Went to the preview screening of this film last night with my good friend C and I was very surprised that it is more a documentary than a true film.
IMDB says: Backup singers live in a world that lies just beyond the spotlight. Their voices bring harmony to the biggest bands in popular music, but we've had no idea who these singers are or what lives they lead, until now.
Featuring the singers themselves, the names that you will recognise from classic songs are Merry Clayton, the Waters family, Lisa Fischer, Judith Hill, Darlene Love and Tata Vega and the big name singers that they back, who range across the decades: Sting, Stevie Wonder, Sheryl Crowe, Bette Midler, Ray Charles, David Bowie and Luther Vandross amongst others.
It is sadly not surprising to hear of the treatment of backing singers, from big names in the business like Phil Spector and Ike Turner and finding out how women who could have been exceptional solo singers were passed over or cheated out of their futures. There were some stunning singers and it is so cruel to think that some of the most iconic songs of our times were actually sung by these people who never got the recognition they so deserve. Especially considering that one gentleman says in the movie that some singers today have to be tuned after they sing because they cannot sing in tune live.
We did enjoy the preview in terms of the singing and the history of the music business,s but did feel that this was a brilliant documentary, not a film.
Tagline: Meet the unsung heroes behind the greatest music of our time. 7/10
#20FeetFromStardom #ShowFilmFirst
No comments:
Post a Comment