Fun
Standing in the Shadows of Motown
Dear Kay,
This is just the best.
Imagine a garage with a dirt floor in Detroit, circa 1959. Imagine this garage filled a bunch of recording equipment and a group of jazz musicians who’d been recruited to be session players for a new music label, Motown.
They called it Studio A.
These players, who in time dubbed themselves the Funk Brothers, were the power and brilliance behind all the Motown songs we love. This documentary captures a reunion 41 years later, where we get to see these unbelievable musicians get all the love and respect that they so richly deserved.
The stories are great. The songs are amazing, when you think about how many of them are instantly recognizable from the first notes.
If you’re looking for a documentary that will leave you dancing and singing along, Standing in the Shadows of Motown will get you there. It’s a streaming rental on Amazon.com. And you can rent the full documentary on YouTube, too.
Love,
Ann
Love Motown. I took a History of Rock and Roll class my final semester of college. After the class on Motown, I went to the music library and borrowed the Hitsville U.S.A. CD set and jammed out.
My parents bought me the Hitsville set as a birthday present when I was in college. One of the best presents ever!
Growng up in Detroit, I loved and breathed Motown.
Ditto!
I just got fun bumps listening to this!
Fabulous. Instantly took me back to my junior high Friday Night Sock Hops! Two additional music documentaries worthy of a shoutout: “Twenty Feet from Stardom” and “The Wrecking Crew”.
I HUGELY recommend Twenty Feet from Stardom – readers, do not miss this one. I’ll be checking out Standing in the Shadows and The Wrecking Crew right away!
Twenty Feet for sure, and we’ve seen/ heard Lisa Fischer twice on her own, now she’s broken free of the Stones (though the YouTube vids of those performances are aMAZing), and is touring. An incredible voice, not just rock n roll.
Wow wow wow….this just blasted me back In time. I grew up in Detroit and this music was pretty much the soundtrack of my childhood…but was also directly tied to my dad. My father was a Cadillac salesman…and in those days many of the Motown musicians bought their cars from him or one of the other salesmen at Dalgleish Cadillac on Cass Avenue. Motown was not just music…but the real people who were my dad’s customers. He brought home 45s for me (no, I don’t still have them) and even took me to a Motown Revue (multiple acts performing…think Smokey Robinson and the Miracles along with Marvin Gaye, the Supremes, etc) in one long musical bonanza at the Fox Theater. Sigh. I will be watching this documentary during my nightly knitfest! Thank you for sharing it with us.
I was there. Just a baby in 59 but grew up in Detroit played and performed with many Motown musicians and artists thr same age as Michael Jackson. I keep the memories and tradition alive performing in a show called Hitzville at the planet Hollywood in Vegas on the world famous Las Vegas strip.
And, I was 10 in 59, a west-sider. I must come see you in Vegas – Hitzville sounds too fun.
My local library has both the DVD and the CD of the soundtrack to borrow for FREE! It’s always worth while to check yours!
One of my very favoritest movies!!!! I *love* Standing in the Shadows of Motown and the Funk Brothers!