For those of you not familiar, Funk Brothers was the name given to the session musicians who played on Motown Records recording sessions during the years the company was based in Detroit (1959-1972). According to their hype, "they played on more #1 hits than the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, and Elvis Presley combined". They were largely unkown to the general public until 2002 when the film Standing In The Shadows of Motown was released and some of the surviving Funk Brothers began going out on their own concert tours. I saw them last night in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I'd have to give the show a very mixed review. it was sheer brilliance and pure bull shit, all at the same time, but I'm glad I got a chance to see them. These guys are OLD, older than Bill Wyman, and it won't be too many more years before it's impossible to see anything like this again.

Has anyone seen a Funk Brothers concert and want to discuss it?

Robert White...Danny Turner...Earl Van Dyke...Uriel Jones...James Jameson



ROCKMAN

I did see them a few years ago in berlin/germany (2004?) and it was great fun to watch and listen to them. They had Billy Preston and Steve Winwood as special guest in the band, so this was very special. But i think I know what you mean with this bullshit-thing. without these top-guest it can change easely to a Las Vegas/musical/theatre whatever show. They don`t take themselfs too serious. but to erybody: the movie is a MUST. So much fun to watch. Don`t miss it. More opinions?

Uriel Jones, who joined Motown in 1963, was on drums last night. Second drummer was Spider Webb. On guitar they had Eddie Willis, who goes all the way back to the beginnings of Motown (1959). Second guitar was Ray Monette from the band Rare Earth. And on a BOOMING, MASSIVELY amplified bass guitar, the legendary Bob Babbitt, who joined Stevie Wonder's band in 1966, and began to replace the even more legendary James Jamerson on Motown sessions shortly thereafter.

Quote
electricmud
But i think I know what you mean with this bullshit-thing. without these top-guest it can change easely to a Las Vegas/musical/theatre whatever show. They don`t take themselfs too serious. but to erybody: the movie is a MUST. So much fun to watch. Don`t miss it. More opinions?

Well, the worst thing I saw last night, and it was one of the worst things I have ever seen at a show I paid to see, was when they ruined what had been a perfectly good version of My Girl by bringing no less than SEVEN people from the audience up onstage to each take a turn singing the first verse of the song. Then we had to vote for the ones we liked best. Then three finalists were selected and we had to vote again! For something like 20 MINUTES I was tortured by the sights and sounds of these white geeks trying to get their funk on. I prayed for it to be over soon, furious that they COULD have played six other classic songs in the time it took to do this endless, horrible My Girl.

But the rest of the show was fantastic, just as the beginning of the show had been. And all was forgiven.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-07-06 15:12 by tatters.

ROCKMAN