Last night we attended the Taurus World Stunt Awards at Paramount Studios in Hollywood. A huge gala filled with celebrities, beautiful people and some tough old hands. Many of the women were dressed in evening gowns, somewhat incongruous with their muscular cut bodies, broken boxer faces and enough tattoos to cover the Sistine Chapel. These were of course the stunt women, redefining femininity.
The reason we were there is that my stepfather, Loren Janes, was receiving their Lifetime Achievement award. For those of you who don't know, Loren worked as a stuntman, stunt-co-coordinator and 2nd unit director for many years. He's appeared in over 500 movies and over 2200 television shows. He's doubled the biggest names of the era including Steve McQueen (his good friend for 23 years), Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, Kirk and Michael Douglas, Yul Brenner, Elvis Presley and in one very famous incident, Marilyn Monroe. He's worked with the biggest directors in Hollywood, including Stephen Spielberg, James Cameron, Sam Raimi, John Ford, John Huston, Stanley Kubrick, Henry Hathaway, Billy Wilder, William Wyler and Cecil B. DeMille. His body of work is unmatched in his industry. Today in the era of specialization there are stunt people who only do stunts with vehicles, high falls, fire or water stunts. Loren did it all. If you've watched virtually any television or seen any movies over the past 50 years, you've seen Loren.
The standing ovation he received was one of the most heartfelt and emotional I'd ever encountered. Many were moved to tears. I'd never been prouder of him, as he walked to the stage honored by his peers for his work while the bravest and toughest in the business stood in awe.
And outside of that theater few know his name. He walks down the street and no one recognizes him, no one asks for his autograph and no one clamors to have their picture taken with him.
That's showbiz. It happens in music too. Many of the songs and albums you listen to were not the work of just one artist or group. They had backing musicians who made the sound happen though with little acclaim and in most cases even less money.
The most famous of the non-famous musicians were probably Booker T. and the MG's. They were the house band at Stax Records playing behind such artists as Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, Otis Redding and Bill Withers. They were solid enough to release their own singles, the first in 1962, "Green Onions" and by the mid-60's everyone wanted to sound like them.
At Motown, it was the Funk Brothers, 13 of the most solid musicians on the planet. They played on virtually every hit that Motown put out. Smokey Robinson, The Supremes, The Temptations, Martha and the Vandellas, Marvin Gaye, The Spinners, The Four Tops and The Jackson Five all owed their power and sound to the Funk Brothers. They labored primarily in obscurity till the 2002 documentary "Standing in the Shadow of Motown" came out.
Other musicians started out behind the scenes and it proved to be a fertile training ground for them. At Chess Records in Chicago, Louis Satterfield and Maurice White pounded out the hits for years until they formed Earth, Wind and Fire, going on to redefine soul, R&B and funk music.
The point here is that no one is an island. There are hundreds of brilliant artists working behind the scenes in all genres. Sometimes derisively referred to as the "little people", they are anything but. The next time you hear a song you like, take some time to find out who (these days, if any) the real musicians are playing behind the front man. Then give 'em a round of applause.
Bruce Sanborn is a top-flight songwriter, guitarist and the lead singer of The Bruce Sanborn Band. He is both an artist and a craftsman. "Sometimes you're writing about higher concepts, the emotional, the spiritual and other times you're just trying to find what rhymes best with 'blue'". The characters in his songs inhabit a gritty netherworld of loss and redemption, often beaten down by life but never defeated. His vocals tear into the heart of the melody, at times raspy and coarse, other times tender and forlorn, but always unforgettable. When Bruce is not writing music he's either performing or blogging! You can read get a taste of his music and blogs at http://www.thebrucesanbornband.com/
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