Post by Diamond Girl on Sept 3, 2006 14:07:20 GMT -5
Motown's Funk Brothers cast long 'Shadows'
By Steve Jones, USA TODAY
Posted 11/28/2002 7:14 PM Updated 12/5/2002 5:08 PM
As Motown's studio band, the Funk Brothers kept those unforgettable grooves bubbling up from the basement at Hitsville USA.
Their music fueled the careers of The Temptations, The Supremes, The Miracles, the Four Tops, Gladys Knight and The Pips, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Mary Wells and others from the time the company started in the late 1950s until it left Detroit for California in 1973. (Related item: Funk Brothers, where art though now?)
They played on more No. 1 hits than Elvis Presley, The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys put together. But to the general public, they remain largely unknown. Unlike the galaxy of beloved Motown stars, songwriters and producers, the Funk Brothers were rarely recognized for their contribution to what became "the sound of young America."
That's changing with the new documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown, which opened in New York and Los Angeles Nov. 15 and goes to 12 more cities this weekend.
The spotlight is finally shining on this colorful cast of characters who toiled in "the Snakepit" of Berry Gordy's hit factory at 2648 West Grand Blvd. and who have reunited to promote the film.
Former Supremes star Mary Wilson says: "They made music that the people of the world could enjoy and no longer have to hide that they listened to rhythm and blues. They made it pop. They took one ethnic genre and created a whole other genre: the Motown sound."
Director Paul Justman's film is a funny and often exuberant story of the comradeship between a band of jazz musicians who tell their often bittersweet stories, recalling the eccentric personalities, comical studio antics, marathon recording sessions and battles with personal demons. They are glad for the public recognition but lament that it came too late for some of their colleagues.
Jack Ashford, whose distinctive tambourine graces dozens of classic hits, says the seven-minute ovation the film received after its screening at the Toronto Film Festival in September "blew my mind."
"I started crying, man, because no one had ever cared about us like that. My mind immediately went to the Funk Brothers who didn't make it. It's bittersweet, but who can question God? When you see footage of Earl (Van Dyke, pianist) and Robert (White, guitarist), they wanted it too, just as bad as we do. But they'd be happy because we always talk about them."
The film takes its name from a book co-producer Allan Slutsky published in 1989 about bassist extraordinaire James Jamerson, who had died six years earlier. While researching Jamerson, Slutsky came to know the other dozen or so Funk Brothers, who had been recruited by Gordy from Detroit's thriving nightclub scene. Slutsky says, "I knew I had stumbled upon the last great unmined musical story of the '60s."
It still took Slutsky 11 dogged years to make the film a reality. He says he made dozens of pitches to studios, but no one believed anyone would care about a bunch of studio musicians unless big stars were involved.
But Slutsky was determined to get the Funk Brothers' story told, and only coincidental meetings with businessmen Paul Elliott and David Scott, amateur musicians who financed the movie, got it done.
"After about eight years, I couldn't keep the Funk Brothers motivated," Slutsky says. "I was like the crazy aunt in the attic. I was doing Jesse Jackson 'keep hope alive' speeches."
Ashford, who played tambourine, vibes and percussion, says the musicians always appreciated Slutsky's efforts.
"The longer it took, the more we believed that it wouldn't be pulled together," Ashford says. "But Allan had so much tenacity and drive, and he kept us hanging in there."
The film has gotten critical acclaim and emotional audience responses since it began screening in September, evidenced by the Toronto Film Festival ovation.
Justman says that when you watch the film, you can't help but root for the musicians.
"You have these men who are getting older, fighting the pain of obscurity and who have done something that influenced the world," he says.
Justman deftly interweaves interviews, re-enactments, archival footage and band performances of classic tunes with contemporary artists. Many of the stories center on those who died before the film was made.
Jamerson, who despite his heavy drinking was an unparalleled bassist, is one of the dominant figures in the story. Ashford tells how Jamerson was once so wasted he couldn't sit upright but pulled the near-impossible feat of playing the demanding bass line on Marvin Gaye's What's Going On lying flat on his back.
Then there was pianist Earl "Chunk of Funk" Van Dyke, who banged the keys so hard that his instrument had to be constantly retuned.
They tell of Robert White, so shy that he was afraid to tell a waiter that he was the one who played that evocative guitar on My Girl.
One of the film's quietest moments recalls the chilling day when word reached the studio that drummer Benny "Papa Zita" Benjamin, a heroin addict, had died.
Justman avoids getting too maudlin by injecting humorous anecdotes or shifting to one of the exhilarating performances by the reunited band with singers such as Joan Osborne, Bootsy Collins, Gerald Levert, Chaka Khan and Montell Jordan, Ben Harper and Me'Shell Ndgeocello gleefully strutting their stuff. With the exception of brief appearances by The Temptations' Otis Williams and Martha Reeves, the filmmakers consciously decided not to include Motown's well-known stars.
A soundtrack featuring the film's live performances came out in September. Among the highlights are Osborne's wrenching What Becomes of the Brokenhearted, Levert's fiery Reach Out I'll Be There and Bootsy Collins' boisterous Do You Love Me. The soundtrack will be included in a deluxe edition due in January that will feature a second CD with 16 classic Motown tracks stripped of the vocals and strings to emphasize the music of the Funk Brothers. A DVD with additional filmed interviews and a concert at the Knitting Factory in Los Angeles are due next spring.
Motown has one of the most closely protected catalogs in the music industry. But Slutsky says this film has more than 30 songs in it, thanks to company founder Gordy, who opened it up for the making of the movie.
"I'll admit my view may be a little twisted, but when you think Motown, it's the story of the incredible studio band with a revolving set of vocalists," Slutsky says. "They were the continuity. They were the reason Motown sounded the way it sounded."
