All
images copyright 2002 Elliott Scott Productions, LLC
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"Pistol" Allen
laying down an authentic Beale Street shuffle.
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That
left hand Uriel Jones is holding in the air is about to
deliver a deadly backbeat to the snare drum.
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Jack
Ashford displaying the finer points of his four mallet
technique.
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Old
friends reunited: Jack Ashford, his tambourine, and the "Snakepit."
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Jack Ashford playing cowbell
at Baker's Keyboard Lounge.
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Uriel Jones layin' it down.
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A
rare pose for Uriel Jones: in front of (instead of behind)
the "Snakepit's" drum
baffle.
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Uriel
Jones bustin' on "Pistol" Allen's
habit of reading a racing form on his floor tom.
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Tom Scott, Johnny Griffith,
and Jack Ashford tearing it up at the Royal Oak Music Hall.
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Johnny
Griffith rehearsing "Shotgun" on
a Hammond B-3 organ.
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Meshell Ndegeocello and
Johnny Griffith.
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Returning
to the scene of the crime forty years later: Joe Hunter,
Eddie Wills, and
Joe Messina in the "Snakepit" recording "You've
Really Got A Hold On Me."
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Joe Hunter cracking up after
telling the story of the Phelps Lounge gun showdown as
Johnny Griffith looks on.
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Eddie Willis and his Gibson
Firebird.
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Joe Messina and Eddie Willis
paying homage to their old buddy Robert White.
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Joe Messina and his world
renowned guitar backbeats in the spotlight at last.
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Joe Messina and Joe Hunter
sharing a quiet moment between takes.
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Feeling like he never left,
Joe Messina sits in front of the meters that controlled
the volume levels of Hitsville's guitarists.
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Joe Messina and Johnny Griffith
in Hitsville U.S.A.'s lobby.
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Bob Babbitt and Uriel Jones
telling Benny Benjamin stories at the Roostertail.
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Bob Babbitt telling Bob
Babbitt stories at the Roostertail.
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"The heaviest cat you
ever did see". . . . Bootsy Collins doing the "cool
Jerk." (He decided to dress conservative for this
tune.)
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Tom
Scott pumping some serious air through his Baritone sax
on "Heatwave."
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1st Assistant Director Tony
Adler conferring with Meshell Ndegeocello before a take.
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Back-phrasing
her butt off, Meshell Ndegeocello stretches the time
on "Cloud Nine."
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Bootsy
Collins putting a new spin on the Contours' celebrated
hit "Do You Love
Me."
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Joan
Osborne and "Pistol" Allen
about to perform an impromptu, silverware and teacup version
of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" in a Detroit
diner.
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Carrying
on Marvin Gaye's anguished plea for world peace, Chaka
Khan belts out "What's
Going On."
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Chaka
must be thinking, "They
don't make rhythm sections like this anymore." (Left
to Right: Uriel Jones, Bob Babbitt, "Pistol" Allen
and Chaka Khan).
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Director Paul Justman on
the stage of the Royal Oak Music Theater giving instructions
to the film crew.
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Lon Stratton lining up a
shot.
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An
impassioned Ben Harper performing "Ain't Too Proud
To Beg."
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Paul Justman and Eddie Willis
talking over the last take.
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Paul
Justman explaining to Chaka Khan how he plans to shoot
her performance of "What's
Going On."
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Directors of photography
Doug Milsome and Lon Stratton getting ready for the next
take.
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Joe
Hunter, Uriel Jones, and "Pistol" Allen at Detroit's "Club Bomax" with
their favorite exotic dancer, Lottie "The Body".
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The marquee of the Royal
Oak Music Hall with a message the Funk Brothers waited
four decades to see.
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Actor Brian Marable portraying
the young James Jamerson drinking with the caskets in a
funeral home near Hitsville.
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Joan
Osborne tearing it up on "Heat Wave."
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The Funk Brothers blowin'
through some jazz changes at Baker's Keyboard Lounge.
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Allan "Dr. Licks" Slutsky
making some last minute arrangement changes as Rudy Robinson
and Eddie Willis look on.
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Ben Harper lamenting what
he heard through the grapevine.
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Gerald
Levert posing the musical question, "What time Is It" during his
performance of "Shotgun." (The Answer: "Twine
Time")
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That's a whole lot of Funk
down there, a shot of the stage from the catwalk.
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