When the documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown came out a few years ago, it achieved its goals of bringing recognition to the Funk Brothers, the musicians who recorded the music for every Motown hit you can think of. The film worked through the group's past as well as its present as it reunited in 2000 for a special concert with a variety of guests. The original soundtrack featured 15 tracks from the film, including 12 that were performed as part of the concert. This new edition contains those original songs plus three more on the first disc. The second disc contains the "deluxe" part of the deal -- it's a collection of the Funk Brothers' backing tracks, mixed to provide an examination of the band's artistry.
The first disc's collection captures the concert well. The Funk Brothers sound good, and the guest vocalists add a feeling of celebration. The standout singer on these tracks is Joan Osborne. Her rendition of "(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave" doesn't do anything exciting, but Osborne really takes advantage of the chance to show off her talent on "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted". Anyone who thinks of Osborne as that pop singer who did "One of Us" might be surprised at Osborne's depth and ability. She sounds like a blues singer by nature, and her numbers really shine.
The other guest vocalists add strong voices as well. Gerald Levert performs well on "Reach Out I'll Be There", and Ben Harper sounds surprisingly good on several tracks. Bootsy Collins sounds just like you'd think and his tracks are steady if not overwhelming. None of the new renditions particularly add anything to the classic versions, but nearly all of them are enjoyable variations. The three bonus tracks on Disc One are extraneous. While John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom" and Jackie Wilson's "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" are great songs, they're not relevant to the soundtrack, and "Scorpio" -- by Dennis Coffey and the Detroit Guitar Band -- is the least memorable track on either disc.
Disc Two provides a wonderful insight into life in the Snakepit, the Funk Brothers' primary recording location. Most of the recordings aren't completed songs, but simply the backing tracks from the original studio sessions. The soundtrack's producers, Harry Weinger and Allan Slutsky, explain in the liner notes their selection and mixing process. They've worked to isolate (when possible) the key studio tracks from each song to point out the musical highlights of these recordings. This disc also contains some outtakes of dialogue, none of which is insightful, but the conversation does add an enjoyable touch to the studio feel of the second half of this soundtrack.
Without the vocals, most of these songs won't get steady rotation on the average fan's stereo. The remastering has left the sound very crisp, and the Funk Brothers are just so good that it's hard to resist grooving to this music. I've probably heard most of these songs more times than I could count, but these versions really let me hear pieces of the music I had never picked out before and enabled to understand exactly what's going on within a given track. In many ways, it's an admittedly academic enterprise. Unless you're especially interested in Motown, you might not be concerned about a rhythmic variation here or there. On the other hand, it seems that any musician or composer could benefit from giving these tracks a close listen. James Jamerson's bass playing lives up to its reputation, and when the producers bring it forward in the mix, it's very clear to hear what he's doing (even if that doesn't make it any more believable). Each of the members of the Funk Brothers plays tremendously well, but the group's tightness as a whole really is amazing. The interchange between multiple drummers, rhythm guitarists, and keyboard players remains astounding after multiple listens.
The Motown music always had an inherent funk, but some songs on this disc really benefit from their treatment, because the musical genius at the heart of them comes out to a surprising degree. This mix of "For Once in My Life" shows the true gap between Stevie Wonder's version and all of its previous incarnations as a standard. Earl Van Dyke's keys turn out to be far more complex than I'd ever have thought listening to the finished version. "Standing in the Shadows of Love" suddenly has incredible rhythm guitar, and Jamerson's simple-but-effective bassline groove has become very clear. Some tracks deliver more than others, but all of them reveal a group of artists with great hands and supernatural internal metronomes.
In some ways, the second disc is inessential for the casual fan. In other ways, it deserves to be gushed over. If not important for frequent listening, Disc Two of Standing in the Shadows of Motown is an important artifact of the instrumental side of the Motown hit factory. Great musicians playing great songs with technical skill and emotion -- sounds like something we should all want to get next to.
— 23 June 2004
