All language subtitles for Standing.In.The.Shadows.Of.Motown.2002.720p.WEBRip.x264-[YTS.LT]

[ Chattering ]

** [ Piano ]

[ Man ]
It was bigger than
we thought it was gonna be.

We didn't know
it was gonna be that big.

To be or not to be--
It was bein'.

First we didn't notice
what was goin' on.

We were too busy
creating the music
and the magic.

Finally you know
that, uh,

you have, uh, played on
hit records.

And the jukeboxes
and the radio is playing,

and somebody said,
"Oh, boy, that's Motown."

But they never know us.
Nobody never mentioned
too much about us.

Really a long time it goes,
and finally it gets to you.

Finally, when the dust cleared,

it was all over,

and we realized we were
being left out of the dream.

It's the end.

And, as the years go by,

we wonder,
will anyone ever know...

who we are or what we did.
** [ Tambourine ]

** [ Funk ]

[ Men ]
Yeah. What you gonna do?

[ Narrator ]
They were the days
of American innocence--

of Father Knows Best.

Lady Day passed on,

and Fats Domino
enticed the nation
to visit "Blueberry Hill."

Elvis Presley burst out of
Mississippi like a tornado,

gathering followers from
every sphere of American life.

There was a cultural tidal wave
in his hips and music.

Radio stations
flooded the country with
this new sound from the South.

But the roots of that music--
the originators--
remained unknown.

These pioneers
of rhythm and blues
could be found...

at the far reaches of
the radio dial, playing
soulfully for their loyal fans.

But they were confined
to frustration...

as they watched their
white counterparts triumph
with the style they'd created.

Struggling to find
the key to mainstream
America's heartbeat,

scores of black artists
and record companies...

searched for a new sound
that would free them
from the race music label.

In Detroit,
that sound arrived.

** [ R&B ]

* Uh

* Now if you feel
that you can't go on *

* Can't go on
* Because all of your hope
is gone *

- * All your hope is gone
- * And your life is filled
with much confusion *

* Until happiness
is just an illusion *

* Happiness
is just an illusion *
* And your world around

* Is crumbling down

* Darling
* Reach out

* Come on, girl
Reach out for me *

* Reach out
* Reach out for me

* Ha
I'll be there *

* With the love
that'll shelter you *

* I'll be there

* With the love
that'll see you through *

* When you feel lost
and about to give up *

* About to give up
* Because your best
just ain't good enough *

* Just ain't good enough
* And you feel the world
has grown cold *

* Has grown cold
* And you're driftin' out
all on your own *

* Driftin' out on your own
* And you need

* A hand to hold
Darling *

* Reach out
* Come on, girl
Reach out for me *

* Reach out
* Reach out for me

* Ha
I'll be there *

* To love and comfort you

* And I'll be there

* To cherish and care for you *

[ Man ]
Yeah, we're, uh, doing
a documentary about some music.

You know a lot about music?
You gotta know something
about music.

I know something about music.
You know anything
about Motown?

- I like to listen to Motown.
- Yeah. I was brought up
on that stuff.

Do you know about Motown?
Oh, yes.

Do you know a lot
about music?

- I like to think so.
- Yes. I'm from Detroit.

- Yeah.
- Motown? Yeah, sure.
The sound of Detroit.

I know a little too much
about music.

What's your favorite
Motown group?

I wouldn't say group.
I would go with Marvin Gaye.

- I'd have to say
Smokey Robinson probably.
- Of course, Stevie Wonder.

- I love the Supremes.
- Four Tops.

Would you happen to know
who played the music on
the Supremes albums?

You know,
the instruments and stuff.
I have no idea.

Did you ever think about that?
Mmm, I think about it with--
No, I haven't, actually.

Do you know who played
the music for Smokey?
Mmm, not right offhand.

- It's the Miracles.
- Um--

It was Gladys Knight & the Pips,
wasn't it?

But did they play the music?

- The Pips.
- I don't think I know
any of the musicians.

Yeah.
I'm familiar with Marvin Gaye.

His band? No.
Unfortunately, I can't say.

What if I told you it was
a group called the Funk Brothers
who played on all that stuff?

Wow. I had no idea.

Who are the Funk Brothers?
Who are they?

- Really?
- If it's true,
I would believe it.

They still around?

People will ask,
"What is the Motown sound?"

They've asked producers.
They've asked, uh,
executives from Motown.

"What was the Motown sound?"
It was the musicians. Okay?

When these cats cut tracks,

no offense to any of the great
artists that sang on them, but
anybody could have sang on them.

You could've had Deputy Dawg
singing on some of this stuff.
It would have been a hit...

because the tracks
were just so incredible.

They were musical entities
unto themselves.

They had a natural feel
for music.

They were just
that exceptional.

Being really good
jazz musicians,
they could swing like crazy.

That's something that's
not always present in pop music.

The bass drum had a note.
It wasn't a dead--
[ Imitates Flat Drumbeat ]

It was a boom.
So you had--
[ Imitating Bass Drum ]

When there's a groove like that,

the subliminal effect
is everybody feels good.

They were the groundwork.
They were the things that
everything else was built on.

It was like a river
constantly flowing.

Talent, creations, you know.
People come in.

"Who's available?
Who's on the list?
Well, call them in.

Where are they?
This one's out of town?
Call the other one."

But it was always
the Funk Brothers.

Always the Funk Brothers.
First.

Without them, there really
wouldn't be a Motown.

That was the sound.
That was the foundation.

That was it.
That was the essence of Motown.

[ Narrator ] That essence
was an overpowering lineup
of veteran groove masters...

and trailblazing virtuosos.

Guitarists Eddie Willis,
Joe Messina and Robert White...

and keyboardists
Johnny Griffith, Joe Hunter
and Earl Van Dyke...

wove an irresistible tapestry
of instrumental hooks
and counter-rhythms...

over the electrifying core
of the Motown groove--

a core comprised of
James Jamerson, the tormented
genius of the Motown bass...

and late-era bassist
Bob Babbitt,

percussionists Jack Ashford
and Eddie "Bongo" Brown,

drummers Uriel Jones,
"Pistol" Allen...

and the explosive
Benny "Papa Zita" Benjamin,

the creator of
the Motown drumbeat.

The dance floors of the world
didn't stand a chance.
** [ R&B ]

* Whenever I'm with him
* Oooh-ooh-ooh

* Something inside
* Inside

* Starts to burnin'

* And I'm filled with desire

* Could it be
the devil in me *

* Or is this the way
love's supposed to be *

* It's like a heat wave

* Burnin' in my heart

* Can't keep from cryin'

* It's tearing me apart

* Whenever he calls my name

- * Soft love
sweet and plain *
- * Yeah, yeah

* I feel right there

* I feel that burning flame

* Has a high blood pressure
got a hold on me
or is this the way *

* Love's supposed to be
It's like a heat wave *

* Burnin' in my heart

* Can't keep from cryin'

* It's tearing me apart

** [ Saxophone Solo ]
* Ooh-ooh-ooh

* Ooh

* Ooh-ooh-ooh ooh, ooh

* Yeah

* Sometimes I stare
into space *

* Tears all over my face

* Can't explain it
Don't understand it *

* I ain't never
felt like this before *

* Now that funny feeling
has me amazed *

* Don't know what to do
my head's in a haze
It's like a heat wave *

* Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

* Oh, oh

* Yeah, yeah

* Whoa-a-a-a

* I'm feeling
* Burnin', burnin'

* Burnin'
I'm feeling
burnin' in my heart *

* Like a heat wave
* Burnin', burnin'

* Heat wave *

[ Narrator ]
After World War II,
the auto industry boom...

turned Detroit into
an economic magnet for people
in search of steady work.

Tens of thousands
migrated to the city.

Among them,
several future Funk Brothers.

Actually, Jamerson
came from South Carolina.

Uh, Eddie Willis
came from Mississippi.

Pistol came from
Memphis, Tennessee,
and I'm from Jackson, Tennessee.

We came north--
mostly our people came north...

to get jobs in the car factories
here in Detroit, Michigan.

And, uh,

I worked at Chevrolet myself.

I worked at Chevrolet
for about a year and a half.

The last thing we wanted to do
was work in the factories.

We really wanted to play music,
and that's what
we ended up doing.

The Funk Brothers ended up
playing music.
** [ Jazz ]

Berry showed up down at
Little Sam's one time.

He walked over by the bandstand
while we were playing
and, uh, said--

He said to me,
"Would you have time
to talk to me?"

I says,
"I got more time
than money."

And he explained to me
what he was about.

He wanted to set up
a record company...

and he needed good musicians.

I thought it was
a wonderful idea.

And wanted to know,
did I know anybody
that could feel the thing.

He already knew Mr. Benjamin--
Benny Benjamin, "Papa Zita."

So he called the first rehearsal
over at Claudette's house--

Smokey Robinson's wife
at that time.

That was late '58.

And then Papa Zita was
already there, and I was there.

We eventually found the great
James Jamerson on bass.
** [ Bass ]

[ Man ]
I remember my dad saying
as a child growing up...

that he would take a stick
and take a rubber band...

and put one part at one end
and the other part
at the other...

and stick it in an ant hole...

and make the ants dance.

** [ Gospel ]

* Jesus, Lord

* All about my troubles

* Whoa, Jesus *

[ Narrator ]
When he was a kid
on Edisto Island,

James and his friends would
slip through a window into their
little two-room schoolhouse.

They'd light a fire
and play the piano
until class started.

After school, they'd continue
making music in a neighbor's
vacant summer home,

where there just happened to be
an old piano
and an upright bass.

