standing in the shadows of mowtown (almost rr)
spaceghost
605 Posts
standing in the shadows of mowtown[/b] i just watched this documentary last weekend. the story of the funk brothers.here is the plot summary from imdb: In 1959, Berry Gordy Jr. gathered the best musicians from Detroit's thriving jazz and blues scene to begin cutting songs for his new record company. Over a fourteen year period they were the heartbeat on every hit from Motown's Detroit era. By the end of their phenomenal run, 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. They called themselves the Funk Brothers. Forty-one years after they played their first note on a Motown record and three decades since they were all together, the Funk Brothers reunited back in Detroit to play their music and tell their unforgettable story, with the help of archival footage, still photos, narration, interviews, re-creation scenes, 20 Motown master tracks, and twelve new live performances of Motown classics with the Brothers backing up contemporary performers. i thought the documentary was brilliant. kind of the buena vista social club story of mowtown. the documentary told the story of the band, the individuals, a little of the label and the peroid as well as contained live footage of the funk brothers reunion shows, with artists like me'shell ndeg??ocello, ben harper, bootsy collins, joan osborne, and one other dude. it was cool to see them playing live though i wasnt really feeling any of the singers versions of the songs. i thought the band's stories were very well told.did anybody else see this? i couldn't find a related post on the board.
Comments
That's because it came out at least a couple of years ago. I saw it and I enjoyed it.
just a little disappointed in the celebrity (and i use that word very loosely) performances. coulda left those out all together.
We had a long thread. Back in those days long was 2 pages. I remember I was the only one who liked all the singers.
Dan
Was it you me and Asprin who saw it together? I can't remember now.
I know Ms Wolf was with me, I can't remember who else.
Dan
My girl and I are getting there early to try and hold down some picnic space; if anyone is interested in hanging out, snacking, and drinking before the music, holler...
I think Scratch was the one I saw with you, Bam and my friend Butler.
I thought some of the performances were great. The interviewer/filmaker was terrible. The artists had no relation to each other, and he had no idea what to ask.
Dan
Couldnt they just have gotten Martha & The damn Vandellas to sing Heatwave with the funk brothers?!
only the strong survive =
As for Only the Strong Survive, could someone please tell me if the intervewer is one of the directors of the film? I would find it hard to believe that the embarassingly fanboy-like behaviour of the interviewer is the same guy who directed "The War Room" or "Startup.com".
I was under the impression that Fanboy was the director. I think this is a case of a talented well meaning director making a misguided fanboy movie as a labor of love. I can't belive that some people think this is hardasF.
Dan
Agreed.
If you are responding to my comments on the interviews I was refering to Only The Strong Survive. The Shadows was overall very good.
Dan