www.MarkTAW.com/reviews/StandingIntheShadowsofMot.html (printable version)

This movie is due to hit on November 15 of this year and if you're a music fan of any kind you must see this movie! The trailer alone brings a tear to my eye and makes me want to dance. This is the story of some of the greatest musicians of the 20th century. The band responsible for the phenominon that was Motown - Hitsville USA.

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.

Rounded out by concert footage of a once in a lifetime concert featuring the remaining Funk Brothers and a variety of singers from Ben Harper to Joan Osborne to Chaka Kahn.

James Jamerson, the first virtuoso of electric bass influenced more bass players than you can easily count. The Beatles wanted to be a Motown band and based their early harmonies on Motown harmonies, John Paul Jones was accused of "bringing Motown to British Rock."

I didn't know that it was James Jamerson. I just called him the guy who played bass for Motown, but along with every other bassist in England, I was trying to learn what he was doing.
 - John Entwistle

From their first hit song - Money (That's What I Want) through I Heard It Through The Grapevine, Ain't No Mountain High Enough, I Hear A Symphony, Devil With A Blue Dress, Shotgun, War, My Girl, What's Going On, I Want You Back, Love Child, For Once In My Life and countless others Motown was a force unlike any other in the world of popular music.

As soon as tickets become available in my home town I'm buying tickets for the premier, and as soon as the soundtrack becomes available I'm buying it. I will be buying the DVD as well.

www.standingintheshadowsofmotown.com

17 of November, 2002

While I was standing on line at the Angelika theater in Greenwich Village, people thought I was standing on line to see Ararat or El Crimen del Padre Amaro or Frida, but I was on line to buy tickets to a movie about a different kind of historical event.

I thought maybe I was biased because I had been looking forward to seeing this movie for so long, but my girlfriend confirmed that this is one of the best times she's had in a movie theater.  Lucky for us, the Funk Brothers aren't just great musicians, they're great storytellers as well. They're respectful of each other, humble of their own talents, and enjoy a great story.

Weaving the live performances in with the back story, this movie of a group of musicians struggling to make a living in Detroit, a group of musicians who barely knew the impact they had on the world, who barely knew what fame felt like, yet were the foundation of countless hit records.

More eyes than just mine teared up during the movie. I saw the guy sitting in front of me remove his glasses and wipe his eyes at the mention of Jamerson's death. An obscure, virtually unknown, and unwanted musician, Jamerson died in 1983.

Joan Osborne's rendition of What Becomes of the Broken Hearted brought the house down. That's right, people in a theater applauding the screen. It happened several times throughout the movie.

If you're a fan of Motown, go out and see this movie.

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page first created on Tuesday, September 10, 2002

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