6) Standing in the Shadows of Motown

Standing in the Shadows of Motown (2002)

Director: Paul Justman

Starring: The Funk Brothers, Ben Harper, Joan Osborne, Chaka Khan, Bootsy Collins, Meshell Ndegeocello


The Funk Brothers are by far the greatest hit makers of all time, having played on more No.1 records than Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys combined, but nobody knows their names. They were the studio band for Motown records and over a 14 year period they were the heartbeat of every hit from Motown’s Detroit era, playing behind the likes of Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, The Temptations and many more.

This really is the dream subject for a documentary. First Amiel has taken a general topic, Motown music, which is loved by so many people. But rather than making a nondescript, History-Channel-style documentary about the Motown era he has found a really interesting focus in the Funk Brothers and their search for recognition for their amazing achievements. These brilliant musicians, so key to the entire Motown movement, offer a unique insight into the events of Motown’s legendary Detroit era.

Standing in the Shadows of Motown employs a number of different documentary techniques. The film uses a standard voice-of-god narration, over a combination of archive footage and re-enactments, to provide the structure for the film and get across key information. However, this film works because of the subjectivity of the presentation. We receive most of our information through interviews with members of the group, some new interviews as well as archival interviews with deceased members of the group. Hearing from these men, for whom this music is such an important part of their life, brings some real colour to the film. What really makes this documentary though is the footage from The Funk Brothers reunion concert in 2000 with guest vocalists including Ben Harper, Joan Osborne, Chaka Khan, Bootsy Collins and Meshell Ndegeocello. This concert not only provides some amazing performances throughout the film, but some interesting and at times very touching candid footage of these soul music legends sharing their stories with the future generations of performers which supplements the more standard, to-camera interview footage.

So often today you hear musicians or actors saying that they love doing what they do, but they hate being famous. In Standing in the Shadows of Motown you see a group of men who have made an absolutely enormous contribution to global music culture but have never really been recognised for it, and in that regard their story is at times quite sad. I guess fame is a good thing when it comes as a form of recognition for what someone has achieved.