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Standing in the Shadows of Motown

2002 · 1h 56m · Documentary, Music

The soul behind the sound.

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.

Cast

• Richard 'Pistol' Allen as Self
• Jack Ashford as Self
• Bob Babbitt as Self
• Benny 'Papa Zita' Benjamin as Self (archive footage)
• Eddie 'Bongo' Brown as Self (archive footage)
• Bootsy Collins as Self
• Johnny Griffith as Self
• Ben Harper as Self
• Joe Hunter as Self
• James Jamerson as Self (archive footage)
• Uriel Jones as Self
• Montell Jordan as Self

Details

Director

Paul Justman

Released

September 11, 2002

Runtime

1h 56m

Genres

Documentary, Music

Studio

Elliott Scott Productions and Rimshot

Status

Released

TMDB score

7.0 / 10 from 50 votes