They're the artists who've provided the backdrop for some of the most beloved and acclaimed songs in pop music history. But most of them have remained merely names inside album liner notes, not household names. Morgan Neville's 20 Feet from Stardom, which won the 2013 Best Documentary Feature Oscar, finally reveals a few of their stories, to give these gifted but overshadowed performers their due at last.
They include Merry Clayton (the woman who dueted with Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter"), Grammy winner Lisa Fischer, Darlene Love (who brought the house down with an a cappella performance during the filmmakers' Oscar acceptance speech), Judith Hill and Sheryl Crow (who sang backing vocals for Michael Jackson); also interviewed are Stevie Wonder, Bette Midler and Bruce Springsteen among others. Every interview is handled and integrated with the right subjective touch, and these ladies' tales will all move you, then make you cheer.
Neville handles all their stories with empathy and a healthy curiosity, but brings very much a director's eye to the visual elements. He intersperses the interviews with original information graphics and archival performance footage, both of which brilliantly infuse it with vibrancy and authenticity. The aesthetics do feel reminiscent of ones from shows like Soul Train or Top of the Pops. The emotional peak arrives with an astonishing choir rendition of "I Say a Little Prayer" at the end. It all adds up to a sizzling, insightful and powerful tribute to some of pop music's unsung (pun intended) heroes.
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