Standing In The Shadows of Motown
|
List Price: Our Price: $6.99 You Save: $2.99 (30%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $3.00 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Standing In The Shadows of Motown
Movie Review: Like their music, this movie is off the charts!
Summary: 5 Stars
A must-see for not just Motown and soul fans, but for all music fans. Finally, the most successful group ever gets their just due. Like everyone else, I was ignorant about The Funk Brothers until this movie came out.
It's a fascinating history on how this group of ultra-talented jazz musicians came together in the studios of Motown to record the most hits in the history of music.
The anecdotes are fascintating, the stories are funny, how they formulated the music was incredible. It's really a tremendous movie, far too unheralded in my opinion and should've won more awards. The live concert scenes with new singers was top-notch, but the best part of the show was just hearing the Funk Brothers talk about how they became this amazing group.
Truly one of the best movies I've ever seen.
Movie Review: Musicians Who Any Musician Sould Know
Summary: 5 Stars
This film is a documentry about a group of professional musicians who were under so may people's rador but still happend to be blasted into millions of people's ears for years and years. The players were a band of mainly jazz musicians who turned to the pop charts in order to make a living. These musicians were known as The Funk Brothers, and were signed to the record company of Motown.Therefore they performed for all the record company's popular artists that it recorded but the spotlight almost always fell upon the pop artists and hardly ever fell upon the band who wrote and performed the music for the artists. STANDING IN THE SHADOWS OF MOTOWN tells this story by the musicians themselves and it is captivating. The film will touch the heart of any musician and any fan of the music this band performed for such as "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", "War", "Reach Out I'll Be There", "Too Many Fish In The Sea", "My Girl", "Cloud Nine", "(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave", "Do You Love Me", "You've Really Got A Hold On Me", and so many more. Unforgettable moments of the film include the opening and closing of the documentry were it is stated and listed that The Funk Brogthers played more number one hits than any other band out there. A key moment is where film crews ask listner after listner if they know the music released by Motown, and if the listeners are fimilar with the band who performed for all the artists. Many of the listners had no idea who The Funk Brothers were, let alone how many hits the band played on. This moment personally touches me, because this still happens. Mainstream bands are given most of the attention to the music they perform, but how many listeners know that professional musicians are actually called into the studio to first write and perform pop artists' music? Another heart felt moment is where the original guitarist for "My Girl" was going to tell a listener that he was on the recording the radio happened to be playing at the time the guitarist was at a diner, but he decided against it. The viewer soon discovers just how hard it was and is for any professional musician to be behind a pop sensation and not to receive or receive little credit for his or her work with the pop star. To add to the film's musical atmosphere, there are clips of The Funk Brothers performing hit after famous hit of their soul and funk music that they created which made some other pop star big, leaving themselves in the shadows of Motown. Movie Review: Mr. Slutsky's Determination Pays Off!!
Summary: 5 Stars
The movie and the book before it moved me to buy an electric bass and feel the funk. Motown's success was blessed with a well-mobilized organization, great composers, and superb musician/arrangers. Everything else (such as the artists) seemed to have fallen into place.
Never tire of watching this flick....
Movie Review: If You Can Dig Some Soul, Watch This!
Summary: 4 Stars
I would put this film in the same category as the stellar skateboarding documentary DOGTOWN AND THE Z BOYS. It is a little fawning in its approach to its subject (in this case, the Motown intrumentalists known as the Funk Brothers), but since that subject is so fascinating and vital, it doesn't matter.
Even if you have just a LITTLE bit of soul, you'll want to take this one in. Kudos to Joan Osborne and Bootsy Collins for great vocal accompaniments.
Movie Review: Insightful and entertaining!
Summary: 5 Stars
I cannot express how wonderful this documentary/musical DVD. To learn about the Funk Brothers was incredibly insightful, but the real treat was the music, the real sound of the Funk Brothers. And, of course, the performers were all great- Gerald Levert, Joan Osborne, Ben Harper, Chakka Khan, and Bootsy Collins. In a small concert setting, the Funk Brothers played with comfort backing up the artists. Most did two songs each and the performances were great, each done with passion for the music.
As it goes, the movie starts out in a music store, with a question asking customers about Motown and the Funk Brothers. They all knew the Motown sound and artists, but nobody knew that the music was by a specific jazz/blues band called the Funk Brothers.
Before I ever heard of this movie, or the Funk Brothers, I always knew that I liked the music on the Motown songs, and listening on mediocre equipment, and back then, I never gave much thought then as to who was playing. Whether it was guitar intros/riffs, drums, bongos or sax, whatever, there was always something in the tune that stood out. There was no doubt about it, the music was unique to Motown. Those musical tunes had something no other songs had. It's the tune that was unforgettable.
The documentary is sprinkled with the performances and some re-creations of events. And the 2nd DVD is more chatting and some jam sessions. Picture quality and sound are perfect. This is a real keeper. ....MzRizz