I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s. I have been a musician and singer most of my life and have always been in awe of the great ones. I used to see the occasional group on TV, with the back-up singers, and while I wondered about them, I gave it little thought.
This is a great documentary for anyone who loves music, and especially the recorded music industry. It has input from many of the giants of the industry, like Springsteen, Sting, the Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, and others. But the feature here are the almost greats, the back-up singers, most of them black women, who have the singing talent to be big stars but just never get there.
Sting perhaps says it best saying that there is a certain combination of talent and timing, and who you know, and who guides you, and when you might get that break you need. And it is hard to understand sometimes, looking back, why some with great talent never make it as a solo artist.
That distance, 20 feet from the back-up singer position to the front of the stage, is a big one, some can't make the transition, some don't want to, preferring the comfort of group singing to the limelight of stardom.
One thing struck me, though, when one of the ladies, now perhaps in her 60s, says in effect, she has a talent and the world needs to hear her. Well the fact is the world does NOT need to hear most singers. Look at the clamor nowadays in such shows as "America's Got Talent", "American Idol", "The Voice", and others. All looking to find a star or two. All the singers wanting to be rich and famous. The world is filled with really fine singers, there are way too many singers for what the public "needs." So I suppose in the end it is fitting that most of them will never be big stars. Try your best, take your best shot, most of the time you will get little or nothing in return for it.
Just look at the girls in this film, some of the very best ever to sing, and so few real stars.
This is a great documentary for anyone who loves music, and especially the recorded music industry. It has input from many of the giants of the industry, like Springsteen, Sting, the Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, and others. But the feature here are the almost greats, the back-up singers, most of them black women, who have the singing talent to be big stars but just never get there.
Sting perhaps says it best saying that there is a certain combination of talent and timing, and who you know, and who guides you, and when you might get that break you need. And it is hard to understand sometimes, looking back, why some with great talent never make it as a solo artist.
That distance, 20 feet from the back-up singer position to the front of the stage, is a big one, some can't make the transition, some don't want to, preferring the comfort of group singing to the limelight of stardom.
One thing struck me, though, when one of the ladies, now perhaps in her 60s, says in effect, she has a talent and the world needs to hear her. Well the fact is the world does NOT need to hear most singers. Look at the clamor nowadays in such shows as "America's Got Talent", "American Idol", "The Voice", and others. All looking to find a star or two. All the singers wanting to be rich and famous. The world is filled with really fine singers, there are way too many singers for what the public "needs." So I suppose in the end it is fitting that most of them will never be big stars. Try your best, take your best shot, most of the time you will get little or nothing in return for it.
Just look at the girls in this film, some of the very best ever to sing, and so few real stars.