The most important pointer
that my father taught me--

when I'm playing,
if I don't feel it,
don't play it.

You know, a lot of guys
would just play straight--
** [ Bass ]

With no feeling.
But he would play it like--

You know, put something in it.
He just felt life was music.

He used to tell this story--

this one song he did--

he saw a fat woman
walking down the street...

and just her butt going
from boom to boom to boom,
badoom, badoom--

that was
his interpretation of music.

He put music to just about
anything that had life to it.

There's an indentment
right here in the bass...

where he kept his thumb
right here as a rest.

That's how old this bass is.

You can see
all the dirt on here.

Uh, as he says,
"The dirt keeps the funk."

This has been the original bass
ever since he started playing,

before he switched over
to Precision.

He used this on "Heat Wave,"
"My Guy," "Shop Around"--

most of the Mary Wells stuff--

"You Beat Me To The Punch,"
some other earlier stuff
with Stevie.

He played with one finger
on all those hits
just like this.

The finger was called
the hook.

It would hook like this.
On all them songs
that you heard,

basically it was done
with one finger.

I have trouble playing
with two fingers
the line that he played.

You couldn't even touch
his timing,

because he could hear
another time in his head...

and be playing cut time
against what you're playing
and it would fit.

There was never a bass player
on no coast then--

if there was a West Coast,
East Coast-- whatever coast
you wanna call it--

that was comparable
to a James Jamerson.

It's the height of creativity,
you know, and freedom...

and experimentation
and fearlessness.

You have to be absolutely
fearless to play those notes
in that place...

and yet be responsible
for your--

for the bottom
of the groove like that.

I thought bass playing
was played like that
all the time.

Little did I know
that it was my father
changing the course of bass.

** [ "I Can't Help Myself
(Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" ]

Soon about 19 and 60,
Berry bought a house
on West Grand Boulevard.

This house had a garage...

with a dirt floor.

[ Narrator ]
Walk down the four
timeworn wooden steps...

into the basement of
2648 West Grand Boulevard,

and you enter a fantasyland--

a tiny, dimly lit room
with smoke-stained walls,

where dreams came true
for Motown's young stars--

a place where timeless classics
like "I Can't Help Myself,"
"Shop Around"...

and "Where Did Our Love Go"
were born.

This is Hitsville, U.S.A.,

the home of the Motown sound.

But to the musicians
who worked there,
it was just Studio "A,"

affectionately referred to
as the Snakepit.

It was the site of countless
steamy 4:00 a.m. sessions...

where monster hits
were cranked out
in an hour or less--

a place where
deadly grooves threatened
to set the walls on fire.

This was the home
of Motown's studio band,
the Funk Brothers.

Smokey was the main one
that pulled this off.
He'd dream of a song.

He'd come in with something
written down-- two bars--

or two verses of it
on some paper--

It's basically,
"Hey, I got a tune.
What do you think of this?"

Joe would say,
"This is what
you're trying to play."

He'd give him the chord
and full structure.
Next thing you know,

"Hey, hey. Come here, James."
He'd make James play this line.
In a minute you'd have a song.

That's how the studio was
every day.

And they'd fight
to get to Studio "A."

This is the first time
we've been in here to play
since the '70s.

A lot of these people come here
for the first time-- they have
no idea what's in here.

Because,
along with our creativity,

was Berry's prayers in here...

that we would be successful
in what we were doing
to make those hits.

We used to hear it in his voice,
the way he used to talk to us.

We used to hear the artists--
how they would talk to us.

A lot of prayers were in this
building, wasn't there, Joe?
Yeah.

True.
[ Ashford ]
You have no idea the gravity...

of what went on emotionally.

I swear to God,
when I went in there tonight,

I could just feel it.

I could almost touch it.

It never left that room.
Yeah.
It's a strange feeling.

It never left that room.
It's in there.
[ Chuckling ]

** [ R&B ]

* I don't like you

* But I love you

* Seems that I'm always

* Thinking of you

* Whoa-a-a, you treat me badly

* I love you madly

* You really got a hold on me

* You really got a hold

* You really got a hold on me

* You really got

* A hold on me
* Baby

* 'Cause I don't want you

* But I need you

* Don't wanna kiss you

* But I need to

* Whoa-a-a

* You do me wrong now

* My love is strong now

* You really got a hold on me

* You really got a hold on me

* You really got a hold on me

* You really got a hold on me

* Baby
I love you *

* And all I want you to do

* Is just hold me

* Hold me
Hold me *

* Hold me

* Tighter

* Tighter

* I want to leave you

* Don't want to stay here

* Don't want to spend

* Another day here

* Though, oh, oh
I wanna split now *

* I can't quit now

* You really got a hold on me

* You really got a hold on me

* You really got a hold on me

* You really got a hold on me
* Baby

* I love you
and all I want you to do *

* Is just hold me

* Hold me
* Hold me

* Hold me

* Got a hold on me
* You really got a hold on me *

I was playing
up in Boston, Massachusetts...

when I ran into Marvin Gaye.

I didn't know who he was.
Someone from his entourage said,

"I want you to meet
a famous singer."

I said, "Okay."
He said,
"His name is Marvin Gaye."

I didn't realize Marvin
was standing with the guy.
I didn't know who he was.

"You ever heard of Marvin Gaye?"
I said,
"Nah. Never heard of him.

If he don't play jazz,
I don't know him."

I was kind of cocky because
all jazz musicians were cocky.

Everybody wanted to be
like Miles Davis,

no matter what instrument
you played.

So I talked with Marvin,
and he was telling about--
He was starting a band...

and would I like to
come to Detroit?

No musician turns down
a good gig,
so I said I'd come.

Was this, like, a garage area?
Garage.

It was a dirt floor
from the beginning.

They had a piece of plywood
in this area with a piano
sitting right there.

Mm-hmm. Okay.

And the walls had carpeting.

Cinder block.
Yeah.

And the entrance
was right about there.

Not being a bass player,
not being a guitar player,
not being a drummer,

arrangers would come in
and just have
a general idea of--

or a concept--
and we'd leave it
up to the masters.

You were allowed four songs
in a three-hour session.

Right.
And we would get
no less than two.

But that's because the same guys
played together all the time.
All the time.

So the only thing that
changed was the changes.
It was like a home.

- We spent so much time there.
- It was always usually Jamerson
kicking something off...

and, uh, everybody falling in.

Or either Benny.
If Benny kicked something off,

Jamerson had something to
throw in that fit it.

And, uh, then everybody
could come in.

[ Man ] Back then,
you guys would have to
do the tune all in one take.

[ Man #2 ] Yeah. Oh, yeah.
[ Messina ]
Yes. From beginning to end.

[ Man #2 ] In the earlier days,
they only had three tracks
to work with.

[ Ashford ] That was a great
school for mixing because
we only had one shot at it.

You only had one shot. You had
to get it right the first time.
That's right.

We felt as though it was our job
to lay the groundwork
for these kids to have...

as a place to really develop
their careers in singing
because we had the experience.

They had the talent.
We had the experience.
They were all really young?

Very young. Most of
the producers were young.
All the producers were young.

There was a bunch of fellas
standing around,
drinking a little wine,

called the Contours.

We was up there doing
a funny band track-- something
I'd never heard before.

They had the charts out--

We start playing, you know--
start playing the chart
when the director came up there.

And, uh, after we finished,

I said,
"That will never be a hit."

[ Man Laughing ]
And the Contours walked up
to each one of us like...

a little kid eating ice cream,
"Oh, thank you. Thank you.
That's a beautiful band track."

I said, "They're crazy."
You know what I mean?
[ Laughter ]

* You know, you broke my heart

* 'Cause I couldn't dance

* You didn't even
want me around *

* But now I'm back

* To let you know

* That I can really
shake 'em down *

[ Man ]
Oh!
* Oh, do you love me

* I can really move
* Do you love me

- * I'm in the groove
- * Do you love me

* Do you love me
* Now that I can dance

* Dance

- * Watch me now
Huh *
- * Work, work

- * Aw, work it out, baby
- * Work, work

* Oh, you're driving me crazy
* Work, work

* Just a little bit
of soul now *

* Work

* Oh, I can mashed potato

* I can mashed potato
* Oh, I can do the twist

* I can do the twist
* Tell me, pretty baby

* Tell me, baby
* Do you like it like this

- * Do you like it like this
- * Tell me

* Tell me
* Tell me

* Oh, do you

* Do you love me
* Do you love me

- * Do you love me
- * Do, do, do, do ya

* Do you love me

* Yeah, yeah

- * Yeah
- * Watch me now

* Huh
Work, work *

- ** [ Saxophone Solo ]
- * Work, work

* Work

- * Work
- ** [ Man Vocalizing ]

- * Work, work
- * Shake it
Shake it up now *

- * Work, work
- * Oh, you're driving me
crazy *

* Work, work
* Oh, a little bit lately

* Do you love me

* Do you love me
* Do you love me

- * Do you love me
- * Do you love me

* Do you love me

* Now that I can dance *

[ Yells ]

[ Narrator ]
In the early days of Motown...

the Funk Brothers played on
some big hits, like
the Miracles' "Shop Around,"

the Marvelettes'
"Please, Mr. Postman"...

and Mary Wells'
"You Beat Me To The Punch."

But still there was not enough
recording work down in
the Snakepit to make a living.

So, in 1961, James Jamerson,
Joe Hunter and a few of
the other band members...

left to go on the road
with Jackie Wilson.

But Wilson was recovering
from a gunshot wound...

and didn't have
the strength to perform
more than once or twice a week.

Realizing their new situation
was worse, they returned
home to Motown,

where Berry Gordy welcomed them
back with open arms.

