is dreamgirls based on a true story
The Motown sound was characterized by a straight-forward, grounded beat (bass and drums) and melodic hook. You can sign in to ⦠In the mid-to-late 1960s, they took on more of a tough girl image, wearing spike heels and tight leather pants to match their delinquent themes. Little Richard's song 'Tutti Frutti' [could] access that white suburban middle-class audience, but Little Richard himself [couldn't] do that. "Dreamgirls" draws its story from the relationship between the Supremes and Motown Records founder Berry Gordy Jr., although the ⦠The real story of the 1960s girl groups, however, changed American music forever. Mark and Condon began pre-production with the intentions of casting Jamie Foxx and Eddie Murphy, both actors with record industry experience, as Curtis Taylor, Jr. and James "Thunder" Early, respectively. "There are girl group songs that are based on blues progressions… But there's also some that sound more like Tin Pan Alley songs—almost like Broadway numbers.". Everywhere they went on tour that summer, there were riots. Mainly inspired by the story of The Supremes, Dreamgirls follows the lives of the Dreams, composed of full-figured and sassy lead singer Effie White, driven ⦠"Whereas these teenage boys, in cities like Detroit, can go out on the streets and kind of roam around the neighborhood and sing harmonies with each other, girls aren't so free to do that. Although loosely based on The Supremes , the movie is a work of fiction. The success of girl groups had much to do with the market. Crossing Color Lines. The girl group phenomenon reached its height between 1960 and 1963, though many scholars recognize The Chantel's 1958 song "Maybe" as the beginning of girl groups' commercial success. But in Motown, Berry Gordy knew he could achieve both the musical and social aspect of crossover with well-groomed, sweet young girls. Dreamgirls is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. In the oral history Women of Motown by veteran music critic Susan Whitall, former Marvelette Katherine Anderson Schaffner talks about her group's Motown break: "We all sang in the [Inkster High] School glee club; that was one of the classes we had together. ", The girl group era was also the civil rights era. The true story behind 'A Star Is Born' is a classic Hollywood blend of rumors and legend. Schaffner of The Marvelettes talks about the song's political significance in Marc Taylor's book The Original Marvelettes: Motown's Mystery Girl Group. Leave a Reply Cancel reply. Adapted from the 1981 Broadway musical of the same name by composer Henry Krieger and lyricist/librettist Tom Eyen, Dreamgirls is a film à clef, a work of fiction taking strong inspiration from the history of the Motown record label and one of its acts, The Supremes. The movie, based on the 1981 Broadway play, tells the story of a small black record label and its star singers whose success crosses over to the pop charts. It's been 10 years since audiences were mesmerized by Jennifer Hudson's Academy Award-winning performance as Effie White in Dreamgirls. "We were all surprised when 'Postman' hit so big," she says. This is not true; the "newer version" has the bare bones special features that the original DVD 1-disc version has and does not include the "Showstopper Edition" bonus features. ", Even when girl groups didn't set out make political statements or songs, the politically charged times came to them. And the same non-threatening, pure quality that was letting black girl groups cross over into white culture was giving young women force in the civil rights movement. But girl groups—from the black The Marvelettes to the white The Shangri-Las—were popular with a mixed audience from the beginning. Three young women dream of becoming pop starsâand get their wish when they're chosen to be backup singers for the legendary James 'Thunder' Early. Beyonce Knowles, Anika Noni Rose and Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls. Looking over previous posts, I will echo Social Network and Catch Me if You Can. "It's sort of the female corollary to doo-wop at the beginning," says Jacqueline Warwick, author of the new book Girl Groups, Girl Culture: Popular Music and Identityin the 1960's and professor of music at Dalhousie University. Nat King Cole reached the charts in 1946 with "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66," which made the top ten. "The most surprised was Motown. The girl group boom began to fizzle in the late 1960s, in part because of the British Invasion. But the success of girl groups had to do with more than harmony and lyrics. ", The girls went to Detroit for an audition, and eventually, they kick-started the Motown hit machine that would later call itself "The Sound of Young America." Disappointed in their failure to win the contest, they attract the attention of a sly tongued talent agent named Curtis T⦠We were into, or going into the Vietnam War. Says Warwick, "Even from the very beginning, their songs are a little more adult in the themes," such as in the songs "Where Did Our love Go" and "Stop in the Name of Love." Male promoters did have ultimate control over the groups, and in what is arguably a tradition in the recording industry, some musicians were exploited: they didn't get credit for their work, it was released under a different name or they didn't get royalties. Teenagers listening to popular music during this time heard songs with voices that sounded like their own. Growing up in the South Bronx during the 1970s, Shelly Shel does not have it easy. The Real Story Behind 'Dreamgirls' Dreamgirls, which won three Golden Globe awards Sunday night, draws its story from Detroit's legendary Motown record label. We lost! As with many artists who lived in the black community at that time, it was an avenue that allowed you to travel to other cities and states and