Howard A. Knight Jr. is an American former
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
promoter and
record producer
A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...
, who once planned to build a
Bible
The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
-themed
amusement park
An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...
.
[Discog]
Howard A. Knight, Jr. Discography
/ref>
Personal background
Knight comes from Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...
.
Career
Companies and labels
During the 1970s, he was the president of Howard Knight Enterprises which was the umbrella org for Superior Record Distributing Co, a record distributor based in Nashville
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
, Tennessee. Superior was located at Suite 102, 50 Music Square West. Knight was the president for Superior and Christopher McMillen was the executive vice-president. The company represented Grape Records, GMC Records, Colonial Records and Volunteer Records. In August 1979, the company moved a short distance, relocating to the SESAC building at 11 Music Square in Nashville.
Around 1980, he formed a record company called HKE Records (Howard Knight Enterprises) that was operating out of Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...
. The first release for the label was by a country group from Louisiana called Blue Sage with "Fallin In Love Again" and "Bobbie Sue". Other acts to have releases were on the label were Aces Up and Devlin with "Door To Door Lover". Devlin, a country rock artist was also under Knight's personal management. In 1986, he formed Telstar Productions a company to produce, promote, market and distribute records. He also formed another record label called Pegasus Records. One of the first releases this label put out was a single by Mark Alan called "Wadda Done With My Heart".
Later years
His company Knight Shows & Events has promoted doll shows in North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
, South Carolina
South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...
, and Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
.
Amusement park
Knight claimed that he had a visitation from God
In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
and that he was instructed to build an amusement park with a biblical theme. The organization to oversee the running of the park was to be a non-profit org called Gods Wonderful World Inc. In 1997, the organization purchased a 2000-acre site near Gaffney, South Carolina
Gaffney is a city in and the county seat, seat of Cherokee County, South Carolina, United States, in the upstate South Carolina, Upstate region of South Carolina. Gaffney is known as the "Peach Capital of South Carolina". The population was 12,53 ...
. There were two sizable lakes and a river adjacent to the site. The theme of the park was to be Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Religion
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...
to Revelation
Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of Religious views on truth, truth or Knowledge#Religion, knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and t ...
. It would feature electronic technology which included 3D movies and robot
A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, co ...
ics.
Music production
In 1971 he produced a funk-soul single called "Interpretation - Soul Power No.1" bw "Souladelic" for the group Soul Impossibles that was released on the Champ label. It was re-released years later on FUNK45.[FUNK-O-LOG]
Soul Impossibles - Interpretation – Soul Power No.1 / Souladelic
/ref>
Among the other records he produced was an unusual record single called "Funky Country" by Jesters III. The track was a country soul
Southern soul or country soul is a type of soul and country music that emerged from the Southern United States. The music originated from a combination of styles, including blues (both 12 bar and jump), country, early R&B, and a strong gospel ...
-styled song with Elvis-type vocals by Mike Corliss. Another single for the group that he produced was "Little Eve" bw "Lonely Blue Boy" which was released in 1972.[45Ca]
Jesters III, Little Eve
/ref> He also produced a solo single for Mike Corliss, "Too Much Of A Woman" bw "You Said It All Before" released on the Boss Records label in March 1972. In 1977, Knight produced a single for Leon Everette
Leon Everette Baughman (born June 21, 1948) is an American country music artist.
Background
He was born in Aiken, South Carolina, United States. While in the Navy during the Vietnam War, Everette won a singing contest and decided to pursue a c ...
, "Sill Loving You".
List of productions (selective)
* Soul Impossibles - "Interpretation - Soul Power No.1"/ "Souladelic" - Champ 2030 - (1971)Claude King
Claude King (February 5, 1923 – March 7, 2013) was an American country music singer and songwriter, best known for his 1962 million-selling hit, " Wolverton Mountain".
Biography
King was born in Keithville in southern Caddo Parish south ...
- "Cotton Dan" / "I'll Spend My Lifetime Loving You - True Records Inc. – T-103 - (1977)[Discog]
Claude King (2) – Cotton Dan / I'll Spend My Lifetime Loving You
/ref>
* Claude King - "Sugar Baby, Candy Girl" / "Just A Bum Husband" - True T106 - (1977)
* Gloria Glore – "Promise Me Nothing" / "There Hangs His Hat" - True Records Inc. – T-108 - (1977)
* Leon Everette – "Goobye King Of Rock 'N' Roll" / "Where The Daisies Grow Wild" - True – T-107 - (1977)
* Leon Everette - "I Love That Woman (Like The Devil Loves Sin)" / "Still Loving You" - True T-110 - (1977)
* David Houston - "The Waltz Of The Angels" / "Next Sunday I'm Gonna Be Saved" - Electra E-45513 - (1978)
* Benjamin - "The Moon Man" / "The Moon Man" - Colonial SC-2007 - (1979)
* David Heavener - "First Day Of Never" / "Let's Go Chasing Rainbows" - Colonial SC-2008 - (1979)
* The Bandit Band - "Do You Wanna Fall In Love" / "Do You Wanna Fall In Love" - Pegasus Records HKE-PEG-108 - (1986)[45Ca]
Howard A. Knight All
/ref>
* Soul Impossibles - "Interpretation - Soul Power No.1"/ "Souladelic" - Funk45 – FUNK45.036 - (2007)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Howard
Record producers from South Carolina
American music promoters
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)