Any of you guys see the movie "Standing In the Shadows of Motown"? I highly recommend it. A do***entary about the session musicians during Motown's hey-day in Detroit. Modern performances with most of the original players along with interviews and old footage. This is the best "gig" I've seen all year.

I've heard nothing but great things about it and consider it a must-see. Some friends and I recently went to check it out, but it was sold out and the theatre was turning people away in droves. I'll definitely see it soon.

8 months later, and I finally saw this after my sound gig last night. Damn, what an incredible film. Many have tried in vain to dissect the "Motown Sound"... To paraprase one of the musicians, "they said it was the producers, the (vocal) artists, the room (a.k.a. "the snakepit") - bit it wasn't. It was THE MUSICIANS - Deputy Dawg could've sang over those tracks and they would've been hits". Agreed. I had no idea there was no scratch vocal melody on those tracks - the players got the charts, messed around with 'em a bit, and tracked rapid fire, with the vocals added after the fact. James Jamerson has long been my fave electric bassist... The guy pretty much wrote the encyclopedia of groove, and what a brilliant pain in the ass he was - the "pig's feet, pajamas, and stogie" story is priceless. The "oreo cookie" guitar section was cool; the old clips of Joe Messina totally nailing Charlie Parker lines on his guitar is insight as to the level of musicianship that "The Funk Brothers" had among their ranks... In closing one more chapter of my own musical ignorance, I previously had no clue the degree to which the lowly tambourine could be a *musical instrument* - take it away from some of those tracks and a huge chunk of the groove is gone... Jack Ashford is indeed The Man. This film is to me yet another testament that the most impressive thing that can be done with a musical instrument is to play what the song needs, nothing more, nothing less. Among the contemporary vocal performances, I'm a bit surprised to say that Joan Osborne and Gerald Levert did the tunes the most justice, in my opinion. I realize this documentary is old hat at this point for a lot of folks, but I'm still buzzing from it. What an education. See this film.