But their touring days
were not yet over.

Like, in the early '60s,
you went out
with the Marvelettes.

- I went out with Marvin
and Stevie Wonder.
- Yeah.

Then we did gigs maybe
200 miles outside Detroit
occasionally.

- That weren't nothing.
- [ Ellis ] Yeah, Joe.

The first really big tour
was the 1962 Motor Town Revue,

[ Allen ]
Right.
where we had 30 one-nighters...

in New England
and in the South...

and then ten days at the Apollo.
[ Allen ]
Oh, man. That's a long trip.

That was a thriller.
All that was a thriller.

** [ R&B ]

* Say yeah, yeah, yeah

* Say yeah, yeah, yeah *

[ Ashford ] We were on the road,
coming back from up north
on that gig,

[ Man ] Yep.
and everyone was packed
in the car half sleeping.

Mm-hmm.
As I think back on that,

Marvin Gaye was the drummer
on that gig, wasn't he?
Yep.

That was religious.
I think he was
a better singer though.

You know that's right.
And they had us in
this big old station wagon.

Right, right.
It was about 2:00
in the morning.

Right.
And it was freezing.

And Jamerson
in the car with you.
Ain't that somethin'.

Damn.
I know that was rough.
Yeah.

[ Ashford ]
It was about
ten degrees outside.

We were coming down
the mountainside.

We were all dozing off.
We told all the jokes
we could think of.

And Jamerson says,
"Can you pull the car over?

Robert,
can you pull the car over?"

[ Man In Car ]
Damn. What you doin', man?

Hurry up, man.
It's cold outside.

[ Ashford ]
So, he pulls over
to the side of the road,

goes back there
to get to the trunk,
pulls this brown paper bag out,

jumps back in the car.
Man, it's cold outside.

He decides to put
his pajamas on
in the back of the car.

In order for me to go to sleep,
I got to put my p.j.'s on.
He's bumping people...

and slamming people's heads
and everything.

Everybody's complaining now.

Everybody settles back down
again, 'cause we knew about
being around Jamerson.

Just try to keep him as tranquil
as possible, because he can
really get out there.

And all of a sudden
that bag rustles again.

[ Rustling ]

[ Man On Radio ]
* With other girls
I'm calling *

* I needed just a moment
[ Sniffs ]

* With you I can
[ Man ]
Man.

Oh, my God.
He got pig's feet, man.

[ Ashford ]
Smelled like somebody kicked
a doggone skunk in the behind.

Everybody really got ticked
about that 'cause it was rancid.

Man, we raised so much Cain
in there, he just said,
"Okay, okay--"

All right. I might
put the top back on.
Aw.

I might.
You better put the top back on.

That stuff
stinks, man.
Just to keep the peace.

[ Ashford ]
So he put the lid back on it.
So he's sitting back--

Everybody's kind of
dozing again.

We see a light light
in the back. Somebody lit
a match. It's Jamerson.

He lights
his funky, stogie cigar.

That's it!
Hey, Rob.

Rob,
pull the car over, man!

He said, "Pull the car over.
We're putting him out."

- [ Chattering ]
- Somebody need to
regulate you, James.

So, sure enough,
Robert pulls over to the side.
Out goes James...

with his funky pig's feet,
his pajamas and his cigar.

[ Chattering ]
* You know, you smell so sweet

* You know, you could have been
some perfume *

- * Well
- [ Hunter ] That's right.
That was Jamerson for you.

[ Ashford ]
We thought about it
and went back.

[ Hunter ]
Yeah, to run over his butt.
[ Laughter ]

* The way you do
the things you do **

[ Man ]
Benny played with Dizzy,
Charlie Parker,

Ray Charles,
Lowell Fulson, Muddy Waters,

Jimmy Reed, Chuck Berry.

Benny played with
the best was out there.

He was the main
standard drummer,

and I was the pianist
at that time.

[ Man ]
Right.
Before Earl got there.

Anyway, uh, we liked to
frequent the corn liquor places.
He had a taste for corn liquor.

So, this day we went,
and we hadn't had
too much sleep.

Benny was up there.
He was doing a tune called
"Hitchhike" by Marvin Gaye.

They kicked off the tune,
and Benny was noddin'
and dropped his sticks.

So the A&R man went up there
and smelled his breath.

He said, "Benny!
I see you been drinkin'. Benny!"

He picked up his sticks
real quick, and he said,
"Papa Zita. Papa Zita."

After that,
everybody in the studio
started calling him Papa Zita.

He come in the studio
one time late,
and he told Berry--

He said,
"Man, I was on the freeway
on my way here."

Said the traffic got tied up...

'cause the circus
had just come into town,

and the truck had an accident,
and the elephants got out
of the truck and got loose...

and was holding up the traffic.
[ Man ]
Oh, man. Come on.

And everybody knew--
They knew he was lying,
'cause, guess what.

Benny didn't even drive.
[ Laughter ]

First of all,
Benny was a master
at lockin' a tempo.

He was like a--
He's like a metronome.

He would lock it, see.
And, uh,

then he had certain kinds of
pickups, which, uh,
were only unique to him.

For instance, a Benny Benjamin
pickup would go like this--

Like that. You know.

That's different.
Okay, Uriel Jones
would play, you know--

Then, if I was playing
four bars or something
like that, I'd play--

All three of those pickups
came from Papa Zita--

Benny Benjamin--
you know, he originated them.

I'm really curious
as to how you all got
the name the Funk Brothers.

[ Hunter ]
Look here, one day,
when Benny got ready to leave,

he walked up them steps,
and Benny said,

"You all are the Funk Brothers."

And I'll remember that
all of my days.

All of my days.
And we are
the Funk Brothers.

** [ R&B ]

* I said shotgun

* Shoot him 'fore he run now

* Do the jerk, baby

* Do the jerk now

* Put on your red dress

* And then you go downtown now

* I said
Buy yourself a shotgun now *

* We're gonna break it down
baby now *

* We're gonna load it up
baby now *

* Oh, can you shoot before
he run now *

* I said shotgun

* Shoot him 'fore he run now

* Do the jerk, baby

* Do the jerk now

Blow that horn! Come on.

* I said
Put on your high-heel shoes *

* I said we'll go down here
Listen to me play some blues *

* Gonna dig potatoes

* Yeah, yeah

* We're gonna pick tomatoes
Yeah *

* I said shotgun

* Shoot him 'fore he run now

* Do the jerk, baby

* I said do the jerk now

- * What time is it
- * Twine time

* Said what time is it
* Twine time

- * Said what time is it
- * Twine time

* Said what time is it
What time is it *

* What time is it
What time is it
Shotgun *

* Gotta get on
Get, get, get
get, get, get, get *

* Shoot him 'fore he run now

* Do the jerk, baby

* Gotta get up
Get, get, get
Got, got, got *

** [ Vocalizing ]

* Do the jerk, baby

** [ Vocalizing Continues ]

* Shotgun

* Shoot him 'fore he run now *

I was raised in Detroit.

I studied classics
for about 10, 12 years.

Then I found out I couldn't
make any money doing that.

So I went on
a rampage of singers.

I worked for so many.
I was an accompanist.

So I did some work
with Sarah Vaughan.

I did some work with Lou Rawls
and Dinah Washington.

She was the queen of the blues,

supposedly, at that time,
you know-- until Aretha.

They crowned Aretha
the new queen of the blues.

I was working with her
at that time.
I worked with both the queens.

[ Griffith ]
I was working in the club, and
first Mickey Stevenson came by.

He told me, how would I like
to be a studio musician?

I said, "Well, what is that?"

He said, "Well, come by
the studio and listen
to what Joe is doing...

and work from that point."

I said, "Okay, fine."
[ Chuckles ]

So, I went by there...

and Joe was doing this record.

It was "Pride and Joy"
or something like that.

I sit and listen. I said,
"What the hell are you doing?"

'Cause we never played
to nobody singing.

The tracks--
You just cut the tracks
and you just played.

I said, "How do you know
what to play?" 'Cause I was
used to accompanying.

He said, "Just play
what you want to play.

"They don't know what
they're listening to anyway.

Just play.
If it's too much,
they'll let you know."

He was my, uh,

introduction to the--
to the R&B record scene.

** [ Jazz ]

[ Griffith ]
Joe was the man around town
as far as recording.

He'd been recording
for everybody.

Actually, my mother--
she could teach up to around
the third grade of music.

So she had a lot of
little students in the area.

I was out trying to shoot
marbles and play football
with the rest.

They didn't figure
I had any talent.

But I'd be listening to
everything that she was teaching
when I was in the living room.

Actually, I thought it was
a spiritual thing really,
the way that it came about.

I was trying to play
"Stormy Weather."

It looked like the keys
was just going by themselves.

I was trying to stick my hands
into those holes
and catch up with the keys.

When my grandmother came in,
she said, "Donna"--

That's what she called
my mother-- "This boy is in
here playing 'Stormy Weather.'"

My favorite classical pianist
was Rachmaninov.

I heard him. He had
such a terrific left hand.

I said, I wish my left hand
could be like that.

I'd put my right hand
in my pocket
and just play with my left,

trying to get as fast as
Art Tatum and Rachmaninov.

[ Narrator ]
In the 1960s, jazz clubs were
springing up all over Detroit...

with names like
the Flame Show Bar,
Phelps Lounge, the Apex,

the 20 Grand and the Chit Chat.

These venues were oases
where the Funk Brothers
could escape...

the pressure cooker atmosphere
of the studio...

by returning to their roots
and playing cool jazz into
the wee hours of the morning.

New ideas that hatched in
these spirited jam sessions...

often shimmied their way
into the Snakepit,

adding new textures and rhythms
to the Motown sound.

My stage name was
Lottie the Body,
and I had a beautiful body.

I was an exotic dancer--
one of the greatest
exotic dancers in the world.

As a matter of fact,
I considered being the greatest.

I worked with small bands,
big, big orchestras.

Teddy Harris' big orchestra.
I worked with Count Basie.

You had to know how--
If she moved one cheek,

there was a certain drum
she wanted you to hit.

If she moved the left leg,
there was a certain drum.
You had to catch all this stuff,

plus keep in rhythm
with the band.

But after you worked with her
a while, you feel her out,
and it was a little easier.

But the first time
I worked with her,
[ Lottie Laughs ]

I swore I wasn't
gonna do it again.
[ Laughter ]

[ Lottie ]
I'm sorry, darling.
Oh, it was a pleasure.

You feel like it?
Yeah. Let's do it, baby.

Don't kill me, baby.
I ain't gonna
kill you.

Just kind of
make me feel good.

Whoo!

[ Jones ]
A lot of the rhythms
that we did do in the studio...

is rhythms that came
from working with Lottie.

Because we wasn't doing
too much what you call
Afro-Cuban, you know.

So, just like both "Grapevines."
Marvin Gaye's, like--
[ Imitates Drumbeat ]

And Gladys--
[ Imitates Faster Drumbeat ]

All that's Latin stuff.
We did all
that stuff with Lottie.

This is the spot where
a whole lot of stuff happened.

The third--
One, two, three--

The third door over there.
That's where the Chit Chat was.

When I was coming here
today earlier,
and when I passed by here,

I looked over,
and I said, "There they are."

It couldn't be no clearer.

The Chit Chat was a place--
Though it was small,

everybody in Detroit
knew about the Chit Chat...

and knew what was happening
at the Chit Chat.

With Motown being not that far
down the street here, you had--

Any Motown act would show up
at the Chit Chat,

from Marvin...

to the Four Tops,

Contours, the Originals,

the Temps.

We was still really enjoying
our jazz thing then, you know.

But we did things here
that we would do
in the session the next day.

Right.
That was the uniqueness
of the Funk Brothers,

because, if we were doing
a tune and a change was
similar to something...

in one of the jazz tunes
that we played,

Earl would say,
"Well, do so-and-so, so-and-so
like we did last night."

And we would interject that
into the change of the song.
That's right.

And the song would take on
a different color-- something
they hadn't planned on.

Of course, the producers--
"Oh, man, That's hip."
And they had a hit.

[ Narrator ]
The Funk Brothers ruled
the nightlife...

of Detroit's club scene
in the '60s,

but their realm was
a rough-and-tumble world,

where getting paid
at the end of the evening...

often proved as challenging
as the music they were playing.

[ Hunter ]
Benny was working with us.

And Benny used to go in there
in the daytime when we wasn't
working and drink.

And sometimes I think the
waitresses would put a higher
tab on him than anything else.

But when the owner
got ready to pay us off,

he'd reach up in his thing
and pull out
a great big, old fat gun--

looked like
a German "Lukas" .45--
Mm-hmm.

and popped it on the table
and he looked around
at each one of us and said,

"Your drummer Benny
has over-tabbed."

He says, "In fact,
he's gone into y'all's money."

At that particular time,
Jamerson pulled out a piece--
his piece-- and laid it down.

He says,
"I got to feed my family."
He looked.

Then Robert White
pulled out a piece--

and nobody expected
Robert to pull out a piece--
and he laid his down.

He looked around,
and I pulled out my little
.22 and laid it down.

He said, "What kind of band
have I got here?"

He got so confused
until he even paid Benny.

He paid everybody.
[ Chuckles ]
Yeah.

Motown was really--
It was America's introduction...

to soul music.

It was America's introduction
to soul music.

And soul music is powerful.
Soul music makes you believe.

Soul music gives you hope
in the way that you feel--

in the way that
you want to feel.

That's what was coming
out of the sounds I heard
these men making as a child.

It gave me unconscious hope.
I didn't know why.
It gave my father hope.

So, for years and years,
players...

and producers
have been trying to...

find that magic
Motown sound and pocket...

as if it's
some sort of a formula.

People would always say
everything but the musicians.

They would say it was
the artist, the producers,

the way the building
was structured
or the wood in the floor,

or maybe even food.

I'd like to see 'em take some
barbecue ribs or hamburgers
and throw down in that studio,

shut the door and count out
one, two, three, four
and get a hit out of there.

[ Jones ]
The formula was the musicians.

I'll be Earl Van Dyke.

Take "Ain't Too Proud To Beg,"
which I think everybody
is familiar with.

All right.
Uriel, give it to me--
you and Pistol.

See how that feels
right there?

I'm gonna put
a little bass in there.
One, two, three, four.

All right. Now bring
a little bit of guitars
in there for you.

One, two, three, four.

All right. We'll bring
a little Johnny Griffith
on keyboard in there.

You see how that feels?

That's part of
the Motown sound, right?

Now I'm gonna add
my tambourine to it.

Only a beat better.

* I know you wanna leave me

* But I refuse to let you go

* If I have to beg, plead
for your sympathy *

* I don't mind
'cause you mean
that much to me *

* Ain't too proud to beg

* Oh, you know
* Sweet darling

* Please don't leave me, girl
* Don't you go

* Ain't too proud to plead

* Baby, baby

* Please don't leave me, girl
* Don't you go

* Now I've heard a cryin' man
is half a man *

* With no, no sense of pride

* But if I have to cry
to keep you *

* I don't mind weepin'
if it will keep you
by my side *

* I ain't too proud to beg
sweet darling *

* Please don't leave me, girl
* Don't you go

* Ain't too proud to plead
baby, baby *

- * Please don't leave me,
girl *
- * Don't you go

* If I have to sleep
on your doorstep
all night and day *

* Just to keep you
from walkin' away *

* Let your friends laugh

* Even this I can stand
* Whoa, whoa

* I wanna keep you
any way I can *

* And I ain't too proud to beg

* Ooh, sweet darling
* Please don't leave me, girl

* Don't you go

* Ain't too proud to plead
baby, baby *
* Baby, baby

* Please don't leave me, girl
* Don't you go

* Whoa, no
I ain't too proud to beg *

* Oh, I'm beggin' ya, baby

* Now, I've got a love
so deep in my heart *

* And each day it grows
more and more *

* I'm not ashamed to call
and plead to you, baby *

* If pleading keeps you
from walking out the door *

* Ain't too proud to beg

* Sweet darling
Please *

- * Don't leave me, girl
- * Don't you go

* Ain't too proud to plead
baby, baby *

* Please don't leave me, girl
* Don't you go

- * Whoa
I ain't too proud to beg *
- * Ooh, sweet darlin'

* I ain't too proud to beg
Lord *

* Don't you go
* Down on my
Down on my knees *

- * Ooh, baby, baby
- * On my knees

* Please don't leave me, girl
Don't you go *
* Ain't too proud to beg *

[ Narrator ]
By the time the Funk Brothers
recorded Jimmy Ruffin's...

"What Becomes of
the Brokenhearted" in 1966,

the Motown sound
had traveled a great distance
from the twist records...

and blues and doo-wop-influenced
tracks of its early days.

Advances in recording technology
and an influx of skilled
arrangers and composers...

had brought about
new levels of sonic clarity
and musical sophistication.

But the most noticeable
difference was power--

raw power.

The added muscle coincided
with the emergence of
keyboardist Earl Van Dyke...

as one of the central figures
down in Studio "A."

He was a natural born leader
whose forceful playing style...

was jokingly called
"gorilla piano."

Van Dyke became the hub
through which Motown's
producers and arrangers...

often communicated
their ideas to the band.

He was like the glue
for everything-- Earl was.

He's-- solid keyboard.
He'd have the piano
rocking actually.

Actually rocking.
That's why we call him Big Funk.

They'd have to have
a piano tuner come in
and redo things...

after Earl got through
playing because he put
so much muscle into it.

When Earl came in, that's
when we developed the style
of two pianos playing--

not together--
but accompanying each other.

But there were so many
good days among
the musicians in the studio.

[ Man ]
You guys had fun.
We had fun. We had fun.

[ Van Dyke ]
And you must--
Like I've said before--

there were kids like Stevie
who we could never get rid of.

Stevie liked to
hang out with the guys,
him being a musician.

We could never really
get rid of Stevie.
Stevie was always there.

Stevie and the Four Tops
and Marvin Gaye--

They were always in there.
Bobby Taylor.

The older guys have
always been our favorites.

* How sweet it is
to be loved by you *

[ Stevie Wonder ]
He was part of
the foundation of Motown.

He was one of the first ones
to teach me piano.

A lot of the people
here today are really, um,

people that were
the musical foundation
of Motown.

Earl was a great man
and, most of all,
a spiritual man.

Stevie came here with Mr. Paul--
Clarence Paul.

They were standing on the steps
as you go into the studio.

When we got through
doing the little ditty,

first thing he walked over to
was the piano where I was.

He says,
"I like the way
you play the piano."

I showed him a few chords.
He said, "What's that?"

I said, "That's an E-flat major,
and I'm throwing
a color tone in there,

which is the flatted fifth,"
and so forth and so on.

He shake his head, "Yeah."

Finally I found out
about a year later
he didn't need me.

[ Laughter ]
He done learned
more than I'd learned.

The same thing with Benny.
Benny taught him
how to hold his wrists...

and how to use those sticks,
and I don't think
he needed Benny.

- [ Man ] He fired everybody
he worked with.
- Yeah.

When I started playing music,
I didn't start on drums.
I was playing trombone.

At the same time I was playing
trombone, I was training
down at Brewster Center.

You know, boxing.
I was determined
to do both of them.

But it was kind of hard,
'cause they was kicking my butt
at Brewster,

and when I'd come to class
to play trombone,
my lip would be swollen.

I'd be trying to play
out the side of my mouth.

My music teacher told me,
"You gotta make up your mind.

You're gonna either box
or you're gonna be a musician."

So I said, "Okay."
That's when I started
playing drums.

So, I didn't have
no full set of drums.

I had a snare drum.
I had a high hat. I don't know
what I was using for a cymbal.

But I know my bass drum
was one of those old
heavy cardboard beer cases.

And right to the day,
I have never
found the sound...

that sound as good
as that beer case did.

We were sneaking around town.
Different studios. United Sound.

[ Man ]
Pack Three.
Pack Three.

You know.
We was doing a little
outside moonlighting.

And you weren't
supposed to?

No, see, 'cause some of these
guys were under contract--
exclusive contracts.

Motown wanted to
keep the sound.

Yeah. Yeah.
I guess they was paying for it.
I guess a few bucks. You know.

So they started
putting spies around
in different places.

Like, in hidden cars
and behind buildings...

and the shrubbery
that was near the studio.

They had spies
like that around, you know.

They offered me
a hundred dollars
a week to be a spy.

[ Man ]
How much?
A hundred.

One hundred dollars.

Extra hundred bucks a week.
Naturally, I took it.
I said, "Well, yeah."

Throw it all in the pot.
It's all the same to me.
[ Men Chuckling ]

I had no intentions
of spying on anybody anyway.

When they'd see us coming out,
there would be at least
a couple of them are gonna say,

"We caught you.
You're fired.
You're fired.

You're fired."

This is real.
And you said to Jack,

"You're fired twice...
[ Laughter ]

because we saw you
coming out of there
yesterday."

Finally they called me in
and said,
"Look, we're paying you.

You haven't told us anything.
Who's doing what where?"

I said, "Well,
there's nothing happening."

They said, "Well, no,
we've got pictures of people
coming out of the studios...

"and, you know--

As a result, you're fired."
[ Laughter ]

I said, "Wait a minute.
How can you fire me?

"From what I've seen--
James Bond and all these guys--

"the usual spy-- you get
a Maserati or you get a--
[ Laughter ]

You gonna give me a hundred
dollars a week--
I can't even buy gas."

They said, "Look,

we're still firing you."

So I lost my job as a spy,

but they let me continue to--
to play piano.
[ Laughter ]

[ Narrator ]
Even during Motown's
golden period,

when Hitsville sessions
were going on around the clock,

the Funk Brothers were still
dashing all over Detroit...

recording for any studio
or record label...

that offered them
another opportunity
to create some magic.

Among the hits recorded outside
of Motown were Jackie Wilson's
"Higher and Higher,"

John Lee Hooker's
"Boom Boom Boom"...

and the Capitols'
hit dance tune,
"Cool Jerk."

* Cool jerk
Well *

* This cat they talkin' about

* I wonder who could it be

* 'Cause I know
I'm the heaviest cat *

* The heaviest cat
you ever did see *

* When they see me
walkin' down the street *

* Hey, hey, hey
* None of the fellas
want to speak *

* Hey, hey, hey
* On their faces
they don't wear a smirk *

* 'Cause they know
I'm the king of the *

* Cool jerk

- * Whoo
- * Cool jerk

- * Come on, people
- * Cool jerk

- That's what I'm talking about.
- * Cool jerk

* Sho 'nuff funky

* Cool jerk
* Yeah, think I'm a--

* Lookin' at me
like I'm some kind of fool *
* Cool jerk

* But deep down inside
y'all know I'm cool *

* Cool jerk
* Yeah, let me say now

* The moment of truth
has finally come *

* I'm the one that's
givin' up the funk *

* Keepin' up the funk

* Drummer
hit me now *

* Hey, Bobby
Come on, baby
Hit me *

* Yeah, Johnny
Johnny *

* Johnny
Show me those hands, baby.
That's what I'm talking about.

Y'all know it's funky.
* Funky

* Ain't it funky now

* Uh-huh
* Ain't if funky

- * Can we do it, can we do it
- * Can we do it, can we do it *

* Can we do it
* Can we do it, can we do it
can we do it, can we do it *

* Come on, people
* Cool jerk

* Well... when they see me
walkin' down the street *

* Hey, hey, hey
* They think twice
before they speak *

* Hey, hey, hey
* On their faces
they don't wear a smirk *

* 'Cause they know I'm the king
of the cool jerk *

- That's what I'm talkin' about.
- * Cool jerk

* Oh, Mama, you move me
* Cool jerk

* Oh, yeah, that's
what I'm talkin' about *

* Cool jerk, cool jerk
* Oh, groove on, baby

* Sho 'nuff funky, y'all

* Can we do it, can we do it
can we do it, can we do it *

- * Can we do it, can we do it
- * Come on, people

* Can we do it, can we do it
can we do it, can we do it *

* Can we do it, can we do it
can we do it, can we do it *

- * Can you cool jerk *
- [ Audience Applauding ]

[ Narrator ]
In the mid-'60s, Motown
was a permanent fixture...

at the top
of the Billboard charts.

As their artists chalked up one
number-one hit after another,

they began to emerge as
some of the brightest stars...

in the galaxy
of R&B and pop music.

But the Funk Brothers
remained earthbound and unknown.

While they were beginning
to share the financial success,

they missed out
on that elusive entity-- glory.

Their last great tour
before they became totally
studio-bound...

opened their eyes
to what fame could mean.

It was the acclaimed
1965 Tamla-Motown revue...

that took England by storm.

[ Ashford ]
What amazed me--

they actually knew
the musicians.

When we got off of the plane
in London,

these little British guys
come up to us with these signs,

and I said,
"Who are these guys?"

They walked up and said,
"We're the James Jamerson
Appreciation Fan Club."

I said, "James Jamerson?
He's not even with us.

Maybe I'll be James Jamerson.
I could use a fan club."
That's right.

[ Narrator ]
While Motown invaded the U.K.,

the British were invading
the U.S., armed with some
American weapons--

Motown tunes.

The Beatles landed in New York
with cover versions...

of "Please, Mr. Postman,"
"Money"...

and "You've Really
Got a Hold on Me"
in their musical arsenal.

John Lennon remarked
that the Motown drummer hit
a snare with so much force...

"it sounded like he hit it
with a bloody tree."

There was no doubt they were
listening to Motown's musicians
and listening hard.

In subsequent years,
other British bands
covered Motown hits,

including the Rolling Stones,
with their renditions of
"Ain't Too Proud to Beg,"

"My Girl"
and "Going to a Go-Go."

The Funk Brothers'
musical influence had spread
to musicians all over the world,

whether they knew it or not.

[ Ashford ]
You know, in the mid-'60s
when we were at Motown,

we were pretty hot
and we would have producers
lined up back to back...

waiting to get into the studio
to work with us.

They didn't even consider
the fact that it was a 12-hour
or 14-hour day sometimes.

"Rig" means when you play
the song so much...

until it begins to get stiff
and everybody's tired,

you'd say,
"Rigor mortis is here now."

'Cause you exhausted
your creativity on it, you know.

Which happens sometimes,
especially when we had
a producer...

that we told him
he was wasting his money, then
he was gonna prove he wasn't.

"Take 64!"
He starts floggin' us.
[ Laughing ]

Wasn't nothin' really
gonna happen then.

[ Ashford ]
So we had to find
someplace to relax...

because it was really
a pressure cooker
in the Snakepit at that time.

This one time, Earl came up
and said that he'd found...

a funeral parlor
that we could go and hide out.

Shit.
So we would just do this
on many occasions...

because, as I said, we were
cutting seven days a week.

The studio finally found out
where we were hanging out,

and damn if Motown didn't
send somebody over there
from management...

to find out
where we were hiding.
What's that smell?

Just a little
embalming fluid.

Earl had had the funeral
director trained what to say...

in the event that someone
would come over there.

- But I really, really
have to go.
- Wait.

I want to show you how to use
my saw and bone crusher.

We would fall down laughing.

[ Ashford ]
You're not gonna believe this. I
was forced to play a tambourine.

[ Ndegeocello ]
In church?
No. With Charles Harrison.

Came to the rehearsal
when they were the big
tambourines.

Looked like a dishpan.
I'd never touched one.
Right.

So I got finished
doing my solo. He said,
"Pick the tambourine up, man."

I said, "Hell, no."
He said, "Pick the tambourine--"

He got angry 'cause I wouldn't
pick the tambourine up.

So I picked the damn
tambourine up.

I didn't know what happened. I
said, "Damn, this feels good."

I started playin',
and the tambourine just
took on a life of its own.

I came from Memphis, Tennessee,
and I started--

first began on the drums
and everything.

I started in a commerce class,
you know, on a Royal typewriter.

You know? I wanted to be
a CPA, an engineer.

So we had to take
typing class, you know.

So I was sitting there
at the desk listening
to drum beats,

so I wind up playin'
drum beats on the typewriter.

So the teacher'd say,
"Hey, what do you want to do?
Play the drums or be a CPA?"

I said, "I want to play drums."
So she kicked me out, and that's
how I got into playing drums.

And I moved to Detroit,
West End, with all the guys,

got into the jazz thing.

Then while at the 20 Grand
with Levi Mann,

Benny used to come in
and play some of the shows;
I met Benny Benjamin.

And Benny said,
"Hey, man, you sound good.
Why don't you come down?

"You can play this stuff.
It's easy.

All you gotta do is play--
[ Muttering Sounds ]
and keep your mouth closed."

Fine. I got in.

"Grapevine--" The beat
on the tom-tom like that--
Mm-hmm.

It came like the old days,
took it from the backbeat.
Yes.

** [ Humming ]

With a backbeat to it.
So Shank, Joe Messina
and three guitars--

Uh-huh.
So Jamerson came in--
** [ Imitating Bass ]

So Shank, Joe and Robert
came an octave ahead of,
you know, Jamerson.

That's where that funk
got to get in. But you got
to have that head action.

Uh-huh.
You like that?

* Ooh, I bet you wonder
how I knew *
Yeah, baby!

She's getting down already.
Turn the tape on.
** [ Continues ]

** [ "I Heard It
Through the Grapevine" ]

[ Audience Cheering ]

* Ohh, I bet you wonder
how I knew *

* About your plans
to make me blue *

* With some other guy
you knew before *

* Between the two of us guys
you know I love you more *

* It took me by surprise
I must say *

* When I found out yesterday
Don't you know that *

* I heard it
through the grapevine *

* Not much longer
would you be mine *

* Hey, I heard it
through the grapevine *

* And I'm just about to lose
my mind, honey, honey *

* Heard it through the grapevine
Not much longer would you
be my baby *

* Well, I know a man
ain't supposed to cry *

* But these tears
I can't hold inside *

* 'Cause losing you
would mean my life, you see *

* 'Cause you mean
that much to me *

* You could've
told me yourself *

* That you love someone else
Don't you know *

* I heard it
through the grapevine *

* Not much longer
would you be mine, hey *

* I heard it
through the grapevine *

* And I'm just about
to lose my mind *

* Honey, honey, yeah
* Heard it through
the grapevine *

* Not much longer
would you be my baby *

* Ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh

* People say believe
half of what you see *

* Son, and none
of what you hear *

* But I can't help
but be confused *

* If it's true
won't you tell me, dear *

* Do you plan to let me go

* For the other guy
you loved before *

* Don't you know I heard it
through the grapevine *

* Not much longer
would you be mine, hey *

* I heard it
through the grapevine *

* And I'm just about to lose
my mind, honey, honey **

We were all quite happy
about the success of... "I Heard
It Through the Grapevine."

At the same time, there was
a mixed emotion type thing
going on with Benny Benjamin.

He had a drug problem,
a bad drug problem.

He was just about
at the bottom.

But at one point,
Benny kind of disappeared
for a couple of weeks.

So Earl, you know,
started trying to find out
what happened to him.

And he, uh--
he found Benny.

And Earl came in just before
the session started and said,

"Guys, I don't think
there's gonna be no session.
See, Benny just died."

And, uh, you know,
that was it.

It turned everybody around.
Yeah, it turned--

So we didn't do
no session that day.
Yeah.

You know, when they would pass
the music out to the musicians,

every group would get
their own little stuff together.

I'd get together with Earl
because I played vibes,

and they'd pass the music
over to the guitar players.

And they would huddle together
like a group of little magpies
workin' on it.

They'd be tryin' their parts
and laughin' up their sleeves.
[ Laughing ]

So Earl would just look at 'em,
and he named 'em Heckle,
Jeckle and Son.

And they'd jump up and say,
"Yeah, we got it. We're ready."

And so, you know-- They'd really
tear it up, too, because they
really did have it together.

All of it was important,
as you know-- the parts.

And we'd just work around
each other, and nothin' ever
ran into each other.

I think the magic was
we'd listen to each other.

And we liked each other,
which was important.

Yeah, right, Joe. Yeah.
We had a friendship.
I think that helped.

I was born in Mississippi.
My little town was Grenada,
Mississippi.

I built my own guitar
out of a broom wire...

and attached it to the house,
and I made the house rock.

I moved to Detroit
in '52. 1952.

My dad had
a guitar in the house.
He liked the instrument.

He used to play Italian
weddings. You know, they
played the Italian music.

[ Willis ]
All that influenced me.
You know, just anybody.

Whoever was playing guitar.
Listening to radio,

and listening to Chet Atkins,
B.B. King or Albert King.

[ Messina ]
I'd practice all day. At times,
I would skip school to practice.

First gig was with this group
with Marv Johnson,

and eventually he did
take me into Motown and I did
a couple of his recordings.

It so happened, everybody
liked what they heard, you know.

I was playing some pretty good
funk, man, you know.

And they kind of went for it,
so I ended up stayin' there.

I end up on the night show
with Soupy Sales.

Uh, I was there
for 14 years.

We had some very good
musicians.

Who used to come there?
We had Charlie Parker,

Miles, Coltrane.

I never listened
to guitar players.
Mainly horn men.

I was more
in the jazz vein.

I liked Charlie Parker,
so I'd get all his records.

[ Messina ]
I was working a club
called the 20 Grand...

with Levi Mann,
and Berry came in.

And, uh, he talked to me.
He asked me if I wanted
to record for him.

I said, "Yes, I will."

Did y'all mention Eddie Bongo?
'Cause he was a Funk Brother.
All through.

Eddie was a good guy. Eddie
kept a whole lot of mess going,

and he was Marvin's
right-hand man.

The thing I remember about him
most was his conga playing.
He could really play.

If there's one guy
that kept things loose,
it was Eddie "Bongo" Brown.

Bongo's got the music sheets
up there. I don't know why they
put that music sheet up there.

He couldn't even read.
Had the sheets sitting up there.
Got the producer tricked.

Bongo's just playing
his ass off. He's playing.
Boom, boom, boom, boom.

I look over there,
and he's got a nudie magazine
sittin' up there...

with legs gaped over him
with moon feet.
[ Laughing ]

Oh, my God! And they
swore that he was readin'.
Readin'.

[ White ]
He invented a couple licks
that I hear a lot now--

I think he borrowed them
from the Caribbean--

where he'd lick his finger
and slide it over the drum
and get a great sound.

[ Making Sliding Sound ]
He got all kinds
of neat little sounds that way.

He'd put 'em in
between his licks,

and people would say,
"What was that? What was that?"

The producer would go crazy.
"What's that? Do that again."

When I started out singing,
I used to sing in this little
blues bar called Dan Lynch,

and they had
this amazing jukebox.

I would go over there
pretty much every night
after I played,

and I would play that song,
"What Becomes
of the Brokenhearted."

I feel as though
"Brokenhearted" is a song
that could really live again.

This'll be the audition
today, and see if we can--

No, it won't be an audition.
You've already passed the test.
For me.

It's a good opportunity
to see if you really like it
after we finish playing it--

[ Laughing ]
to see if we still have it.

[ Audience Cheering ]

* As I walk this land
of broken dreams *

* I have visions
of many things *

* That happiness
is just an illusion *

* Filled with sadness
and confusion *

* What becomes
of the brokenhearted *

* Who had love
that's now departed *

* I know I've got to find
some kind of peace of mind *

* Baby

* The roots of love
grow all around *

* But for me
they come tumbling down *

* Every day heartaches
grow a little stronger *

* I can't stand
this pain much longer *

* I walk in shadows
searching for light *

* Cold and alone
No comfort in sight *

* Hoping and praying
for someone who cares *

* Always moving
and going nowhere *

* What becomes
of the brokenhearted *

* Who had love
that's now departed *

* I know I've got to find
some kind of peace of mind *

* Help me, please

* I'm searching
though I don't succeed *

* But someone look
There's a growing need *

* All is lost, there's
no place for beginning *

* All that's left
is an unhappy ending *

* What becomes
of the brokenhearted *

* Who had love
that's now departed *

* What becomes
of the brokenhearted *

* Who had love
that's now departed *

* What becomes
of the brokenhearted *

- * Tell me, mmm-mmm
- * Tell me what

* What becomes
of the brokenhearted *

- * Tell me, tell me, ohhh
- * Tell me

* What becomes
of the brokenhearted *

- * Tell me, tell me, tell me
- * Tell me what

* What becomes
of the brokenhearted *
* The brokenhearted

* Who had love
that's now departed *
* That's now departed

* I know I've got to find
some kind of peace of mind *

* I'll be searching everywhere
just to find someone
who cares *

* What becomes
of the brokenhearted *

* Who had love
that's now departed *

* What becomes
of the brokenhearted *

* Who had love
that's now departed *

* Ohhh, ohhh *

[ Applause, Cheering ]

** [ "My Girl" ]

You know, that's probably
one of the more recognizable...

guitar licks
of the early Motown days,

and when I originally
played it 27 years ago,

I didn't think much about it--
only that it worked.

In the small confines
of Studio "A,"

myself and the rest of
the musicians didn't realize...

what an impact we'd have
on the rest of the world.

He was very quiet, and
he had a mystique about him.

But you couldn't find
a better, steadier guitarist.

And the chords were jazz,
but he made it fit in R&B.

They called us
the Oreo Cookie Guitar Section,

because...
Robert White sat to my right
and Eddie Willis sat to my left.

And the white boy.
[ Laughing ]
Joseph.

[ Man ]
Shortly after Earl Van Dyke
died in 1992,

I was going out
to visit Robert in Los Angeles.

We went out to eat,
and wouldn't you know it,

as we're about to order
and the waiter's comin' over,

all of a sudden you hear the
guitar line from "My Girl"...

come over the speaker
in the restaurant.

And Robert got real excited,
real animated, and he said--

as the waiter walked over,
he said, "Hey, man, you hear
that? That's-- That's--"

And he stopped dead.

Then he kind of looked
embarrassed and looked down
at the menu, and he says,

"I think I'll have
the barbecued chicken."

Then I just ordered my thing,
and the guy walked away,

and I said, "Robert,
you were gonna tell him
that was you, weren't you?"

He said-- He kind of looked
embarrassed, and he said,

"Yeah, yeah, but-- I don't know.
He'd look at me and say
look at this tired old fool.

He'd never believe it."
And that floored me.

Because here's a guy
who played a guitar line
that's the equivalent--

It's like one of the top five
all-time guitar hooks.

It's right up there with
"Satisfaction" by the Stones...

and "Paperback Writer" or
"Come As You Are" from Nirvana.

At that point I realized, here's
a guy who's lived for 30 years,
this close to his dream,

and yet instead of being
inside the dream looking out,

he was on the outside
of the dream looking in,
never able to touch that dream.

I knew at that point
Robert desperately needed some
recognition in his lifetime.

But he didn't make it
across the finish line
with the rest of the guys.

* When it's cold outside...

[ Narrator ]
The summer of love
introduced the world...

to the soaring guitar
and pulsating wah-wah
of Jimi Hendrix.

The following year, Sly Stone's
relentless Oakland funk
swept over an enraptured public.

Mesmerized by these new trends,
Motown producer Norman Whitfield
enlisted the Funk Brothers,

along with innovative
newcomers Wah Wah Watson
and Dennis Coffey,

to help fuse these new elements
into the Motown sound.

Psychedelic soul had arrived
down in the Snakepit.

[ Coffey ]
In San Francisco
with Jimi Hendrix,

they had
a lot of the fuzz tones...

and they had the wah-wah pedal
and things like that--

the special effects
on some of the guitars.

And what happened was, in one
of those earlier sessions...

where we were rehearsing
and working with producers,

Norman Whitfield came in
and he brought in this song,
"Cloud Nine."

And I had a wah-wah pedal
with me, and I took it out
and started playing it.

And within a few days, I got
the call to do the session.

[ Audience Cheering ]

* The childhood part of my life
wasn't very pretty *

* I was born on the streets
of the city *

* It was a one-room shack
with ten other children
beside me *

* We hardly had enough food
or room to sleep *

- * It was... so hard
- * It was hard times

* I needed something
to ease my mind *

* My father didn't know
the meaning of work *

* He disrespected Mother
and treated us like dirt *

* I left home seeking a job
I never did find *

* Depressed and downhearted
I took to crime *

* Now I'm doing fine

* On cloud nine

* One more time
* I'm doing fine

* On cloud nine

* What's that you tell me

* Say, give yourself a chance
Don't let life pass you by *

* 'Cause the world around
is a rat race where only
the strong survive *

* It's a dog-eat-dog world
Ain't no lie *
* Ain't no lie

* It ain't even safe no more
to walk the streets at night *

* I'm doing fine

* On cloud nine

* On cloud nine
* You sure can be
what you wanna be *

* Cloud nine
* You ain't got
no responsibility *

- * Cloud nine
- * Every man and his
mind is free *

- * Cloud nine
- * You're a million miles
from reality *

- * Reality
- * I wanna stay up, up

* Higher
* Up, up
* Up

* Up and away

* Cloud nine

* I wanna say I love
the life I live *

* And I'm gonna live
the life I love *

* Here on cloud nine

* Oooooh

- * Cloud nine
- * Wish I could be
what I need to be *

- * Cloud nine
- * You ain't got
no responsibility *

* Cloud nine
* Every man and his
mind is free *

- * On cloud nine
- * You're a million miles
from reality *

* Reality
* I wanna stay up, up

* Higher
* Up, up, up

* Up and away

* On cloud nine *

I haven't heard anybody
play "What's Going On" like
the record, ever. Nobody.

The only person I ever heard
do it was Babbitt last week.
I never heard Babbitt.

Oh, Babbitt did it last week?

When I heard Babbitt--
I'm sorry-- the other night,
it just blew me away, man.

Dang, I felt like
I was back, you know,
35, 40 years ago as a kid.

I'm sorry. What'd you say?
Ralphe, you remember?

As a bass player in Detroit,
I know I came a little later--

You were late.
It was '74, '72.

But if you could not play
that solo from that record
that Bob Babbitt did--

You remember?
"Scorpio"?
Oh, yeah.

You weren't a bass player.
You couldn't get a gig!
That's right.

You couldn't play, man.
He's tellin' the truth.

You couldn't get a gig.
"Scorpio."
[ Making Bass Sounds ]

You couldn't get a gig
if you couldn't play that.
You wasn't doin' nothin'.

See, what was so beautiful
about it-- People loved Babbitt.
It wasn't about no color.

They just loved
his musicianship.
That's all it was.

All the cats in the hood.
"Man, that's Babbitt."

[ Babbitt ]
When I went to--

seventh grade, I guess it was,
I was in the choir,

and the same choir teacher
was also the orchestra teacher.

She said to me, "I know
somebody that's gonna play bass
in the orchestra next year."

And I-- Boom, it's me she's
looking at and pointing at.

So I started playing
upright bass.

I'm supposed to be studying
classical, which I am as long as
my mother and dad are up.

Soon as they go to bed,
they had some stations
on the radio in Pittsburgh...

where they had what they call
"race music," where you could
hear the black music.

And I'd take my bass
and go into the kitchen,

turn the radio on
while everybody's sleeping, and
I'd be playing with the radio.

Around 1967, I had been working
live with Stevie Wonder, and...

Stevie brought me in to do
my first session at Motown.

You gotta remember, James--

he set the bass style
for the Motown sound.

Man, nobody can play this.

What?
Nobody could play this
laying on their back.

You could if you
were James Jamerson.

[ Ashford ]
This is the story. This is hard
to believe, but it's true.

[ Watts ]
You gotta tell me this one.

Let me tell you. Marvin
was puttin' this together
with "What's Goin' On."

And he was experimenting
with a lot of things.

* We've got to find...
But what happened--
He decided he needed Jamerson.

** [ Continues ]

So Jamerson was workin'
a local club, and Marvin
found out where he was workin'.

He went over there to get him.
Jamerson was blasted.

So he said, "Well, I gotta
get him back, because I got
this. I gotta get it off."

Brought him back over here
to the studio.

Jamerson really
didn't want to do this,

but because of Marvin,
he said, "Okay, I'll try it."

So Jamerson couldn't sit up on--
You know, he had a high stool
he used to sit on.

He was afraid
he was gonna fall.
Like a string bass player.

He laid right out
where you were laying
and started playing this.

No one believed it.

He did a job that no one
could do standing up.

He did it laying down.
That was James Jamerson.
Mm-hmm. Yeah, the master.

- * Oooh
- Pressure meant nothing to you?

You felt no pressure?
It was like I'd go in,
I'd-I'd have to go play-- bang.

Sure there was pressure.
I mean, uh, you're sitting
in Jamerson's seat.

Right.
And... you know
what I'm sayin'?

And-And as far as that--
there was--

To do what he did was--
you know, you couldn't--
It was almost impossible.

I'm sure you
just were yourself.
I tried to do the best I could.

Another strange question.

Watching a documentary that
was talking about some
of the Atlantic recordings...

with Aretha Franklin--
early recordings.

And she had, like, basically,
a totally white band
from Nashville.

They were from Memphis
and Muscle Shoals.
Right. Okay.

And then Martin Luther King
was assassinated.

Uh, James Brown started
to change his vibe with
"I'm Black and I'm Proud."

The whole thing changed,
and a lot of people felt,

well, we didn't want to use
the white musicians.

Did you feel any sort of--

Coming into this environment,
did you feel any sort of
racial difference?

There was--
There was such a--

a closeness.

I mean, I can't--

And when Martin Luther King
died--

[ Musicians Chattering ]
They never
expressed to me...

any kind of hostility
or anything,

and I was--
I felt as sad as they did.

And, uh, uh--

But I never felt anything
from any of those guys.

I always felt like--
I don't know, like--

I was, like,
one of them, you know?
Yeah.

And-And, uh--

[ Sighs ]
I'm sorry.
No, that's okay.

[ Narrator ]
On the evening of July 23, 1967,

the Detroit police busted up
an after-hours blind pig
speakeasy...

at the corner
of 12th and Claremount,
and all hell broke loose.

The Funk Brothers
came out of a recording session
to a city in flames.

[ Ashford ]
Yeah, the sky was red.
Everything was burnin' down.

You'd protect your family.
That's just the way it was.

And I would've gone down
for them, even if it was at
the hands of a black brother...

'cause he's invading
my territory.

That's just the way I felt.
I didn't think about color.
These are my brothers here.

So no one had to rally us.
It was just, we have to get
from here to the car,

and that was the only thing
we were interested about.

It was our mission
to get our people home safe.

But I also feel
at the same time...

that had the role
been reversed...

and we had been
in an area where it was more
predominantly a white area,

and something broke out
that I would've took
a bullet for Jack.

I believe it.
I believe it.
I would've done the same.

[ Narrator ]
The end of the 1960s found
America watching in horror...

as a daily stream
of televised death came back
from the war in Vietnam.

Back on the home front,
the cultural and social
revolution...

being waged in the streets
was further polarizing
the masses.

Motown played a preeminent role
in the cultural sound track
that framed all these events,

and nowhere more so
than in Vietnam...

where terrified and
disillusioned G.I.'s...

found comfort in the grooves
played by the Funk Brothers...

and in the words and melodies
sung by Motown's stars.

But there was no comforting
refrain down in the Snakepit.

Still reeling from the death
of Benny Benjamin...

and concerned
that James Jamerson's
personal demons...

were leading him
down the same path,

the Funk Brothers
needed a rallying cry
to pull themselves together.

In 1970 they found it
in "What's Going On,"

Marvin Gaye's anguished plea
for sanity in a world gone mad.

Helping Marvin
realize his vision,

the Funk Brothers elevated
the level of their artistry...

from the dance floor
to the world stage.

* Mother, mother

* There's too many
of you crying *

* Brother, brother, brother

* There's far too many
of you dying *

* You know we've
got to find a way *

* To bring some lovin'

* Here today

* Father, father

* We don't need
to escalate, no *

* You see, war
is not the answer *

* Only love
can conquer hate *

* We've got to find
a way, yeah *

* To bring back
understanding here today *

* Picket lines
* Sister

- * Picket lines
- * Sister

- * Don't punish me
- * Sister

* With brutality
* Sister

* Talk to me
* Sister

* So you can see
* Sister

* What's going on
* What's going on

* What's going on
* What's going on

* What's going on
* What's going on

* What's going on
* What's going on

** [ Scatting ]

** [ Scatting Continues ]

* Mother, mother

* Everybody thinks we're wrong
Yes they do *

* Ah, but who are they
to judge us *

* Simply 'cause
our hair is long *

* Don't you know
we've got to find a way *

* Bring a little
understanding here today *

* Oh, picket lines
* Brother

- * Picket lines
- * Brother

* Don't punish me
* Brother

- * With brutality
- * Brother

* Come on, talk to me
* Brother

* So you can see
* Brother

* What's going on
* What's going on

* Going on
* What's going on

* What's going on
* What's going on

* Going on
* What's going on

** [ Scatting ]

* Just wanna know
what's going on *

* What's going on

** [ Vocalizing ]

* I wanna know
what's going on *

* Yeah, yeah, yeah
yeah, yeah **

[ Ashford ]
When Marvin Gaye first recorded
"What's Going On,"

to us, it was
a very important record.

Musically, we felt that
it was some of our best work.

It was the first record that
Motown ever given the musicians
some credit on an album.

And little did we know,
you know, we were--

we were biding our own time.

But we kept recording
for about another year...

and that-- many more hits
to come, you know.

So one day...

we went to the studio
and we were supposed to record.

There was a big sign
on the door saying, uh,

"There won't be any work
here today. Motown are moving
to Los Angeles."

Wow, what a break.

I suppose they were just
looking for a new sound,

I suppose, you know?

So we just kept doing
what we usually do-- what we
were doing before Motown--

and that was playing
in the clubs around the city--

playing our blues,
playing our jazz.

That's just about
the way it ended.

When Motown left Detroit,
there was no warning,

no announcement and no way
of preparing for it.

And that's the move
they had to make.

A major company
doesn't have to explain to every
individual that they're moving.

But it kind of left
all of us kind of like,
"What are we gonna do?"

The funny thing was we always
had that idea about how
it would never end.

You know, we felt like
it would go on and on and on,

but as you can see,
it ended.

[ Narrator ]
Hoping to hold on
to their dreams,

some of the Funk Brothers
followed Motown to Los Angeles.

But the west coast music scene
was too foreign to them,

and without the emotional
support the Funk Brothers'
family...

had always provided
for each other, they were lost.

He missed his friends,
the Funk Brothers.

Just the atmosphere.
It's totally different
in California than Detroit.

He wasn't getting--
receiving the phone calls
like before,

working in a studio--
yeah, to work in a studio.

And... there was
a battle there, you know,

of emotions and probably
feeling less than a man...

or less than a dad
to provide for us...

from what he used to do before.

I've seen a lot of hurt and pain
and the illness...

and the struggles
with the alcohol.

It wasn't going right for him.
He wanted to do everything.

He's used to doing
everything for everyone.

And then it was his time
where he needed help,

and a lot of times
no one was there.

Or he didn't wanna listen,
'cause he could be
hardheaded too, so--

[ Narrator ]
In 1983, James Jamerson
scalped a ticket...

for the nationally televised
show Motown 25...

and slipped into a balcony seat.

Two months later,
he slipped away... forever.

* A new day is dawning
sunny and bright *

* But after I've been
crying all night *

* The sun is cold
and the new day seems old *

* Since I lost my baby

[ Announcer ]
Ladies and gentlemen,
it's time to give it up!

Give up the love...

for Detroit's
unsung musical heroes!

The drum section--

Uriel Jones and Pistol Allen...

and the late Benny Benjamin.

On the vibes and percussion,

the fabulous tambourine man,
Jack Ashford...

and the late Bongo Eddie!

Guitar section--

the one, none other,
the brother, Eddie Willis,

Joe Messina...

and the late Robert White.

On the keyboards, Joe Hunter,
Johnny Griffith...

and the late, great
Earl Van Dyke.

And on bass, Bob Babbitt...

and the greatest
bass player of all time,

James Jamerson!

[ Applause ]
Here they are.

Ladies and gentlemen,
the greatest hit machine...

in music history...

the... Funk Brothers!

[ Cheering ]

* Listen, baby

* Ain't no mountain high

* Ain't no valley low

* Ain't no river
wide enough, baby *

* If you need me, call me
No matter where you are *

* No matter how far

* Don't worry, baby

* Just call my name
I'll be there in a hurry *

* You don't have to worry
'Cause, baby, there *

* Ain't no mountain
high enough *

* Ain't no valley
low enough *

* Ain't no river wide enough

* To keep me from gettin'
to you, babe *

* Remember the day
you set me free *

* I told you you can always
count on me, girl *

* From that day on
I made a vow *

* I'd be there when you want me
some way, somehow *

* You know that there ain't
no mountain high enough *

* Ain't no valley low enough

* Ain't no river
wide enough *

* To keep me from gettin'
to you, babe *

* Oh, no, baby

- * No way
- * No way

- * No way
- * Yeah

* No winter storm
* No

* Could stop me, baby

* No, no, baby
* 'Cause you are my own

* With every trouble
I'll be there on the double *

[ Ndegeocello ]
I think it's very important
for people of my generation...

to not only know history
but to also experience it
and allow it to change them.

I have so much respect
and so much to learn from these
people that came before me.

The people are great people,
not just great musicians.

I think that's
what I'll carry with me--

just being able to converse
and talk to people...

who have done so much
to influence...

what I do
and what I want to be.

The people bring
the place alive, and I think
that's very important.

Hitsville wasn't this building.
It was the people that
were in the building.

And I think
that's been made very clear.

* Ain't no river
wide enough *

* Ain't no mountain
high enough *

* Ain't no valley
low enough *

* Ain't no river

* Ain't no mountain
high enough *

* Ain't no valley
low enough *

- * Ain't no river wide enough
- * Ain't no mountain

* Ain't no mountain
high enough *
* To get to you

* Ain't no valley
low enough *

* Ain't no river
wide enough *

* Ain't no mountain
high enough *
* Ain't no mountain

* Ain't no valley
low enough *
* To keep me from you

* Ain't no river
wide enough *

* Ain't no mountain
high enough *
* Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

* Ain't no valley
low enough *
* To keep me from you

* Ain't no river
wide enough *

* Ain't no mountain
high enough *
* Oh, baby

* Ain't no valley
low enough *
* To keep me from you

* Ain't no river
wide enough *
* Come on, come on, come on

* Ain't no mountain
high enough *
* Ain't no mountain

* Ain't no valley
low enough *

* Ain't no river
wide enough **

* Callin' out around the world

* Are you ready
for a brand-new beat *

* Summer's here
and the time is right *

* For dancin' in the streets

* They're dancin' in Chicago
* Dancin' in the street

* Down in New Orleans
* Dancin' in the street

* In New York City
* Dancin' in the street

* All we need is music

* Sweet music
* Sweet music

* There'll be music everywhere
* Music everywhere

* There'll be swingin', swayin'
and records playin' *

* And dancin' in the streets

* Oh, it doesn't matter
what you wear *

* Just as long
as you are there *

* So come on
Every guy grab a girl *

* Everywhere around the world

* There'll be dancin'
* Dancin' in the street

* They're dancin'
in the street *

* Dancin' in the street

* This is an invitation
across the nation *

* A chance for folks to meet

* There'll be laughin', singin'
and music swingin' *

* Dancin' in the streets

* Philadelphia, P.A.
* Dancin' in the street

* Baltimore and D.C. now
* Dancin' in the street

* Can't forget the motor city
* Dancin' in the street

* All we need is music

* Sweet music
* Sweet music

* There'll be music everywhere

* There'll be swingin', swayin'
and records playin' *

* And dancin'
in the street, oh *

* It doesn't matter
what you wear *

* Just as long
as you are there *

* So come on
Every guy grab a girl *

* Everywhere around the world

* They're dancin'

* They're dancin'
in the streets *
* Dancin' in the street

* Way down in L.A.

* Every day, they're
dancin' in the street *
* Dancin' in the street

** [ Continues, Indistinct ]

[ Man On Radio ]
We're at the Chit Chat Lounge,
and what a crowd we have here.

We took our microphones out
to the new Chit Chat Lounge...

located at 8235 12th Street
at Virginia Park...

where we present again
Operation Jazz.

[ Applause ]

This is Jack Sherell
at the Chit Chat Lounge now,

and what a crowd we have here.

We'll be presenting
the James Jamerson Quartet,

plus our little jam session
and guest stars--

guest artists
who will be popping in.

So come on by. We still
have a few more chairs--

a few more seats,
I should say.

And join in on the fun.

Now the James Jamerson Quartet
gets things under way nicely.

** [ Jazz Instrumental ]

[ Applause ]

[ Applause ]

[ Chattering ]