Directed by: Morgan Neville.
Featuring: Lou Adler,Stephanie 'Stevvi' Alexander, Patti Austin, Chris Botti, David Bowie, Ray Charles, Merry Clayton, Sheryl Crow, Lisa Fischer, Judith Hill, Mick Jagger, Mabel John, Gloria Jones, Jo Lawry, Claudia Lennear, Darlene Love, Lynn Mabry, Bill Maxwell, Bette Midler, Nia Peeples, Janice Pendarvis, Phil Spector, Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Luther Vandross, Táta Vega, Stevie Wonder.
Because
I am a fan of the Rolling Stones and Martin Scorsese, I have heard one of their
greatest songs – Gimme Shelter – approximately a million times. If you know the
song, you know that it doesn’t just feature Jagger on vocals, but has a
memorable refrain that has a dynamic female voice singing at full tilt. It’s
one of my favorite vocal performances of all time, and until 20 Feet to
Stardom, I never knew who sang it. Now I know – it was Merry Clayton – who had
a long career as a backup singer, but was never able to break through as a solo
artist. 20 Feet to Stardom is about Clayton – and many others like her – who
have all the talent – in some cases much more talent – than the music stars we
all know and love, but for whatever reason never had much success as a solo
artist. Documentaries exist for stories like this.
The
movie begins its narrative in the 1960s. In the early days of the decade,
backup singers where pretty, blonde and boring – they faded into the
background, because that is what they were expected to do. But through the
decade, backup singers changed – and that’s mainly because people started
letting African American singers background. These women could sing with the
best of them, and if you had a producer – like Phil Spector – who knew how to
use them, they could elevate any song they worked on. Spector had Darlene Love
under contract – and she sang backup on many songs, and even recorded songs
that were released under other band’s names. Spector kept promising her a
career of her own – but never delivered – and because she was under contract,
there was little she could do about it. When her contract finally ended, she
signed somewhere else – hopeful to finally get her career off the ground – only
to have her new label “sell her” back to Spector. It may have taken decades,
but at least Love finally got some recognition – she’s in the Rock n’ Roll Hall
of Fame. Most of the other backup singers will never get that sort of
recognition.
Watching
20 Feet from Stardom is fascinating in a
number of ways. First of all, who ever really thinks about the backup singers?
We see them in every concert, standing in the background, dancing and adding in
some vocals, but no one really pays much attention to them. But this is why a
documentary about them works so well – they have seen a lot in the music
industry, worked on some of the greatest songs of all time, and have many
stories to tell. And secondly, it makes you hear songs that you have known for
years in an entirely different light – whether it’s Gimme Shelter or Bowie’s
Young Americans or Lou Reed’s Walk on the Wild Side to Sweet Home Alabama and
everything in between. It’s amazing home much of those songs greatest moments
come not from the frontman, but the backup singers.
And
it’s also fascinating to see what makes the difference between becoming a star
and not. It’s rarely talent – after seeing this movie, you’ll have to say that
rarely have you ever heard a better singer than Lisa Fischer – but despite a
Grammy for her solo album, she never became a celebrity in her own right – and
still sings backup (and loves it). Racism certainly played a role in some of
the people in this movie not making it. Or sometimes, they don’t have the right
“look”. Or while they are talented singers, they are dependant on others for
songwriting and promotion. Sometimes it’s a lack of ego or ambition – a
willingness to grab hold of it and not let go. And often it’s just plain old
dumb luck.
20
Feet from Stardom is a wonderful documentary – that is angry and sad yet
invigorating and inspirational. It shines a light on a little considered corner
in the world of music. This is the type of story that documentaries are made
for.
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