Economy Size Geek

Standing in the Shadows of Motown (2002)

I saw this as part of the Cinema Tuesday program set up by Texas Public Radio.

This movie is a documentary about the Funk Brothers. They were the session musicians at Mowtown back in it’s hay day.

“This unheralded group of musicians had played on more number ones hits than the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, Elvis and the Beatles combined - which makes them the greatest hit machine in the history of popular music.”

The movie is a combonation documentary and concert film. Basically they slowly unravel the story of the band and as they do they have modern singers sing with the band on some of th the hits they created.

Some of these performances were great - others were not. But the music was always perfect.

There were a couple of things that really struck me about the film.

First - I’m not that into music. That doesn’t mean I don’t know anything but I was really suprised at how many of the Motown hits they played I actually knew. I guess that’s just a testament to the pervasiveness of that music.

Second - I had no idea that that “What’s Going On” had anything to do with Vietnam. It’s kind of weird because of course I became familar with the song much much late. I have always liked that song - but before this movie I had never thought about the context of when and why it was written.

Finally, the film grappled with the idea that you can do what you love and be the best in the world at it, but what does it mean if in the end no one knows it was you that did it. They like all unsung heroes contributed something very amazing, but are unknown and unappreciated.
Frankly even with a film dedicated to them I think the damage was already done.

I was really envious of the band when they started talking about how they would go and record for Motown all day and then leave and go to jazz clubs to play their own style of music. This process allowed them to experiment and introduce new ideas into the Motown recordings because they had so much freedom to pursue their own brand of music.

I was envious because I can’t imaging anything more exhilirating than being at the top of your game and just being able to indulge in standing in the “flow” night and day. I’ve never experienced that playing trumpet - but I can tell you it does happen programming and it is the sort of thing tha tmakes the world fade away and the moment last forever.

Bottom Line: It’s a well constructed documentary about a band you probably love but have no idea they even exist. Just take a bathroom break or get some popcorn during Chaka Kahn.