Power of Attorney -

The Power of Attorney was an American soul-funk band comprised of inmates at Graterford Prison in Skippack Township, Penn. The band’s singular album, From the Inside, was released on Polydor in 1974.

Members: Brother Edward J. X Smith, Charles McDowell, Gilberto Albizu, Marion Wilson, Otis J. Graham, Ronald Aikens, Stan Vincent, Stanley Watkins, Wilbur C. Brown, William Smith

Background

The Power of Attorney formed in late 1972 at Graterford Prison in Skippack Township, Pennsylvania, when activities director Theodore “Ted” Wing held a prison-wide audition for a rehabilitative music program. Five members remained incarcerated at Graterford while four members continued with the band as parolees.

For the early lineup, Wing selected guitarist Brother Edward J.X. Smith, singer-bassist Charles McDowell, percussionist Gilberto Albizu, saxophonist Marion Wilson, drummer Otis J. Graham, flutist Dwight Williams, and keyboardists William Smith and Wilbur C. Brown. Wilson was in the tenth year of a life sentence during the album period. Pre-Graterford, Brown graduated from Juilliard and backed saxophonist Stan Getz and singer Eddie Vincent.

The group rehearsed inside Graterford and recorded early material at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia in January and April 1973. The first sessions produced “Changing Man,” a Charles McDowell song issued in 1973 on Brotherhood/Nicetown. Graterford officials allowed the band to travel under armed escort for outside concerts, college dates, club work, and studio sessions.

Producer Stan Vincent heard the band after a demo reached Polydor and required the addition of Graterford inmate Ronald Aikens, a onetime singer with United Image, a Stax-affiliated Philly vocal group. Vincent took the expanded lineup to the Hit Factory in New York for a proper album.

From the Inside…

Power of Attorney released its lone album, From the Inside…, in September 1974 on Polydor.

The album contains nine vocal and instrumental soul-funk tracks by the expanded Graterford lineup. Charles McDowell holds the central writer credit across five titles, while Ronald Aikens added two songs.

“I’ve Been Thinking” snaps through a dancer’s meter with a direct lead placement. “Buck Naked” cuts the album to an instrumental track and lands on a long percussive break near the close. “Jelly Roll” works the same break-oriented side with shorter rhythmic pressure. “Loving You,” “Turn Around,” and “No More” slow the program into sustained lead lines and softer ensemble support. “The Children” sits with the album’s direct social text, where the vocal appeal carries the song. “I Wanna Be Free” adds a brisker late-side statement before “No More” closes the set in the slower register.

A1. “Life Is Nowhere in the Ghetto” (3:10) – McDowell, Graham
A2. “Loving You” (5:23) – McDowell, Graham
A3. “I’ve Been Thinking” (4:23) – McDowell, Brown
A4. “The Children” (4:45) – Aikens, Watkins
A5. “Buck Naked” (3:57) – McDowell, Brown

B1. “Turn Around” (7:00) – Aikens
B2. “Jelly Roll” (3:34) – Smith, McDowell, Wilson, Wing
B3. “I Wanna Be Free” (4:06) – Vincent, Smith
B4. “No More” (4:53) – McDowell, Smith

Stan Vincent produced and directed From the Inside… at the Hit Factory in New York. Carl Parvolo mixed the album, which features cover art by Mel Kirsch.

Polydor paired “Turn Around” with “Jelly Roll” on a 1974 single credited to Power of Attorney from Graterford Prison.

Discography: