My NYE was in San Francisco, as it often is, and I was
at the Grateful Dead show, as I often am, and actually
it was quite good. But to make it even better, after the
Dead's longtime lyricist Robert Hunter did a solo opening
act, we had a full hour-and-15-minute set from the Funk
Brothers, who sounded terrific. I was representin' for
Detroit with my Tigers hat and my Metroplex t-shirt :)
It really was something to hear all those tunes played
live about 100 feet away (I got as close as I could on the
floor at the Oakland Arena). Detroit techno and house are
a real passion, but Motown and Stax are in my DNA thanks
to a childhood in Washington DC (I didn't realize it then, as a
kid of course, but Al Bell of WUST radio played a key role in
helping both labels get exposure in the DC market long before he
ended up running Stax). Back then Gordy wouldn't even put their
names on the album covers, so the names of James Jamerson and
all the others didn't really emerge until collectors and historians
started to write about Motown after the move to LA. Now they are
finally getting some long overdue credit.
Even aside from the thrill of just seeing these guys play, it
really brought some great music to life. While those records
all sounded great coming out of tinny AM radio speakers and
those teeny little transistor radio earpieces, it's so much better
in a big room with a good sound system. I think my favorite
song in the show was It's a Shame which was underrated at
the time but is one of the great soul tunes ever. (That was written
by Steve Wonder, Syreeta Wright and Lee Garrett, but though
it was a hit for the Detroit Spinners, Gordy kind of let them
drop which is how they eventually ended up working with Thom
Bell and making all those great Philly classics as The Spinners.)
The other great moment for me was when Joan Osborne (who has been
touring with the Dead all year as well as appearing in the Funk
Brothers movie) came out and did a fine version of What Becomes
of the Brokenhearted that ended with the most powerful and
wonderful coda -- the Dead have a *good* sound system and I think
even the Funk Brothers were impressed with how they sounded :)
If you have a chance, go check out the show. They are finishing
out their US swing and heading to Europe later this month and
next, including dates in the UK, Germany, Holland, Sweden, etc.
There are only seven still touring from the original studio players
(if I counted correctly; several of the original Funk Brothers are
either ill or have passed away), the rest of the touring group is
a bunch of really good Philly session players and it's a lot of
fun. And the Euro tour will also have Steve Winwood and Isaac
Hayes (speaking of Stax!), so that should really be a great time.
http://www.standingintheshadowsofmotown.com/funks.htm
fred
