Paul David Wilson
| Paul David Wilson | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Paul David Wilson |
| Born |
30 August 1952 Chicago, Illinois |
| Genres | Pop, R&B, Jazz, Classical |
| Occupation(s) | Songwriter, Composer, Arranger, Conductor, Producer, Executive, Flutist |
| Instruments | Vocalist, Flute, Piano |
| Years active | 1973-present |
| Labels | Motown, Columbia, Arista, Geffen, Un-D-Nyable Entertainment |
| Associated acts | Jerry Butler, Marvin Winans, Nikki, Common, Dejah Gomez, Entourage |
Paul David Wilson (born August 30, 1952) is a songwriter, composer, conductor, and music producer. Most of his professional life has been devoted to music, including composing for radio and TV commercials. He became the president of a start-up record label begun by Frank Thomas, who was then the starring player on the Chicago White Sox baseball team. Wilson suffered a massive and debilitating stroke when he was 46 years old. Due to the terribly limiting effects of aphasia, a common but complicated and severe post-stroke condition, he was for a number of years unable to communicate without great difficulty. His fight back to full functioning has been a decade-long challenge that, although largely successful, in many ways still continues.
Paul David Wilson was born in Chicago, Illinois. He was third son to father, Herbert, a classical tenor vocalist and choir director who taught elementary school and retired after becoming a vice-principal of the school. Paul’s mother, Odessa, was a child prodigy who grew to become a concert pianist and choir director. She was accomplished in a variety of music genres, but due to her commitment to God, only performed certain styles of music. Paul’s early lessons on piano came from his mother, and he grew up absorbing the classical and gospel music of the choirs and vocal ensembles his parents directed.
While still of pre-school age, Paul began composing simple songs and by the time he began primary school had learned to musically notate the songs he composed. At age 12, Paul began organizing "street corner" vocal ensembles to perform his songs at parties and selected school functions. At 13, he discovered the flute and it soon became his major instrument. Paul attended James H. Bowen High School in Chicago. In Paul’s fourth year of high school, a friend, Arlene Johnson, persuaded him to run for class president. He was elected Senior Class President of Bowen in 1970.
He remembers the day when he was a still-young teenager and "my mother dragged me to a seminar on how to create commercial jingles." The presenters were Dick Marx, whose young son would later become a pop music star known as Richard Marx, who was then Chicago’s most prominent master of music for Radio and TV commercials, and Dr. Thomas Fabish, the concert master of DePaul University’s music department. The presentation involved a big band, top-notch singers and a film. Even as he listened, Paul was thinking, "I could do that."
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