greatest artists. The entire event was filmed and eventually released in 1996 as the award-winning documentary When We Were Kings. He returned to recording, producing Minnie Riperton’s third album, Adventures in Paradise. This album is believed by many to be a template for the neo-soul movement, and has influenced artists such as D’Angelo and Jill Scott, as well as many others. This led to a very productive period in which he produced albums by Van Morrison, Motown legend Lamont Dozier’s Peddlin’ Music on the Side, which featured the classic “Goin’ Back to My Roots,” and the début album of Randy Crawford. From here he developed a close relationship with Phil Walden and Capricorn Records, producing a series of gold albums with southern rock artists The Marshall Tucker Band, as well as The Allman Bros. Band side project Sea Level and Dixie Dregs. He then produced the first of six albums with blues legend B.B. King. Midnight Believer was an instant hit, putting B.B. back on the charts with a gold album after a long absence. This was quickly followed by B.B.’s Grammy winning There Must Be a Better World Somewhere. In 1982 Levine produced “Up Where We Belong” with Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes. Used as the end title song to the film An Officer and a Gentleman, “Up Where We Belong” became a #1 pop hit, Grammy winner and Academy Award winner. He then produced Sly and the Family Stone’s début album for Warner Bros. Records. Next came Womack & Womack’s debut Love Wars. In England it quickly became a critic’s darling and a #1 album. Due to the overwhelming success of this album, Levine found himself being courted by many English A&R men, eager for him to work with their artists. He moved to London and began working with a wide range of acts from the techno dance group Blancmange to the cult band Killing Joke. Levine was invited by an A&R man to see a new band from Manchester named Simply Red play their first gig in London. He describes the moment: “The lead singer was magical but the music sounded like a retro American soul revue. I wasn’t interested in this kind of sound. I met with Mick Hucknall and told him that we needed to come up with something fresh, not just revisit the past.” The result was Simply Red’s début album Picture Book, which