Standing in the Shadows of Motown
has anyone else seen this?
if not, i highly, HIGHLY recommend it! it's hands down the best documentary film i've ever seen. . . not just the content-- which i love-- but also the production. . . the lighting and camera angles, narration, sequencing. . . extremely well done. . .
it's the story of a group of musicians called the funk brothers. . . they were a loose collective of jazz musicians who effectively formed the studio band for the early years of motown. . . incredibly, they laid down the background music for virtually ALL of mowtown's biggest hits-- all of the early stuff from marvin gaye, smokey and the miracles, the temptations, the four tops, stevie wonder, martha reeves and the vandellas, gladys knight and the pips, the supremes, mary wells etc. . . together, they played on more number one records than elvis, the beatles, the beach boys ad the rolling stones put together. . . yet they never got the recognition that the vocalists did. . .
the producers of the film got the living members of the band together and did a concert in detroit with a group of guest vocalists, and the film mixes live video of musical performances with interviews and narration for a really interesting and enjoyable documentary. . . even if you aren't a fan of motown per se, any lover of music should be able to enjoy the interviews and the perspectives of these funky old guys. . . they're the antithesis of most modern pop stars, with their insipid musac and rampant commercialism. . . these guys cranked out an amazing array of all-time smash hits (think "i heard it through the grapevine"), yet they lived in relative obscurity and never saw even a fraction of the huge profits that so many no-talent hacks rack up in the modern music industry. . . these were guys who did it because of their true and abiding love for music, and almost all of the interviews reflect that. . .
ben harper rips up the old temps classic ain't too proud to beg
joan osborne brings down the house with what becomes of the broken hearted
interview clip
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Originally Posted by frauschieze
