Documentary about the Funk Brothers, a group of Detroit musicians who backed up dozens of Motown artists.
Director: Paul Justman
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0314725/
~36 songs in the Soundtracks, 12 performed by contemporary singers using the original arrangements and the Funk Bros.
Very good doc'y. Since I've watched Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever (1983), 8 recently, and that had over 16 hours of material (some repetitive), it's criminal that Motown themselves did not give this men (yeah, all men) credit and high interview them there. Especially since one of the questions asked during that doc'y was "what makes the Motown sound?" and the answer is, in part, "the Funk Bros".
They state in here that when Motown moved to Los Angeles in '72 (per M25, to increase their opportunities in the tv/film industry), the FB found out by finding a notice on the door. Cold.
Some of the musicians had passed by the time this doc'y was made, and more were gone by the time it premiered. The FB was not a band per se, but a collection of the studio musicians. There were at least 3 drummers, 3 keyboardists, etc. I don't think they included horns, just guitars, maybe xylophone.
It was a great sound, and I have a compilation cd of Motown that crosses the '72 divide; it's not as good in LA. Wouldn't these guys have changed with the trends?
Rated 7.8 (3,165)
Artisan Ent. & more, dir. Justman; 8
