20 Feet from Stardom

Yesterday I saw the movie 20 Feet from Stardom. I don't follow pop music, and loathe the white countercultural music from my generation which I associate with drugs and pretentiousness (and the message to "turn on, tune in, and drop out" that for me was so deadly and had lifelong consequences).  But I always loved Motown its immediate predecessors, like early Tina Turner.  And listening to that music during the peak of the civil rights movement, when girls like that in my school glee club were the chosen few, it brings up a lot of feelings of sadness and old envy.  Also, watching this movie I could really see and hear the throughline from African American (and by extension other) church choir music to this type of pop music.  I may not have heard it before because I did not sing in choirs as a young person, other than the Unitarian church choir which did not sing that type of music.  Which explains why these singers (they were mostly women) looked wholesome and healthy even today in their 70s.

And for the first time, I will humbly say, I was able to really hear and appreciate the artistry these singers were capable of. Lisa Fischer, for example, has a dynamic and vocal range to rival any opera singer's, including the most glorious spun pianissimi.

Much of the movie dealt with themes I have been grappling with: being a backup singer when you are in your soul a soloist; the soloist temperament (which I have to the tenth power); having a "fire in  your belly" that you can't ignore - it will come back to bite you decades later if you do; and, most inspiring, being able to be at the top of your game in your 60s and 70s.

A must see.

Now I am off to run through the Carmen/Don Jose duet and work with one of the people I am considering for a narrator.