Who We Are

Founded by legendary music producer Darryl Payne and Classic World Productions, our mission is to preserve and deliver the legacy of soul music for all generations of music lovers. The popular ‘Legends of Classic Soul’ collections on DVD have brought the excitement of the ultimate concert experience to the home, and an insider’s look behind the stage for fans to enjoy again and again.

To better serve you, the exclusive recordings of concerts by Classic World Productions are now available in two digital formats, Download To Own and the brand new streaming concert feature in our Stage Pass Club.

Exclusive to Stage Pass will be monthly concert showings, events, FREE downloads, and socializing features for fans and new artists to showcase their work.

About Darryl Payne

Darryl Payne has a career spanning decades of music production, along the way accumulating an extensive library of more than 30,000 masters and television shows featuring the world's biggest entertainers. Darryl Payne produced concerts are recognized around the globe, used by music companies and television networks.

Additionally, Darryl Payne is in final preparations to make available 26 one-hour episodes of "The Judy Garland Show" (1963-64), remastered and digitized in HD 5.1 by Pioneer. Featured in the shows are stars like Liza Minnelli, Tony Bennett, Barbara Streisand and many more iconic entertainers.

A View Of The History Of Soul

The history of soul music can be traced all the way back to African folk music sung by the first slaves brought to America and perpetuated in the Negro Spirituals bellowed by the earliest African American communities. Field hollers and porch music were sung by slaves and sharecroppers, and were brought to the city as these individuals migrated from the rural areas in search of jobs. In addition to these field hollers, gospel music of the churches and the rhythms of the blues blended into the creation of, not only soul music, but rock ‘n’ roll, as well.

Although soul music was born in and around Memphis, a soul museum in the cities of Chicago or Detroit may recount the evolution of soul music in different strings, as these were the major outlets for soul music.

The Memphis versions carried more Gospel undertones, as opposed to the more secular Detroit, later known as Motown. The Chicago style of soul music was a combination of the two. A sidebar in the soul music history during the 1970’s is the rise of funk music. As a relative of soul, funk emerged more from jazz than the gospel and blues roots of pure soul. Funk was historically associated with Malcolm X and the Black Power movement, whereas soul was more closely linked to Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement. Ultimately, soul gained more mainstream acceptance and popularity, but often the two types are branded together.