From: Terry Grant (leftalive@comcast.net)
Date: Mon Dec 23 2002 - 09:46:47 CET
I've got a funny story to share on this topic...
I played in an R&B band with Bob Babbitt for about half of 2001, and I
remember that at one of the first rehearsals we had, the singer that we
were backing up brought a copy of someone covering Inner City Blues (I
don't remember the artist in question). The singer liked the
arrangement in the cover version and thought that we should use it in
the show. As we listened to the song, Bob was sitting next to me and
started fumbling around on his bass, trying to figure out the bassline.
I mentioned how much I loved that whole album and especially that
famous bassline, and he said "Yeah. I played that line." I then
realized that I was watching the man who had come up with that classic
hook trying to remember how it went! I felt like I was seeing Jimi
Hendrix forget Purple Haze. He said that they took three days to cut
the tracks for the Whats Goin On record, and he played on the second
two.
Needless to say, I've never been so entertained on trips to and from
gigs as I was in that band (Bob Babbitt, Ed Greene, Louie Strohm,
Charles Walker, Johny Jones, and my blessed
self).
----- Original Message -----
From: ** myrna ** <medea_13@hotmail.com>
Date: Saturday, December 21, 2002 10:14 pm
Subject: [acid-jazz] standing in the shadows of motown
> just got back from seeing the documentary "standing in the shadows
> of
> motown." i would recommend seeing it. it's based on the book
> "standing in
> the shadows of motown" by Allan "Dr. Licks" Slutsky. it features
> the
> unrecognized musicians called the Funk Brothers, who played all of
> the music
> behind practically every popular Motown hit. the film tells the
> stories of
> these musicians through archives of video and still photos,
> footage of
> detroit and the musicians' hometowns, re-enactments, tales told by
> the
> musicians, and some live performances by the remaining members.
> the live
> performances featured contemporary singers Chaka Khan, Ben Harper,
> Bootsy
> Collins, Montell Jordan, Meshell Ndegeocello, Joan Osborne, and
> Gerald
> Levert.
>
> my complaints:
> 1) the contemporary musicans. everyone did a decent job apart from
> ben
> harper and everyone knows meshell and chaka are phenominal
> artists. but i
> think they could have chosen many more artists and some even
> better ones.
> the background singers were better at times. who chose them? why
> didn't
> stevie perform at least one track with them?
> 2) i would have like to have seen more developed on the issues of
> race and
> class. let's face it, these musicians were predominantly black in
> a time
> when there were riots and movements against some of america's
> fucked up
> racist traditions and norms. it's always bizarre to me when people
> examine
> music, a huge part of any culture, and do not look at it through
> the lens of
> race, class, gender, etc.
> i find it hard to believe that the funk brothers would not have
> more to say
> on these things. it's interesting because some of the musicians'
> narratives
> were set against snowstorms and images symbolizing obvious
> hardship, but the
> issues were not explored enough for me.
>
> my praises:
> 1) the stories told by the musicians were great. i think meshell
> said this
> in the film as well--these people were not just great musicians,
> they
> are/were amazing human beings with intense experiences. the pure
> love of
> music shines through and is really moving.
> 2) a brief scene where meshell asks bob babbitt (one of the few
> white guys
> in the group) to talk about his experience of being a minority.
> 3) the shots of the present members in all types of settings.
>
> that's a very long description, but it's fresh in my mind.
> enjoy and tell us what you think.
> myrna
>
>
>
>
>
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