BEFORE: The news broke yesterday that Aretha Franklin passed away, and this is what I sort of figured would happen, with a chain that stretches out nearly two months, and so many musical stars appearing in these films, especially ones that are in their 60s or 70s, it was almost bound to happen. I've been looking for birthdays and famous dates in music history to connect my films to, I hate to synch my viewing up with something like this - but I just saw her two days ago in the Clive Davis documentary, she was one of the people who had her career resurrected in the 1980's by Clive with hits like "Freeway of Love" and "I Knew You Were Waiting". I don't think she appears in tonight's film, unless the IMDB credits are complete, but they look pretty extensive on this one.
Of course, Aretha sang about a pink Cadillac in the song "Freeway of Love", and there was another song called "Pink Cadillac", written and recorded by Bruce Springsteen, who carries over from "Springsteen & I" today, to another one of those films with a HUGE cast of musical artists. There's one specific artist that I'll need to connect to tomorrow's film, which has a very small cast. Again, I had to sandwich THAT guy between two films that he happened to appear in, and I made my chain from there.
AFTER: When I was putting this chain together, I remembered back to a few years back (2013) when this one came out, and I figured I should probably include this one for a complete look at rock music documentaries. It seemed to get pretty good reviews, and it's a pretty noble cause, trying to shine a spotlight on some performers who are mostly under-appreciated, yet crucial to creating a certain sound on the rock and pop records made in the 1960's, 70's and 80's. It's sort of ironic to think of these singers as "unsung heroes", but that's where we find ourselves.
Phil Spector had his "Wall of Sound", which was usually three or four African-American girls singing in tight harmony, and then over-dubbed again and again to sound like a whole choir. Then everyone went nuts for a while trying to replicate that effect, or at least the feeling that it conveyed. Even the British acts, like Bowie and the Stones, wanted to use the back-up singers to give their rock records that classic soul sound. Joe Cocker wanted that sound because Ray Charles used that sound, and so on.
Of course, I already knew who Merry Clayton and Darlene Love are - Merry Clayton recorded the original "black woman" vocals on "Gimme Shelter", anybody who knows the Rolling Stones story should be aware of that. She also sang a track named "Yes" on the "Dirty Dancing" soundtrack, and back in the late 80's I worked for the company that made the music video for that song (though it was done a few months before I started working there). Darlene Love, of course, is famous to any fan of David Letterman for her annual performance of the holiday song "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" and my BFF and I managed to catch tickets to the final Letterman holiday special, a few months before Letterman retired from his show, and seeing her sing that live was a real treat.
I can't say that I knew any of the other back-up singers profiled here, but that's sort of the point, not many people did before this documentary came out. When you listen to a song like "Sweet Home Alabama" or "Young Americans", or even the Halloween song "Monster Mash", knowing the names of the back-up singers on the original versions is probably the last thing on your mind. Sure, there are probably credits on the inside album cover, way down the bottom, in very tiny print, and who takes the time to learn all that? Only real music-nerd completists, that's who. For the vast majority of the time, the contributions of back-up singers have gone largely un-recognized.
A notable few singers have managed to make that leap from the back-line to take center stage - like Luther Vandross, who sang back-up for David Bowie, or Sheryl Crow, who backed up Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Don Henley. But for every person who made that transition effectively, there are dozens who tried and failed, some who released solo albums that didn't succeed for one reason or another (maybe Clive Davis was too busy to get involved...) and then they tried to resume their career as back-up singers. Still others have been satisfied with being CLOSE to stardom, without seeking it directly, and for whatever reason prefer a lifestyle that puts fewer demands on them, and also allows them to keep their relative anonymity and their sanity.
It's a heavy thing to think about spending so much time in an industry and never making it big, it's even harder come close to success and not achieve it. But perhaps there's a lesson there in learning to be satisfied with the opportunities that DO come your way, everybody has to find that balance between pushing for better jobs and just taking their career as it comes, there's no one right way to do it, as long as one can maintain a sense of accomplishment. I speak, of course, as someone working in the world of independent film and some of the same questions and challenges apply. Then you just have to chalk the rest up to luck, or fate, or not making the right moves at the right time. Some people are going to succeed, others are going to fail and still others will have to find paying work while waiting for their plans to succeed or fail.
