Ringing in my ears? I’ve heard that sound before . . .
It’s the sound of studio musicians and, for so many of them, all we ever do is hear them. We don’t see (much of) them or know much about them, because they labor in near-anonymity. Still, one hopes the days are gone when Phil Spector would release a song recorded by one of his most talented backup singers and slap the name of a better-known group on the label.
Jo Lawry, Judith Hill, and Lisa Fischer
Yes, I finally saw 20 Feet from Stardom yesterday, and it was pure pleasure (trailer). Full house at the theater, too—rare for a documentary. Mick Jagger looking every day of his 70 years. Springsteen. Sting. White guys talking about how important these uncelebrated black women were to their music and their success. Hmm. And now I know why “Gimme Shelter” was such an unforgettable moment during the Rolling Stones concert in Central Park. Lisa Fischer. Hit that link to the tune and fall in love.
Oh, and does Darlene Love bear Spector any malice for subverting and derailing her singing career for decades? “Where he is, right now? I’ve got closure,” she said in the July 1 New Yorker. Where he is right now, of course, is prison. And her career is back in gear, touring this summer, though in general, backup singers have had a rocky road traveling solo. Their sublime sound together almost makes you wish they wouldn’t try.
Music industry rapaciousness and the exploitation of artists who just want to sing (or play) their music may be an old story, but it makes for good movies. Another is Standing in the Shadows of Motown (2002) about the almost-invisible Funk Brothers, Berry Gordy’s house band of super-musicians. The Rotten Tomatoes summary calls them, “unsung heroes”—tongue-in-cheek, presumably, since that’s exactly what they were not. Singing to their music created the Motown canon.
Then there’s The Wrecking Crew, one of the most prolific studio bands of all time. The list of the songs they played is amazing—everything from the Mission Impossible theme to Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night” to The Mamas and the Papas’ “California Dreamin’” to the Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody.” Wow. They created a lot of the riffs that immediately identify classics by the Beach Boys, Tijuana Brass, Sam Cooke . . .
Distribution of a 2008 documentary about their work (trailer) has been held up for years because the music industry (big surprise!) wanted millions in fees (later reduced, but still hefty) for the snippets of songs used in the film. The controversy has received solid coverage, and the producers have tried to raise the money to pay off the companies, but the DVD is still not out. (You can Donate Here.) Beware of Amazon’s “The Wrecking Crew DVD” link. It will show you the book the docu is based on and some other stuff, but the item with the black cover you think might be the DVD is not, say two angry reviewers!
Labor in obscurity no more, o talented people!