USA Today
By Steve Jones, USA TODAY
Posted 11/28/2002 7:14 PM Updated 12/5/2002 5:08 PM
As Motown's studio band, the Funk Brothers kept those unforgettable grooves bubbling up from the basement at Hitsville USA.
Their music fueled the careers of The Temptations, The Supremes, The Miracles, the Four Tops, Gladys Knight and The Pips, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Mary Wells and others from the time the company started in the late 1950s until it left Detroit for California in 1973. (Related item: Funk Brothers, where art though now?)
They played on more No. 1 hits than Elvis Presley, The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys put together. But to the general public, they remain largely unknown. Unlike the galaxy of beloved Motown stars, songwriters and producers, the Funk Brothers were rarely recognized for their contribution to what became "the sound of young America."
That's changing with the new documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown, which opened in New York and Los Angeles Nov. 15 and goes to 12 more cities this weekend.
The spotlight is finally shining on this colorful cast of characters who toiled in "the Snakepit" of Berry Gordy's hit factory at 2648 West Grand Blvd. and who have reunited to promote the film.
Former Supremes star Mary Wilson says: "They made music that the people of the world could enjoy and no longer have to hide that they listened to rhythm and blues. They made it pop. They took one ethnic genre and created a whole other genre: the Motown sound."
Director Paul Justman's film is a funny and often exuberant story of the comradeship between a band of jazz musicians who tell their often bittersweet stories, recalling the eccentric personalities, comical studio antics, marathon recording sessions and battles with personal demons. They are glad for the public recognition but lament that it came too late for some of their colleagues.
Jack Ashford, whose distinctive tambourine graces dozens of classic hits, says the seven-minute ovation the film received after its screening at the Toronto Film Festival in September "blew my mind."
"I started crying, man, because no one had ever cared about us like that. My mind immediately went to the Funk Brothers who didn't make it. It's bittersweet, but who can question God? When you see footage of Earl (Van Dyke, pianist) and Robert (White, guitarist), they wanted it too, just as bad as we do. But they'd be happy because we always talk about them."
The film takes its name from a book co-producer Allan Slutsky published in 1989 about bassist extraordinaire James Jamerson, who had died six years earlier. While researching Jamerson, Slutsky came to know the other dozen or so Funk Brothers, who had been recruited by Gordy from Detroit's thriving nightclub scene. Slutsky says, "I knew I had stumbled upon the last great unmined musical story of the '60s."
It still took Slutsky 11 dogged years to make the film a reality. He says he made dozens of pitches to studios, but no one believed anyone would care about a bunch of studio musicians unless big stars were involved.
But Slutsky was determined to get the Funk Brothers' story told, and only coincidental meetings with businessmen Paul Elliott and David Scott, amateur musicians who financed the movie, got it done.
"After about eight years, I couldn't keep the Funk Brothers motivated," Slutsky says. "I was like the crazy aunt in the attic. I was doing Jesse Jackson 'keep hope alive' speeches."
Ashford, who played tambourine, vibes and percussion, says the musicians always appreciated Slutsky's efforts.
"The longer it took, the more we believed that it wouldn't be pulled together," Ashford says. "But Allan had so much tenacity and drive, and he kept us hanging in there."
The film has gotten critical acclaim and emotional audience responses since it began screening in September, evidenced by the Toronto Film Festival ovation.
Justman says that when you watch the film, you can't help but root for the musicians.
"You have these men who are getting older, fighting the pain of obscurity and who have done something that influenced the world," he says.
Justman deftly interweaves interviews, re-enactments, archival footage and band performances of classic tunes with contemporary artists. Many of the stories center on those who died before the film was made.
Jamerson, who despite his heavy drinking was an unparalleled bassist, is one of the dominant figures in the story. Ashford tells how Jamerson was once so wasted he couldn't sit upright but pulled the near-impossible feat of playing the demanding bass line on Marvin Gaye's What's Going On lying flat on his back.
Then there was pianist Earl "Chunk of Funk" Van Dyke, who banged the keys so hard that his instrument had to be constantly retuned.
They tell of Robert White, so shy that he was afraid to tell a waiter that he was the one who played that evocative guitar on My Girl.
One of the film's quietest moments recalls the chilling day when word reached the studio that drummer Benny "Papa Zita" Benjamin, a heroin addict, had died.
Justman avoids getting too maudlin by injecting humorous anecdotes or shifting to one of the exhilarating performances by the reunited band with singers such as Joan Osborne, Bootsy Collins, Gerald Levert, Chaka Khan and Montell Jordan, Ben Harper and Me'Shell Ndgeocello gleefully strutting their stuff. With the exception of brief appearances by The Temptations' Otis Williams and Martha Reeves, the filmmakers consciously decided not to include Motown's well-known stars.
A soundtrack featuring the film's live performances came out in September. Among the highlights are Osborne's wrenching What Becomes of the Brokenhearted, Levert's fiery Reach Out I'll Be There and Bootsy Collins' boisterous Do You Love Me. The soundtrack will be included in a deluxe edition due in January that will feature a second CD with 16 classic Motown tracks stripped of the vocals and strings to emphasize the music of the Funk Brothers. A DVD with additional filmed interviews and a concert at the Knitting Factory in Los Angeles are due next spring.
Motown has one of the most closely protected catalogs in the music industry. But Slutsky says this film has more than 30 songs in it, thanks to company founder Gordy, who opened it up for the making of the movie.
"I'll admit my view may be a little twisted, but when you think Motown, it's the story of the incredible studio band with a revolving set of vocalists," Slutsky says. "They were the continuity. They were the reason Motown sounded the way it sounded."
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