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Seth Justman, who helped his brother on the film, was a big Motown fan growing up. The music "was really different from the standpoint of the energy of songs," he says, "especially in the bass and drums. They changed things around. What happened is the propulsion, the energy. The engine is the bass, pumping and plowing ahead with so much force. The drums are relentless, but under control. Certainly, Jamerson set the tone, but the overall idea of having bass so active and melodic, it hadn't been done before." Jamerson, brilliant but troubled, was replaced by Bob Babbitt in 1967. Seth Justman calls Babbitt "a tremendous person, a great guy with his touch, the way he plays bass, the roundness of his sound. He's light on strings but he fills the air with that foundation. I respect musicians who stay in touch with the reasons they became musicians in the first place – 'Let's get into a room and pick up our instruments and start playing.' That's Babbitt, he's got that passion." (Babbitt was the key musician in getting young singer Whitney Wolanin's career jump-started. See sidebar story.)  A little older, a little wiser, the Funk Brothers carry on. It is Babbitt who picks up the story of the Funk Brothers circa 2007. He and the Funk Brothers are on a Canadian tour, and after a gig, back at his hotel, Babbitt picks up the phone and lets loose for an hour. The first thing you should know: There are now two versions of the Funk Brothers. (This seems, sadly, to follow form, in the way that there have been various Supremes and Temptations out on the road, at times.) Babbitt plays in what he asserts is the legitimate Funk Brothers. It consists of him, drummer Uriel Jones and guitarist Eddie Willis, plus four sideman. Their singers are Delbert Nelson, Donna Curtin and Marcia Ware. Last year, another group formed by vibist/percussionist Jack Ashford – who took keyboardist Joe Hunter with him – began playing Europe under the same name. Hunter, 79, died Feb. 2, 2007. "I don't think that will stop Jack,'' says Babbitt. This split was particularly stressful, says Babbitt. They'd already had some problems since re-forming for the "Standing in the Shadows" movie in 2001. That experience – after a long, long haul to get there – was clearly a late and unexpected high point of their career. And the film got them work. And troubles. At one point, Slutsky managed them, and Babbitt says that didn't work so well. Then, another management deal went sour. So they went in-house. Babbitt says, "We worked about four months with Jack doing the accounting and negotiating. We had put our faith and trust in him. Then, Jack quit the band, and tried to hire our sidemen. (Aside from Joe) the other guys wouldn't go with Jack. We tried to go to court; we had a partnership whereby rule of majority we would get to keep the name. We had Joe Messina on our side, even though he had retired. (Jack) claimed the signatures were forged." Remaining with Babbitt's Funk Brothers band are drummer Spider Webb, guitarist Ray Monette (formerly of Rare Earth), percussionist Treaty Womack and keyboardist/musical director, Rob Jones. They pick up local horn sections when they get to the towns in which they play. The material they play is what you know and what you'd hope to hear: Motown hits. Sometimes they'll play a straight hour-long set; sometimes they play two 45-minute shows. You'll get at least 25 songs. Ask Babbitt about highlights, and he says, "That's a hard question. We got a couple show-stoppers –'Brokenhearted,' 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough.' It's hard to say. What's not a highlight?" "We have a lot of fun, and we can see it in the audience," continues Babbitt. When the people see you're having fun, they're having fun. You see that, and that raises you to another level." Asked about the glory days in Detroit, Babbitt says, "Everybody was so young it didn't hit us. We were just trying to raise our family, happy to be working. When I moved to the East Coast, that's when the impact hit me."
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