I Finally Know a Movie Producer!



My friend Paul Elliott is co-producer of Standing in the Shadows of Motown, a documentary opening in November about the studio musicians that made the "Motown Sound." You can find details about the release here.



I wouldn't say that I am a big crazed fan of Motown, but I do own a Diana Ross album or two, and it's hard for me to listen to Motown songs like "Bernadette," "My Girl," "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" without a sense of what we have lost as a culture in the degradation that is much of modern popular music. These were beautiful songs of love filled with innocence from an era when blacks were trying hard to be accepted into white society--and racism permeated white America.



At the same time, Motown was producing the songs of great social significance. "Poppa Was a Rolling Stone" addresses the most serious social pathology of the ghetto, because it underlies many of the others: the father who failed in his responsibilities to marital fidelity and to work.



Documentaries are not normally a path to wealth and fortune, but the music alone might be enough to drag in an audience. If you are a Motown fan, give my friend Paul a break, and go see his movie! This is an order!