apple (Click your preferred outlet to listen or listen below!)

Before You Go…

The latest edition of the #ChurchOfTheGoodGroove playlist that I curate for SoulandJazz.com premiered yesterday. This month, you can hear selections by Shirley Caesar, the Voices of East Harlem, Ronnie Dyson, Dottie Rambo, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Andraé Crouch and others by clicking here!