20 FEET FROM STARDOM (Morgan Neville). 91 minutes. Opens Friday (July 5). For venues and times, see listings. Rating: NNNN
A documentary about exceptional backup singers would be fine if it showcased their talent alone. But 20 Feet From Stardom deals with way more than great voices.
Morgan Neville tracks the careers of Darlene Love of Blossoms fame, Merry Clayton, famous for her vocals on the Rolling Stones track Gimme Shelter, Claudia Lennear, who also collaborated with the Stones, and others to probe who’s got the power within the music industry.
In some cases, exceptional gifts, even when recognized, do not a star make. Lisa Fischer, who has a three-octave-plus range and puts Mariah Carey to shame, won a Grammy for her first solo record. But she had neither the ego nor the controlling personality required to pursue individual stardom.
Love was victimized by power-tripping producer Phil Spector, who used her vocals and attributed them to other groups – that’s Love lead-singing on He’s A Rebel, not anyone from the Crystals. Can you achieve fame when you’ve already sung lead and nobody knows?
Clayton, whose vocal chops are unique, tried to establish herself as a solo artist and failed. Same goes for Lennear and Táta Vega, artists with voices that might have catapulted them to stardom except for one thing: they’re black. By industry norms, two African-American supernovas – Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston – are quite enough, thank you.
The stars themselves – Mick Jagger, Sting and others – speak their minds here, too, but it’s the backup singers and their stories that rock.
