Standing in the shadows...

The Funk Brothers -- legendary Motown house band featured in the 2003 documentary "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" -- bring their show to the Belly Up Tavern on Saturday. I had the chance to talk recently with both Jack Ashford (Marvin Gaye's favorite percussionist) and Allan Slutsky, the writer who tracked the Motown musicians down after living in obscurity for decades. Due to the efforts of Slutsky, the men who make up the Funk Brothers now tour regularly. On this go 'round, Joan Osborne and Darius Rucker help out on vocals. Here's the preview article I wrote for the San Diego Union-Tribune:

HOUSE BAND NO. 1

At the Belly Up, a chance to stand in the shadow of Motown

By Chris Nixon

December 25, 2003


History has a way of burying genius, letting the winners and corporate bosses take the spoils – and the credit. Studio musicians, toiling away and creating music in anonymity, don't often get the spotlight, and more importantly, the recognition they deserve.

Enter the Funk Brothers: 13 studio musicians who changed the face of American pop music. As payroll employees for Motown Records, these musicians were a part of more No. 1 hits than the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, Elvis and the Beatles combined.

The Funk Brothers included some of Detroit's best musicians, and their story has remained untold for nearly half a century until this year's documentary film "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" shed some light on the musicians who created the famous "Motown sound."

"It really was like a factory," said Funk Brothers percussionist Jack Ashford from his home in Memphis, Tenn. "We would show up at 10 in the morning and go through the charts for the day– I got paid $10 a song. Some days we would record six or more songs, so it was good pay for that time."

Part documentary, part performance film, "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" tells the story of the Motown musicians through stories and the memories of the men who lived the music. The one-hour-and-48-minute movie has the feel of an American "Buena Vista Social Club," giving long-overdue notoriety and exposure to talented and influential musicians.

But the film – the brainchild of transcriptionist Allan "Dr. Licks" Slutsky – almost didn't get made.

Like many things, the cinematic retelling of the Funk Brothers' story came down to one thing – money.

"Well, the whole process took 17 years," said Slutsky recently. "The book started as a collection of (Funk Brothers bassist) James Jamerson's transcriptions. When I started talking to James' wife, Anna, she introduced me to all the guys and I started finding that it was a bigger story. After the book came out, I was chasing money around for a decade to make the film."

During the process, Slutsky lost a longtime friend to pancreatic cancer, but the break through came soon after his friend's death.

"My best friend from college – he was the kind of guy who'd call everyday and offer his support for the film – died from pancreatic cancer a few years ago," said Slutsky. "My other friend from college was sitting next to a gentleman reading my book at the funeral. Turns out, this guys is a volunteer fireman who sold an idea for a product and was now a billionaire. He ended up financing the movie. So I guess my friend gave me a little gift on his way out."

In addition to the documentary aspect of "Standing in the Shadows of Motown," the movie includes a reunited Funk Brothers performing Motown hits in front of a live crowd, with guest vocal spots by Chaka Khan, Ben Harper, Bootsy Collins, Montell Jordan, Meshell Ndegeocello, Joan Osborne and Gerald Levert.

Things went so well that the unheralded house band for Motown Records hit the road in support of the stunning documentary. The current tour includes a New Year's show with the Dead (the surviving members of the Grateful Dead), proving Motown's widespread appeal.

And the upcoming Belly Up show Saturday night provides a rare opportunity to see these living legends live on stage, along with Joan Osborne and Hootie & The Blowfish lead man Darius Rucker on vocals.

"The Motown tunes are truly America's music," said Ashford. "This music means a lot to people. And it means a lot to us, too. So to have people come up after our gigs and tell how much it means for them to hear us play live, it's just an amazing experience after so many years."

Chris Nixon is a San Diego writer.

Them Changes -- quarter-year catch up

I logged the last transmission over four months ago, so obviously a lot has changed for me. The past two months in particular have been some of the most enjoyable during my adult years from a career perspective. For quite some time, I'd been feeling clausterphobic and imprisoned by the grind of the daily commute, jacking myself upon coffee to make it through the day, the days passing as I sat in my cubicle, feeling drained and non-human in my interactions with co-workers and certainly with my girlfriend Lisa. I was losing my sense of direction, the days a haze of wrestling with technology more than purely writing. It was time for change...

So I gave my notice and ventured into the unstable world of freelance writing. It's been an uncertain time: financially mostly. When I started freelancing (my last day at SignOn was Oct. 3), I had this image of jumping off a cliff and learning how to fly on the way down. I'm durprised at how little I can live on. I love being able to cook again. Being able to take time to craft a piece if I feel its necessary or worthy. Being able to enjoy the beautiful SD weather. I am truly a lucky man.

