The shadows of motown

I bought the DVD and I think its excellent. I think its cool that they put him on the cover.

 

You gotta remember in Motown's prime, there were always at least 4 or 5 guitarists, keyboard players, drummers, saxes etc, but Jamerson was THE bass player. When they wanted to release a record, they always went to him, and worked around him.

 

yea man, i saw this thing like 2 months ago. i mentioned it but no one replied. it was sudch an awsome film. top of my list. it was really great. and they told some funny stories and stuff too. but its awsome to see how all those guys came together and things worked out.

 

Yeah, it's amazing. They actually held up sessions so he could play on them, they valued him that highly. It also tells you how much he shaped the Motown sound-- as an experiment once I tried rewriting his lines in the style of Duck Dunn and a few others and they didn't work nearly as well. I really think that without him, Motown wouldn't have been the success it was. Hell, even the fact we refer to "Motown" rather than, say "the temptations" tells you hw much it was the Funk brothers, rather than most of the singers, who were the heart of the music. I recommend Alan SLutsky's book of the same name-- it really gives you a great insight into the dynamic of the Funk Brothers.

 

I just watched that recently too, It was awesome.

The story about Robert white in the restaurant playing "my girl" on the radio, How jamerson saw the show about motown that had no mention of him or the funk brothers, and a few other parts really moved me.

I also liked Bootsy's first performance, cant remember the song.

 

the best story was the one where the drummer used up the whole tab drinking so jamerson got a gun to get the money...fantastic.

 

This movie is SWEET! I liked the car story Shame Jamerson isn't around to see this, but dag.... Babbitt sure does come as close as anyone I know to filling in Jamerson's shoes, one of the best that play that style thats still alive today

 

Babbitt's "light" touch on his picking hand is a beautiful thing to behold. I've rarely seen anyone keep his picking fingers that straight and just brush the strings with that "feather" touch he has. Amazing.

For anyone who hasn't seen "Buena Vista Social Club" because they think that they aren't into latin (Afro Cuban) music, I highly recommend it. It has the same magic of "old guys 'n' gals" grinning from ear to ear with the magic of making music together again and the music is absolutely killer!

If you wanna see what I mean, check out Pistol Allen's big grin of pure joy in "Standing in the Shadows"...

 

Ditto, but I think it was more than just Jamerson who took out a gun.

 

yea wasnt it two of the other guitar players? i mena either way it was a funny story.

 

The sad thing is, he looks like he is having the time of his life in the last 10 minutes of the movie, and he died beofre it premiered. Sad and wonderful at the same time....

 

I agree. That was a touching documentary.
I didn't know Messina used to rip it up like that on guitar (when he played jazz).
The bonus biographies was a nice touch.

 

The sad thing is Carol Kaye is trying to discredit the movie and the players in it!

 

Oh no, really? I know she lays claim to some JJ lines, but does she really question the movie and other players? Man, I know she thinks she's right...but just listen to some parts that she claims. Not trying to discredit her...but wow. Wierd.

 

Uh oh, here we go.

 

Tufnuts......I sent you a e-mail with the babble she has been saying! I was going to put it up here......but it's too long

 

The movie is very inspiring. It made me put flats
and a foam mute on my GL Jazz. Plus I (finally)
got the "Standing..." book and CD.

I love hearing Joe Hunter tell the "I found Benny
at the corn liquor joint" and "gettin' paid"
stories. It's even funnier on the original CD.

Slutsky said although Joe Hunter was the oldest
of the guys, he had the best memory. God bless
those guys.

Oh yeah, and what about Babbitt moonlighting as
a wrestler?

 

Babbit played on a lot more tracks than he is given credit for....after reading the book i did alittle research and found out how much of what i thought was Jamerson was actually Bob....

Did anyone get Slutskys book on the James Brown rhythm sections?

I am looking forward to it after SSSOM....