Standing in the Shadows of Motown
45 votes
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.
Status: Released
Released Date: 2002-09-11
Runtime: 116 mins
Director: Paul Justman
Writer: Walter Dallas, Ntozake Shange
Spoken language: English
Genres: Documentary, Music
Original title: Standing in the Shadows of Motown
Production Companies: Elliott Scott Productions, Rimshot
Production Countries: United States of America
Cast
Richard 'Pistol' Allen
Jack Ashford
Bob Babbitt
Benny 'Papa Zita' Benjamin
Eddie 'Bongo' Brown
Bootsy Collins
Johnny Griffith
Ben Harper
Joe Hunter
James Jamerson
Uriel Jones
Montell Jordan
Chaka Khan
Gerald Levert
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