Standing in the Shadows of Motown (2002)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Paul Justman

Writers:

Walter Dallas (Narration)
Ntozake Shange (Narration)

Release Date:

30 January 2003 (Australia)

Genre:

Documentary | Music

Tagline:

The best kept secret in the history of pop music.

Plot:

Documentary about the Funk Brothers, a group of Detroit musicians who backed up dozens of Motown artists.

Plot Keywords:

Motown | Musician | Song | Music History | Pop Music

Awards:

6 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Richard 'Pistol' Allen	...	Himself
Jack Ashford	...	Himself
Bob Babbitt	...	Himself
Benny 'Papa Zita' Benjamin	...	Himself (archive footage)
Eddie 'Bongo' Brown	...	Himself (archive footage)
Bootsy Collins	...	Himself
Johnny Griffith	...	Himself
Ben Harper	...	Himself
Joe Hunter	...	Himself
James Jamerson	...	Himself (archive footage)
Uriel Jones	...	Himself
Montell Jordan	...	Himself
Chaka Khan	...	Herself
Gerald Levert	...	Himself
Joe Messina	...	Himself

Also Known As:

Standing in the Shadows of Motown: The Story of the Funk Brothers (USA) (promotional title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for language and thematic elements.

Runtime:

116 min | Canada:108 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Canada:E (Ontario) | Singapore:PG | South Korea:All | Australia:G | Denmark:A | Finland:S | Germany:o.Al. | Hong Kong:I | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:PG | USA:PG (certificate #39008)

Filming Locations:

Baker's Keyboard Lounge - 20510 Livernois Avenue, Detroit, Michigan, USA

Company:

Rimshot LLC

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

Soundtrack:

Scorpio

Behind the music

Forget VH1, forget MTV, this is the real deal. Even if you loathe documentaries, this film is different - it's about the music and the musicians that made it, and there's not a boring moment on film. If you ever liked the Motown sound, if you ever liked music for that matter, you owe it to yourself to learn how so many great recordings really came about. If you like what's on the radio right now, here's a rare chance to find out where it all really came from. A lot of the artists playing and singing today were heavily influenced by the Funk Brothers, whether they realise it entirely or not. So if you want to learn who created those sounds in the first place, you must see STANDING. I can't say enough about this film.

Now I don't want to belittle the talent that stood in front of the Funk Bros., because they deserve a lot of credit. But honestly, after seeing it the first time, I thought about how tragic it is that no one had really done it before. Maybe that's it's only flaw - this is a story we should have heard 30 years ago. I probably knew more than most being a musician myself, but there were many aspects that were revelations. To hear these guys play in a live setting again, is above and beyond what you could expect in this kind of work. But it's here - rent, buy, go see this movie!