20 Feet From Stardom

For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend checking out “20 Feet From Stardom”--the film that won Best Documentary Feature last year at the Oscars. I saw it last night and it truly blew me away. It features the stories of the background singers that sang (and, in some cases, still sing) for some of the biggest acts in music history including Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Sting, and Bruce Springsteen--just to name a few.

These amazing and talented women truly are superstars in their own right and “20 Feet From Stardom” shows the ups and downs of what it’s like to have an incredible voice and be a part of the (blood-sucking) music industry. Because while everything pops and jumps for an audience, there’s a very dark underbelly that these women have all seen and experienced.

That being said, there’s also plenty of joyous and jaw-dropping moments as well. Like Merry Clayton recounting the impromptu call she got in the middle of the night to record backup vocals for The Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter.” (This is actually one of my favorite clips in the film. Hearing her stand-alone voice track....whew!...that’ll do things to a person). Or Sting putting the spotlight on background singer Lisa Fischer in concert and watching her just go to town(!) while the band vamped.

Though all the women are truly astounding in the film, Lisa Fischer might have been my favorite singer featured in the film. Because when they show clips of her singing...holy hell, it is breathtaking. What I think I enjoyed most about her was that she tried to do the whole solo artist thing in the early nineties, won a Grammy in ‘92, but then decided that being a big star wasn’t really her thing. I’m sure some would be quick to comeback with a punch and say that’s her excuse for not ‘making it’ but I think that’s a silly debate. The interviews were quite candid and, from the looks of it, Fischer has had quite the time being the main backup singer for The Rolling Stones since 1989. I don’t know, in the age of selfies and Kim Kardashian, the idea of people dismissing fame and superstardom just appeals to me, ya know?

Anyway, the film is great and you can rent it for $1.20 at Redbox. What a steal! (No, Redbox has in no way endorsed this post). Check it out, you won’t regret it.

Oh, and here’s the trailer just to get a taste.

And, if you're interested, here's an article from music industry critic, Bob Lefsetz, on why this movie is so captivating.