Official Video for Sam Waymon's "Baltimore", now streaming via Vimeo and YouTube

TRYON, N.C. - March 24, 2025 - PRLog -- A mini-documentary based around a fresh interpretation of Randy Newman's 1977 composition "Baltimore" by music industry icon Dr. Samuel Waymon, has been released worldwide via Vimeo and YouTube.

The performance of "Baltimore" (In Four Movements) was recorded live last October at a concert benefiting victims of Hurricane Helene – which caused catastrophic damage and numerous deaths throughout the Southeastern United States.

The video documents the resilience of a community pushed to the brink by an unprecedented weather event and salutes the leadership provided by the Tryon International Equestrian Center (Tryon International) in Mill Spring (Polk County), North Carolina. The storm caused an estimated 241 deaths (104 in North Carolina) and inflicted $78.7 billion in damage.

In the weeks following the disaster, Tryon International served as a command center and community assembly point - providing food, water, vital supplies, shelter and support to devastated communities in Polk, Rutherford, Henderson and other counties.

On October 25, 2024, the facility hosted PHP: People Helping People, a benefit concert headlined by Sam Waymon and The Magic Man Band.

Emceed by actress, comedienne and talk radio host Pam Stone, the show featured performances by Champagne Charlie, The Zion Grove AME Zion Church Music Department, Awake in the Dream, Shane Pruitt, The Flatrock Playhouse and the Kenya Cultural Quintet.

In the video, Dr. Waymon examines the history and universal significance of Newman's composition and explains his rationale in selecting it for inclusion in the benefit concert. The production includes additional imagery highlighting societal conflicts in Baltimore, Maryland (USA) and similar communities throughout the world.

A native of Tryon, North Carolina, Samuel Waymon (80) is the youngest of eight children born to Rev. Mary Kate (Irvin) Waymon (1901 – 2001) and her husband, John Divine Waymon (1898 – 1972). Samuel began playing the piano at age three under the direction of Mrs. Muriel Mazzanovich, who also trained his late sister Eunice (aka Nina Simone).

Waymon's long career has brought success in many areas of the music and entertainment industries.

Motion pictures representative of Samuel Waymon's significant body of work (as a composer, performer, arranger and actor) include:

• Ganja & Hess (1973)
• Just Crazy About Horses (1978)
• Personal Problems (1980)
• Weeds (1987)
• Philadelphia (1993)
• The Last Disintegrated School (2019)
• Sinners (2025)

His groundbreaking collaborations with the late playwright, novelist, actor and director Bill Gunn (1934 – 1989) represent the pinnacle of African-American creative art in the late 20th Century. In 1973, Ganja & Hess was celebrated as one of the Ten Best Films of the Decade, at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.

Video: https://vimeo.com/1066399381?share=copy#t=0