From official website - "In 1959, Berry
Gordy 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 "My Girl," "Bernadette,"
I Was Made to Love Her," and every other 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 an
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 in
Standing in the Shadows of Motown.
With the tumultuous sixties as a backdrop, Motown's unsung
heroes take the viewer on a compelling journey in time
as they trace the evolution of The Motown Sound"
from its origins in Detroit to its demise in Los Angeles
during the seventies. Through the eyes of the riveting
characters who ruled Hitsville's studio by day and the
club scene of Detroit by night, we enter a world of unparalleled
soul and emotion as the Funk Brothers revisit the sites
of their musical roots, triumphs, and eventual heartbreak.
For more than four decades, from the dance floors of the
world, to the Detroit riots of 1967, to the war in Vietnam,
the music the Funk Brothers created has played a major
role in the cultural fabric of all of our lives. Standing
in the Shadows of Motown finally puts some faces on that
music and introduces these heroic musical figures to the
world."