It's not stated outright, but it's strongly implied that some of the back-up singers might have taken the quicker road to the top, so to speak, by sleeping with the bands' lead singers, or perhaps someone in management. One woman here discusses her fun times with Mick Jagger, and he certainly doesn't deny it, so perhaps as bad as that sounds now, it could be a factor in why some singers had successful careers, and some didn't. (And tangential to that, the possibility that some of them were less attractive than others, or getting to the age where they were replaced by younger back-up singers.) I know it's not PC these days to talk about such things, but clearly there was a "casting couch" system for advancement back in the 1960's, which was dominated by the patriarchy of horny males, and it seems silly to not at least talk about that now. Nobody can fix the system without talking about what was wrong with the old way of doing things.
Wow, this film won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature of 2013, and I usually have no interest in seeing the winner in that category - it's nearly always about Holocaust survivors or refugees in some far-off country, right? It's great to see something that's a bit more upbeat (relatively speaking, I guess...) take that award. It also won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary, and also the Grammy Award for Best Music Film. I've got another film coming up in a few days that covers a similar subject, only it highlights studio musicians, not back-up singers. But I'm sure it will probably make a lot of the same points.
NITPICK POINT: I wish that everyone could agree on the best way to talk about this profession, singing back-up. A few of the people here say things like "I've been back-up singing..." or "I back-up sang..." and that just doesn't sound right. I have a similar problem with people who say "I've been bartending for 10 years" when the proper way to say that is "I've been TENDING BAR for 10 years". Come on, let's get it together, people. The right way to say it is "I've been SINGING BACK-UP for (x) years..." I realize that the English language is a fluid thing, and it changes over time, but we've got to maintain some standards.
Also starring Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, Judith Hill, Stevvi Alexander, Charlotte Crossley, Tabitha Fair, Susaye Greene, Fanita James, Gloria Jones, Dr, Mable John, David Lasley, Jo Lawry, Claudia Lennear, Lynn Mabry, Cindy Mizelle, Jenni Muldaur, Janice Pendarvis, Nicki Richards, Tiffany Monique Ryan, Rose Stone, Tata Vega, Martha Wash, Julia Waters, Maxine Waters, Oren Waters, Edna Wright, Lou Adler (last seen in "Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives"), Cissy Houston (ditto), Stevie Wonder (ditto), Patti Austin, Chris Botti, Todd Boyd, Sheryl Crow (last seen in "Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me"), Mick Jagger (last seen in "27: Gone Too Soon"), Bette Midler (last seen in "What Women Want"), Sting (last seen in "Zoolander 2"), with archive footage of David Bowie (last seen in "George Michael: Freedom"), David Byrne, Ray Charles (last seen in "Joe Cocker: Mad Dog With Soul"), Joe Cocker (ditto), Leon Russell (ditto), Tina Turner (ditto), Clarence Clemons (also carrying over from "Springsteen & I"), Nils Lofgren (ditto), Patti Scialfa (ditto), Steven van Zandt (ditto), Max Weinberg (ditto), Perry Como, David Crosby (last seen in "History of the Eagles"), George Harrison (ditto), John Lennon (ditto), Ringo Starr (ditto), Keith Richards (ditto), Michael Jackson (last seen in "How the Beatles Changed the World"), Elton John (also last seen in "Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives"), Paul McCartney (ditto), Rod Stewart (ditto), Luther Vandross (ditto), Tom Jones, Spike Lee, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kylie Minogue, Nia Peeples, Billy Preston (last seen in "The Beatles - Eight Days a Week"), Phil Spector, Ike Turner (last seen in "Elvis Presley: The Searcher"), Charlie Watts (last seen in "27: Gone Too Soon"), Ronnie Wood (last seen in "Keith Richards: Under the Influence"), Mel Gibson (last seen in "We Were Soldiers"), Danny Glover (last seen in "I'm Still Here"), Jay Leno (last seen in "Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me"), David Letterman (last seen in "Amy"), Paul Shaffer (last seen in "Now More than Ever: the History of Chicago"), Catherine Zeta-Jones (last seen in "No Reservations").
RATING: 6 out of 10 talk show appearances
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