STANDING IN THE SHADOWS OF MOTOWN

Details

• Release Year: 2002
• Genre: Documentary, Music
• Plot: 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, 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, Joe Messina, Meshell Ndegeocello, Joan Osborne, Rudy Robinson, Tom Scott, Earl Van Dyke, Robert White, Eddie Willis, Brian Marable, Andre Braugher, Paul Riser, Steve Jordan, Eddie Holland, Don Was, Otis Williams, Martha Reeves, James Jamerson Jr., Brian Holland, Lottie Claiborne, Jay Butler, Alan Slutsky, Dennis Coffey, Nathan Watts, Ralphe Armstrong, Penny Jamerson, Alex Alexander, Donald Becks Jr., Gary Bosek, Michael Ellison, Otis Lockhart, Antoine McKay, Mark Mutafian, Antonio Ramirez, Kevin Smith, Lynch R. Travis, Thomas Michael Ventimiglio, Joe Wheeler, Paul Burt, Lamont Witcher, Aubree Gaston, Deseray Teague, Tyler Blakely, William Stockdale, James Herron, Patti Willis, Rashid Mausi, Carla Benson, Keith Benson, John Ingram, Misty Love, Cherokee Pree, Delbert Nelson, Kizzy Jester, Dawn Blandford, Florence Ballard, Marcus Belgrave, Ruth Brown, Katie Chonacas, Fats Domino, Marvin Gaye, Berry Gordy, Lottie 'The Body' Graves, George Harrison, Mick Jagger, Louis Jordan, Ron Kischuk, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Karen Minard, Larry Nozero, Elvis Presley, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, Ringo Starr, Sly Stone, Big Joe Turner, Jackie Wilson, Mary Wilson, Stevie Wonder, Dave Daniels, Jennifer Secord, Dean Teaster, Paul Justman, Ntozake Shange
• Director: Paul Justman
• Runtime: 1:56
• Media Format: Movie