Standing In The Shadows Of Motown

1 Pages 314 Words

Standing in the Shadows of Motown was a very compelling movie to me. I had no idea that one core group of people did so much for the Motown scene. This one group of people named “The Funk Brothers” was the band behind most of the Motown hits. According to this movie, having a core of unique and original musicians with jazz backgrounds and influences was the foundation to create more hit songs then any other band in history.
As in many genres of music, the Motown sound was defined by the incredible bass line, combined with the beats provided by the percussion. The original defining bassist, James Jameson, is considered one of the best bassist to have ever lived. He had an incredibly unique and fast sound that he played completely with one finger. Most good bassist have a hard time playing the same sound with multiple fingers. He wrote most of the early songs until he eventually died of a drug overdose. James Jameson was replaced with a number of bassists that for the most part tried to keep the sound James installed in The Funk Brothers sound.
Another important side of the incredible sound can be defined by the percussion. The original drummer to define “The Funk Brothers” sound was a man by the name of Benny Benjamin. This drummer was said to have a original beat that both kept the tempo and defined a complimentary side beat. Like James he also died of an overdose. He was replaced by two drummers to capture the Benny sound.
These two incredible musicians were the foundation builders of music. They allowed the other members of The Funk Brothers to build an incredible sound that defined Motown music. They were the backbone of almost every hit that came out of Motown....