Standing In The Shadows Of Motown

I saw blog posts from some of my classmates talking about their favorite music and song lists. If I were to post a list of my favorite songs it would really date me. I grew up listening to the Motown sound and all of the great dance tunes of the 60’s and 70’s. I still think that Marvin Gaye had the best voice of any singer from that era. My sister Debbie and I used to dance for hours to the music that came from “Hitsville USA.” That was the house in Detroit where Motown founder Berry Gordy built his new record company’s studio and literally hundreds of hits were recorded. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitsville_U.S.A.

There were dozens of great singers and groups who recorded the songs that came from Motown records. But, from my point of view, the music behind the singers was unbelievably powerful. It was that musical sound that changed everything.

I used to wonder just who it was that played on all of those great records. Then, in 2002 there was a movie released called “Standing In The Shadows Of Motown.” http://www.standingintheshadowsofmotown.com/ It was amazing. From that film I leaned that the music behind the Motown sound was recorded by a group of studio musicians who called themselves the “Funk Brothers.”

The Funk Brothers truly revolutionized music by combining Jazz, Blues, Gospel & early Rock & Roll sounds to create the Motown Soul Sound. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funk_Brothers The 13 core members of the group have been awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. The Funk Brothers played on more number 1 hits than the Beatles, Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones, and the Beach Boys combined.

My list of favorite songs would be much too long for a blog post. So, I’ll just say that Motown recorded the soundtrack of my young life.