When you think of Motown you automatically think of Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross. What you don’t usually think about are the musicians that back those artists. Men like Earl van Dyke, Joe Messina and William ‘Benny’ Benjamin. “”Standing in the Shadow of Motown”” is a film that was fourteen years in the making. Based on a book of the same name, “”Standing”” finally brings these great musicians out of the shadows.
It has been documented that the Funk Brothers manufactured more Number One hits than Elvis, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Rolling Stones combined but have waited over thirty years for a film like this to acknowledge the blood, sweat and tears of their sound made famous by the voices they supported.Earl Van Dyke (keyboard), Joe Hunter (Motown’s first bandleader, keyboard), Johnny Griffith (keyboard), Eddie Willis (guitar), Joe Messina (guitar), Robert White (guitar), William ‘Benny’ Benjamin (drums), Richard “”Pistol”” Allen (drums), Uriel Jones (drums), James Jamerson (bass), Bob Babbitt (bass), Jack Ashford (percussion), Eddie “”Bongo”” Brown (percussion) make up the Funk Brothers.I recently had the great honor to sit down with guitarist Eddie ‘Chank’ Willis and percussionist Jack Ashford to discuss the film and what life has been like receiving recognition and praise over thirty years after the fact.Funk Brother Representative: I’ll tell ya something crazy. We went to the Toronto Film Festival. The Toronto Film Festival is the second biggest film festival in the world next to Cane. They really didn’t want the film at first but finally they took it. They put it in a hugh theater and they made us show it on 9/11. We were very wary of showing it on that date. The place was packed and someone goes on stage to introduce the film and he introducing the Funk Brothers and the place goes nuts. Through the whole film the audience was laughing at every joke, clapping at every performance. At the end, when the the title starts to come down, it looked like the wave in a stadium with people going up and up and up. It continued like that for six and half minutes until the credit roles. It was a non-stop standing ovation. We didn’t know what to do. We decided to take them out the side door to the waiting limo. That took another two minutes and it was still going on. It was an eight minute standing ovation and we got them into the limo and people were chasing the limo down the street. It was like the “”Fab Four”” only this was the fab seven. For guys who never got anything, any attention in life, it was kind of like “”did we steal some hub caps or something?””Jack Ashford:The problem with being discovered after being out there so long it’s like…we’ve been doing this for so long how can you just discover us but in America they don’t probe as deeply as they do in Europe I noticed. Because when I first went to Europe in ’64 we had a fan club when we went over there and we didn’t even know it. As a matter of fact, we got off the plane and these British guys came up and said, “”We’re the James Jamerson fan club.”” James wasn’t there but…they were very nice and very thoughtful and very appreciative of our contribution.We were suppose to join up with some British performers. It turned out to be Gene Pitney, Marianne Faithful and The Kinks, who were emerging at the time. I think the tour got cancelled while we were over the Atlantic. By the time we landed there wasn’t a tour. We were off for two days waiting but then they got it together and man…we went across that continent man and they were so receptive you know. I didn’t know that when they get happy at a concert they throw candy at you. That means they love you. So we’re on the stage playing and when the last song plays and The Supremes leave the stage, something hits the vibe like a clink. I said, “”What the hell is that?”” Then it started raining rock candy. I don’t mean jelly beans man. They’re throwing candy down on us. We tried backing up trying to get behind the curtain. The stage manager says to us, “”Go back out there. That shows they love you!”” Give me a helmet, ok? Because that candy is big and hard. So when they shut the curtain they get big brooms to sweep the candy up to take it back out there and sell it so they can throw some more at you. It was ridiculous but they really did like what they heard.EM:I hate to see what they throw if they don’t like you.JA:It was really fun. These are the things that we enjoyed as the Funk Brothers by getting this type of exposure to let us not realize that every time we play we’re looking at the back of The Four Tops heads. So now we’re out there on the front and they’re looking at something from us at the back. It’s nice. We love the feeling and the adulation. We’re so happy that you all want us.EM:The attention is long overdue for you guys, we’re talking about over forty years. How does it actually feel?JA:What’s it feel like? EM:Yes. What does all of this attention feel like right now?Eddie Willis:Well, I’ll tell you how I feel right now. I’m just up in the clouds never thinking it would go this far. I’m just overwhelmed and over joyed with what’s going on now. Anytime now that there’s a limo and it’s for me and all I’m use to is a station wagon or whatever transportation provided for the band…we never rode in a limo. So I’m thankful for what’s happening right now man. You talk about the feel of it…I can’t explain it really.JA:Now we’re much more aware of what it meant because it was a different scene. We’ve been waiting thirty years to see your face. But now that you’re here, we want to entertain you and let you know why you like us. You’ve been listening to us berried in those tracks somewhere. But now when you get an opportunity to hear what we do on the top side you’ll be entertained. Each one of these guys’…I listen to Eddie Willis play man, I hear some licks so funky I know I’m hearing the style. That’s Eddie Willis man – he’s the best that ever did it. EW:Thank you Jack.JA:I want you to know that. I love every one of them. You see the Funk Brothers is a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing in the fact that you’re discovering us, you’re discovering us very late because you missed a lot of good guys. Those guys are gone. They hadn’t even reached their apex yet. Motown records didn’t become extinct…the sound of Motown. They stopped putting it out. So who knows where it would have gone. Because people are still making love. But they stopped putting it out. So this is like you are riding an elevator and you run out of floors. You want to go to the fifteenth floor but the elevator only goes to ten. You stop. It’s the same thing with this. You miss possibly the best that we could have offered. You really did. By Tiffany N. D’Emidio