gave you that 'out.'" But this song inevitably gained meaning from the times in which it was heard. After four years and 1,522 performances, Dreamgirls closed on August 11, 1985. California Do Not Sell My Info In 1961, The Shirelles reached number one on the pop charts with "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" But then again, hindsight is that there was a lot going on when 'Postman' was released. Mainly inspired by the story of The Supremes, Dreamgirls follows the lives of the Dreams, composed of full-figured and sassy lead singer Effie White, driven ⦠CT Scans Suggest Egyptian Pharaoh Was Brutally Executed on the Battlefield, 2,000-Year-Old Figurine of Roman Love God Cupid Found in England, The Only Time in History When Men on Horseback Captured a Fleet of Ships, Oldest DNA Sequenced Yet Comes From Million-Year-Old Mammoths, Meet Farfarout, the Most Distant Object in the Solar System, Archaeologists Discover Ruins of Emperor Hadrian's Ornate Breakfast Chamber, NASA's Helicopter Ingenuity Will Attempt the First Flight on Mars, A Quest to Return the Banjo to Its African Roots, Human Flesh Looks Like Beef, But the Taste Is More Elusive, In the 1980s, a Far-Left, Female-Led Domestic Terrorism Group Bombed the U.S. Capitol, Fourteen Fun Facts About Love and Sex in the Animal Kingdom, The True History Behind Netflix's 'The Dig' and Sutton Hoo, Astrophysicists Chart Source of Asteroid That Killed Dinosaurs, John Quincy Adams Kept a Diary and Didnât Skimp on the Details, Meet Joseph Rainey, the First Black Congressman, The State of American Craft Has Never Been Stronger. Although loosely based on The Supremes, the movie is a work of fiction. This film starring Hugh Jackman is based on a true story of circus founder Ringlin Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Cookie Policy They watched performers on stage who were their age. Although loosely based on The Supremes (above), the movie Dreamgirls is a work of fiction. A film version was released in 2006 after being in the works for years.. "That really had never happened before and it really hasn't happened since," says Warwick. ", "Musically, the girl group sound—and popular music at the time in general—was drawing on a lot different sources," says Warwick. But they also sang about love and crushes, mostly from the position of a patiently waiting, yearning girl. In Women of Motown, The Marvelettes' Schaffner says, "I loved going on the road. They were also among the first black musicians to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show. From the stage, they told the audience what was happening outside. And we were fourth. **Note -- When you go to the "Dreamgirls 2-disc Showstopper Edition" page, there's a note that says, "There is a newer version of this item: Dreamgirls [Blu-Ray]." The movie, based on the 1981 Broadway play, tells the story of a small black record label and its star singers whose success crosses over to the pop charts. Teen Culture. Give a Gift. no, there were no real 'Dreamgirls', the story is based very loosley on the Supremes, but mostly it is just fantasy What do you think of the answers? But the songs were sometimes closer to real life than expected. That same year, four teenage girls were killed in the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. How 'American Idol' Uses (and Abuses) Melisma, 'Dreamgirls' a Golden-Globe Success Story, 'Dreamgirls' Generates Oscar Buzz as Balloting Begins, Bill Condon Tells the Story Behind 'Dreamgirls', 'Dreamgirls' Does Justice to a Cinematic Musical, 'Dreamgirls' Is a Triumph of Old School Glamour. This was not what Martha Reeves thought of when she sang the song. Directed by Michael Gracey, the film received different reviews, as well as an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song (This is Me), which finally didn't win the award. The real story of the 1960s girl groups, however, changed American music forever. For instance when one of them [Jennifer Hudson] fell out with the rest of the group.. did that really happen? & if it is, is it a true story? Based on the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others, the musical follows the story of a young female singing trio from Chicago, Illinois called "The Dreams", who become music superstars. But The Beatles themselves were obsessed with American girl groups and even sang girl group songs, including "Please Mr. Postman," The Shirelles' "Baby It's You" and The Cookies' "Chains. hide caption. Continue Hip Hop's Original Dreamgirls . Ross started out on mostly even footing with the other girls in the group, but because she was the most commercial, she got the most attention, and later launched a solo career. Advertising Notice Their songs employed a lead voice with backup harmonies, and the music was a hybrid of soul, rhythm and blues, pop and 1950's doo-wop. Of course, some of the girls were so young that chaperones accompanied them on tour—sometimes their parents. The movie, based on an acclaimed novel by Giles Foden, tells the tale of a young Scottish doctor who finds himself a favorite of Idi Amin. Based on the 1981 Broadway musical comes Dreamgirls, a story of greed, tough hate, and romance. All of the characters are based on Motown Stars and their predecessors. Three young women - Deena Jones, Effie White, and Lorrell Robinson - desire to become pop stars and get their wish when they're picked to be backup singers for the legendary James "Thunder" Early. Teenage life became synonymous with pop culture, and with many of these teenagers having money to spend, the record market flourished. Dreamgirls is the story of three black singers - Deena, Lorrell, and Effie who began as a group called the Dreamettes. :) He created a thick, roaring, echoing sound, like The Ronettes' recording of "Be My Baby. In Motown, Gordy hired finishing school teacher Maxine Powell to teach the girls how to