I've heard comments that altho it paid a fair tribute to Motown's legendary rhythm section band The Funk Brothers, it didn't really shed enough light to the SHADOWS of Motown(whateva that means).

Anyway, I haven't seen the movie yet(yeah, throw a brick at me ) so I can't really comment but I intend to.

What do you think of this rockumentary overall?

I loved it. The story is amazing...They really got screwed by Motown in the end and if it wasnt for them...Motown would not have been the hit making machine that is was.

The performances are all excellent...my favs are Joan Osborne's 'What Becomes of the Brokenhearted' in which she rips through that song with so much passion that you cant help but to go crazy over it. Gerald Levert doing 'Shotgun' was just pure funk fun. Ben Harper's 'Heard It Through The Grapevine' is also superb.....oh and I cannot forget to mention the soulful version of 'You've Really Got A Hold On Me' sung by the amazing M'Shell N'degeocello (sp)

Check it out...than buy the soundtrack!

I loved it! You end up feeling bad for all of the musicians who went unnoticed for decades, but most of them do not seem bitter and instead have mostly great memories to share. You will also have a new found respect for all of the musicians that were a part of Motown. I went out and got a Motown Box set a few days later because there are just too many great songs that I realized I didn't own!

I recommend it, but as far as documentaries go, The Beatles Anthology is probably the most well done music doco I've ever seen.

get the dvd. you won't be disappointed.

As you may know, this movie was an outgrowth of the book Standing In the Shadows of Motown: The James Jamerson Story, the first half of which focuses on the life of Jamerson and contains many of the same stories retold in the movie (with some inconsistencies). The second half of the book is a collection of transcriptions of Jamerson's amazing basslines. As a bassist and Jamerson disciple, I have adored this book for years and almost wet myself when I learned about the film.

As noted above, the live performances make the film. My favorite performance is Montel Jordan's and Chaka's version of Ain't No Mountain High Enough (although I recall some voiceovers near the end of the song that are annoying). The sound is great and the performance footage is excellent. The stories are good, although I was familiar with most of them from the book, so not much new there for me. I was really hoping that the film would include more Jamerson footage. Unfortunately, there is hardly any (I assume that very little exists). That would be my only complaint.

Having read many of your posts, I think you will LOVE this DVD. Do not rent, buy.

All hail the Funk Brothers!

I loved it-I've seen it for sale as low as $9.99 in places like Best Buy-it's definitely worth seeing.

The soundtrack alone is worth getting, but it's so well done-getting to see the overlooked men behind the music, it's incredible.

There's a great feature on the second disc with the band bios that lists tracks that they played on-I think that alone would be worth it for much of the Music: Non Prince crowd to give it a look to either prove they're right or test their knowledge or just simply learn something new.

I highly, highly reccommend it-one of my favorite documentaries ever.

VANITYSprisonBYTCH said:

What he said...

I adore that movie. I hadnt ever heard the story of the Funk Brothers in detail like this. I love hearing old stories like this comming from the men and women that actually lived it. It reminds me of hearing stories from the older members in my family when they talk about going to elementary and high school with Motown greats like Diana Ross and Smokey Robinson. I am really blessed to have grown up in a city with such a glorious musical legacy (Detroit). If you havent seen this film, you MUST buy or rent it NOW!

The movie was good! But the music will just blow you away!!!!! Get it!

Phenomenal! I've been fortunate to see the Funk Brothers twice in concert since they've been touring again as a group. I will never listen to a Motown song the same way again!

it was really sad though that at the end of the documentary, musicians who were actually in the movie, had died months after the movie was finished.

Were the funk brothers replaced by the corporation, if so, why?

lilgish said:

The Corporation was the name created by Berry Gordy for the writing/producing collective at Motown. Some say this was done by Gordy to put a damper on the notariety (and subsequent requests for increased financial compensation) the songwriters were garnering.
I believe this initially appeared on the early Jackson 5 records. The Funk Brothers were the musicians that played on the records.

Great documentary btw.

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

I, too, would recommend this DVD. It's excellent and the performances by Joan Osbourne, MeShell and Ben Harper stand out. (It didn't hurt that my cousin, local Detroit dj, Jay Butler, handled the intros at the concert at very end! OK, I'm bragging! ) Seriously, though, it's a keeper!