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"I moved to Nashville in '86, trying to introduce myself to people around town. I made some phone calls and talked to some producers, and they asked if I had a resume or a reel. I thought '0h my god,' but I did send a résumé out. I had a producer call me and said 'You said you played on one of my favorite records, '"Midnight Train to Georgia." I bought the album and didn't see your name on it. How do I know you played on that record?' I gave him the phone number of the producer who lived in New Jersey. I never heard from him again." Even a softball question to Babbitt about the best of times, sends him back to the land of bitter memories. It took from 1990 to 2001 to get the movie made. "I just about gave up on it," says Babbitt. Paul Justman says they must have taken 1000 meetings, but backers were fearful of a movie without the big Motown stars in it. Justman said he wasn't telling the stars story. He was telling the other guys story. And he was not unaware of the group's problems – shady financial dealings, lack of credit and more – but, he says, "The movie was about obscurity amidst this incredible success. Each guy had certain grievances. I said 'I'm making a movie. What I'd like to do is make a movie about the best part of what you are, what you brought into the world.' That idea was based on the fact that every business – logging, steel - has problems. It's the beauty you brought into the world."  Funk Brothers guitarists Eddie Willis, left, and Joe Messina, right, always had fun on Motown sessions and still do. "There are few groups of musicians who had the kind of impact the Funk Brothers have had," continues Justman. "You could almost say there are none. If you examine their musicianship, you'll be more and more impressed about their depth and the level they were on. It's not so much how much you play, it's the decisions you make within a song. Like a great painter, you leave space and make the right decision. They have incredible dynamics within the song. Take 'You Keep Me Hanging On.' Perfect decision. 'You Really Got a Hold on Me' - deceptively simple. You've got jazz guys making a pop song." For the film, they played a concert where singers like Joan Osborne, Chaka Kahn, Gerald Levert and Montell Jordan took the spots once occupied by Motown's biggest stars. Following the film's release in May, 2002, the Funk Brothers went out on the road. The DVD was released in April. 2003. They were granted a White House audience with President George W. Bush. The Funk Brothers share interesting parallels with the Buena Vista Social Club, notes archivist David Bieber, of the Cuban session musicians. "You have the same story: These incredibly talented musicians who've become elderly, didn't see the financial fruits of their labor and artistry, and didn't have significant recognition during their most prolific period. And then some white guys came along and put them on the map." (Ry Cooder did the trick for Buena Vista.) Things did change for the Brothers after the movie, which won two Grammys. There was recognition, a measure of fame ... and more trouble. Says Babbitt: "The film was made because here's these guys that played on a lot of records and didn't get credit, lost money, didn't get work, and others said they played on records. There were no union contracts, which affected the pension ... The idea was to get these guys recognition and maybe get some of the money they lost. If you look at things that happened since film came out, you wouldn't believe the scenarios that happened financially. But it would come back to us as ' It was you guys fault.' It's sad. That's what we're not happy about. We got made to look like bad guys. What Jack Ashford did to us ... There's been too much shit from one of our own. We were caught in a trap. I'm sad it went down the way it went down." Upside? "I still feel good about a lot of things. We're fortunate we're still here, to go out and play, make our mark. We're the last guys left playing. I don't how long any of us can keep going playing, but we're trying and we feel pretty good about that and where we're going. We're going to give it a shot. You have to keep your mind sharp. It's a constantly changing business, always looking for something new." "Their power," says Seth Justman, "is them united and together, not all of one style but of one mind, so empathetic to what the other guys do." Jim Sullivan has written about popular culture and music for more than 25 years for many national publications. You can contact him at
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