So I've been writing for the San Diego Union-Tribune, CMJ magazine, Anthem magazine and SignOnSanDiego as Chris Nixon; for Fahrenheit San Diego as Ingrid Domingues and Jeb Stewart for CityBeat. More on the names later.

Here's a short compendium of some of the articles I've written in the last couple of months:

Skydiver, September Localese -- Union-Tribune

Raveonettes, Oct. 2, 2003 -- Union-Tribune

Lake Trout, Oct. 9, 2003 -- Union-Tribune

Califone, Oct. 16, 2003 -- Union-Tribune

John Reis/The Sultans, Oct. 23, 2003 -- Union-Tribune

The Deftones, Oct. 30, 2003 -- Union-Tribune

Skydiving feature, Oct. 2003 -- SignOnSanDiego

Robert Walter/DNA-1, November Localese -- Union-Tribune

Chris Robinson, Nov. 13, 2003 -- Union-Tribune

Hot Club of Cowtown, Nov. 27, 2003 -- Union-Tribune

Exile on Kettner, Dec. 18 -- Union-Tribune

FAHRENHEIT

San Diego Indymedia, Oct. 13, 2003 -- Fahrenheit

The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower, Nov. 13, 2003 -- Fahrenheit

The Viewmasters, Nov. 20, 2003 -- Fahrenheit

Kalle Lasn Q&A, Nov. 26, 2003 -- Fahrenheit

San Diego Indymedia, Dec. 3, 2003 -- Fahrenheit

North Park Deli review, Dec. 3, 2003 -- Fahrenheit

San Diego Indymedia, Dec. 3, 2003 -- Fahrenheit

Super Cocina, Dec. 11, 2003 -- Fahrenheit

CITYBEAT

Broken Social Scene, Nov. 19, 2003 -- CityBeat

'The Complex'

I just re-listened to the radio show which I hosted today (if you read below, you'll see my rant on radio). On second listen, it' didn't sound as horrible as the actual experience. This is a common occurence for performers. Thinking back to the days when I used to jam percussion on stage, the experience of being on stage often clouded my perception of how things actually sounded.

This phenomenon works both ways really. Sometimes it doesn't feel good on stage, but you listen back later and the performance sounds better than you thought. Conversely, you can come off stage feeling great, but when you take a listen afterward it sounds terrible. This is why there are so many terrible musicians torturing innocent audiences out there: they have no idea how badly they sound. Ditto for karaoke. It has something to do with focusing on your own feelings and perceptions instead of seeing and hearing the reality of the situation. When you're on stage, you are the center of attention and sometimes the reality never sinks in.

It's the same with a radio studio. They're usually plain rooms with microphones. Not much to focus on, except for your perception of your performance. In short: I thought I sucked today, but on second listen it didn't sound as terrible as I thought it would.

This is all over-analyzing, but isn't that what blogs are for? (I picture Stevie Wonder holding hands with Elton John singing "That's what blogs are for..." Stevie and Elton are always there to back me up when I need them.)

Speaking of complex, the Blue Man Group is playing San Diego this weekend and hopefully I'll get a chance to check them out. I talked about this concert during this week's radio show, so that's what made me think of it. Anyway, I wrote up a profile for SignOnSanDiego, so take a read through if you have a minute or two. Cheers.

Rock the radio spot

For those of us who worship the written word, the gift of gab comes slow like maple syrup on a cold winter day. I've been working with my co-workers at SignOn to develop a weekly radio show. It's called Entertainment Live. The show broadcasts live on this Internet radio station called World Talk Radio. It's also archived so listeners can go back and check out old rants.

Today (Thursday), I played host to the show for the first time. Switching gears from writing to talking coherently is tough, but life unchallanged is bland like baby food. The show offers no editing, only your thoughts and thinking on your feet. The trick is filter the random stuff on the fly, like mental gymnastics for the random at heart. Somtimes you're just stuck with vowel movements. Anyway, if you want to hear a writer stumble and bumble his way through his first hosting experience, check this out.

Suzanne Vega and Eels

So now I have this thing up and running, there's a lot to catch up on. A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to talk with Suzanne Vega. You can listen to sound clips from the interview at the above link. Despite my froggy voice and the early hour, it came out nicely. You can also read the story that came out in the Union-Tribune's Night&Day section.

This past Monday, I had the opportunity to talk with Eels lead singer E (again if you click through, you'll see audio links from the interview). I laughed constantly through our short 10 minute phone interview, as you can hear in the clips. He's a funny guy, in a deadpan kinda way. The Eels story will appear in the print edition of the Union-Tribune on Thursday Aug. 14. The band's San Diego show takes place at 4th & B downtown on Saturday, Aug. 16.

You can hear clips from a bunch of interviews I've done at SignOnSanDiego's Nixon Tapes.