For all the problems that come with the annual awards season frenzy, the great thing about it is that people who aren’t always in the foreground, but who are essential to a production can be appreciated, from sound design to visual effects. It’s fitting then that Twenty Feet From Stardom – a film which puts the spotlight on the backing singers behind some of the greatest musical legends of our time – was deservedly triumphant at the Oscars earlier this month. Directed by Morgan Neville (whose previous documentary subjects include Muddy Waters and Johnny Cash), it has a legitimate case for being the feel-good movie of the year so far.
Neville has assembled a host of ebullient and candid singers to help him chart the rise of backup artists. All hailing from church backgrounds, the focus of the pic is on a handful of female, African-Americans; Darlene Love, Táta Vega,...
Neville has assembled a host of ebullient and candid singers to help him chart the rise of backup artists. All hailing from church backgrounds, the focus of the pic is on a handful of female, African-Americans; Darlene Love, Táta Vega,...
- 3/28/2014
- by Amon Warmann
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Why is Morgan Neville's Oscar-winning film the first to put those under-appreciated heroes of the music business centre-stage?
Such a great idea for a documentary, and such a surprise to realise that it has never been done before. Morgan Neville's Oscar-winning film is about the backing singers who have lent their musical talents to many a star name's pop record. Sometimes they have been acknowledged and appreciated, and sometimes not. Sometimes they have been content with a supporting role, and sometimes not.
But once you accept the backing-singer role, it is very difficult to break out. Neville talks to the big players like Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder, and he savours their connoisseurship of the great backing singers, and he speaks to the singers themselves, figures like Darlene Love, Táta Vega, Judith Hill and Lisa Fischer.
Continue reading...
Such a great idea for a documentary, and such a surprise to realise that it has never been done before. Morgan Neville's Oscar-winning film is about the backing singers who have lent their musical talents to many a star name's pop record. Sometimes they have been acknowledged and appreciated, and sometimes not. Sometimes they have been content with a supporting role, and sometimes not.
But once you accept the backing-singer role, it is very difficult to break out. Neville talks to the big players like Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder, and he savours their connoisseurship of the great backing singers, and he speaks to the singers themselves, figures like Darlene Love, Táta Vega, Judith Hill and Lisa Fischer.
Continue reading...
- 3/27/2014
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
It’s not surprising that one of the best musically inclined docs of 2013 was pieced together by director Morgan Neville, a filmmaker who over the years has cinematically profiled the likes of Muddy Waters, Hank Williams, Brian Wilson, Ray Charles and so many others. Neville’s latest shows his vast knowledge of rock and roll mythology while highlighting his apt for storytelling economy, digging deep and moving nimbly between subjects yet rarely just glancing an anecdote. This time he’s chosen to unearth those overlooked by history, those whose voices enriched so many classic recordings with layers of youthful soul, yet went unheralded as solo artists, those who will be remembered for living just 20 Feet From Stardom. With expeditious style and an ear for the best mix of relevant tunes, Neville nods to the all important back up singers.
You may not know them by name, but you certainly know their voices.
You may not know them by name, but you certainly know their voices.
- 2/11/2014
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Chicago – One the great points in “20 Feet from Stardom” is that often in our favorite hit songs, we sing along to the background singers rather than the lead vocal (“Sweet home Alabama, Where the skies are so blue…”). These classic songsters come front and center in “20 Feet from Stardom.”
Rating: 4.0/5.0
The title is an irony, of course, in the so-close-but-yet-so-far nature of hit record fame. By spotlighting the background singers of those familiar songs, it also highlights the struggles when the backgrounders weren’t needed anymore, and their sometimes harsh attempts at trying to come out front and have their own identity. This is a life lesson, as we see the titans of rock – Bruce Springsteen and Mick Jagger – extolling the virtues of their backup help, but also being kind of forlorn about the frustrations of those colleagues not making it to the big time. The documentary is both a...
Rating: 4.0/5.0
The title is an irony, of course, in the so-close-but-yet-so-far nature of hit record fame. By spotlighting the background singers of those familiar songs, it also highlights the struggles when the backgrounders weren’t needed anymore, and their sometimes harsh attempts at trying to come out front and have their own identity. This is a life lesson, as we see the titans of rock – Bruce Springsteen and Mick Jagger – extolling the virtues of their backup help, but also being kind of forlorn about the frustrations of those colleagues not making it to the big time. The documentary is both a...
- 7/11/2013
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
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