I've been thinking about how sad it is that these great musicians remained uncredited and unknown for so many years. It says a lot about Berry Gordy's iron-handed rule and his "star system."

Back in "the day," only the hippest of the hip had any idea who was playing the instruments on all those gerat Motown hits. I suspect the players weren't getting paid very well, either.

Contrast this to the other '60s soul-sound "factory" at Stax/Volt in Memphis, where all the guys in the house band became household names -- they put out their own intrumental records as "Booker T and the MGS," some of which became hits (notably "Green Onions). Guitar players all over the US (and, presumably, around the world, though perhaps to a lesser extent) recognized Steve Cropper as one of the great guitar heroes, and bassist Don "Duck" Dunn and the late Al Jackson on drums were also widely recognized for their talents. In fact, the surviving three members still enjoy plenty of prominence as the house band for the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, and Steve and Duck became movie stars as "Blues Brothers."

In Detroit, in contrast, Gordy kept his spotlight trained on a few selected stars who fit his vision of popularizing black music for a wider white audience. The basic idea was a good one, and executed with real genius at the beginning, but he took the whole concept to an extreme, culminating in the LasVegas-ification of Diana Ross.

The side musicians were kept anonymous, and even among the vocal groups he tried to keep the emphasis on a single individual, not on the group.

The resentment following the elevation of Ms Ross at the expense of her fellow Supremes is well documented; less well-known is Gordy's abandonment of Martha and the Vandellas when he decided there wasn't room on his label for two first-string girl groups. "Heat Wave" and "Dancin' in the Streets" were two of Motown's greatest recordings, with truly electrifying vocals, but Martha wasn't considered to be as pretty, or sexy, or salable as Diana and so was left behind.

Regardless of the boss' interference, though, those Motown hits were something else altogether, really great stuff, thanks largely to the great musicians featured so belatedly in this film, and also to the songwriting genius of Smokey Robinson among others. My negative words concerning Motown's management should not be taken as a criticism of the music, not by any means.