walk and talk. Vote Now! "At Motown, The Marvelettes, The Velvelettes, groups like that, are much more clearly identified as teenagers," she says, "and arguably that's why The Supremes had more longevity. But for a writer and musician who grew up in Detroit during the 1960s, the film gets the story wrong. And, of course, white artists also re-recorded songs done by black artists. "We get young teenage girls at front and center in mainstream pop culture." ", The only girl group able to compete with The Beatles on the American charts was The Supremes, who maintained popularity into the early 1970s, even though Diana Ross had left the group. That isn't to say teenagers weren't also listening to the original Little Richard. With girl groups, that becomes more possible.". One thing is certain: by the time the women's movement arrived in the late 1960s, there was a generation of women used to standing on the stage and telling the world how they felt. When my brother went into the military, I know how anxious I or my mother or sister would be looking for a letter or something like that from him. All of this was part of his effort—embraced by the girls—to convey a middle-class respectability. Dreamgirls Story Full of onstage joy and backstage drama, Dreamgirls tells the rags-to-riches story of a 1960s Motown girl group, and the triumphs and ⦠Because of events like this, says Warwick, the figure of the non-white teenage girl was being politicized in America. Freedom Rides began through the South in 1961, and in 1963 at the March on Washington, Martin Luther King Jr., delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. In Motown, founder Berry Gordy aimed to make music with widespread pop charts appeal. In Women of Motown, she says, "What I related the song to was my experience in Rio at Carnival time, and in New Orleans at Mardi Gras. Get the best of Smithsonian magazine by email. It was about the whole performance—how they moved, the clothes they wore, how big their hair was. In 1967, Martha and The Vandellas were singing in Detriot when the riots broke out. The timing of 'Postman' was excellent. Certainly whites (particularly young people) had been listening to black music before girl groups came on the scene, and black artists had made the pop charts before. Last updated at 22:04 13 April 2007 Diana Ross says she has mixed feelings about the movie "Dreamgirls," loosely based on her and the former Motown ⦠But for many girls, fame also offered an array of new opportunities. ", In the entertainment world, The Supremes—arguably the most successful girl group of all time—began playing venues that had been hard for black musicians to book. Is Dreamgirls the story of the Supremes? It has the glitz of a great showbiz story, and the soul of a morality play. So the emblem of the teenage girl is being imbued with a lot of political significance. Set in the turbulent early 1960s to mid-70s, Dreamgirls follows the rise of a trio of women (Hudson, Knowles and Rose) who have formed a promising girl group called The Dreamettes. "If you think about the Little Rock Nine in Arkansas in 1967," she says, "of nine black teenagers chosen to integrate the schools, six of them were girls. In New York, Phil Spector produced girl group songs using his famous "wall of sound," a production technique that employed a huge amount of instruments and layered track after track on top of each other. Dreamgirls is loosely based on a true story, so I will add that. Based on the lives and careers of Diana Ross and the Supremes, James Brown, The Shirelles, and other R&B groups, "Dreamgirls" tells the story of a Chicago girl group who become musical superstars. Outside Motown, The Shangri-Las were singing songs about good girls loving bad boys, such as "Leader of the Pack." With three Golden Globe awards and eight Academy Award nominations, Dreamgirls has renewed interest in the girl groups of the 1960s as well as Motown Records, the Detroit-based company that became one of the most influential labels of the time. The girls rarely wrote their own songs, but neither did the male groups of the time. Dreamgirls Master Class . 17th Annual Photo Contest Finalists Announced. Keep up-to-date on: © 2021 Smithsonian Magazine. They announced that they were having a talent show. In the 1950s and 1960s, the R&B (Rhythm and Blues) charts were "black" charts and the pop charts were "white." But because of our performance, one of our teachers…when it came time to audition for Motown—because that was a part of what your winnings would be, to audition for Motown—she recommended that they take the top five. Based on a true story, The Sapphires centers around a quartet of Australian Aboriginal girls (Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy, Shari Sebbens, ⦠The role Beyonce plays is loosely based on the true story of Diana Ross. They sang to mixed audiences about courtship, boys, parties, parents and parents not letting them go to parties to court boys. When they announced that, Gladys asked why don't we go ahead and be a part of the talent show. And all that very famous footage of Elizabeth Eckford…going to school that first day. Dreamworks/Paramount This seemingly passive attitude and general lack of depth in song subject matter makes it easy to dismiss girl groups music as trivial and, in contemporary terms, less than radical. Hereof, is Dreamgirls based off a true story? We had a lot of young men that were leaving home for the first time going into the military, and, of course, some never returned. And it wasn't only men—Ruth Brown's "Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean" was number one on the R&B charts in 1953, and number 23 on the pop charts. The film version references elements of Motown history to add backstory to the musical's plot, and there are many homages to a number of distinct 1960s/1970s R&B stars (besides The Supremes and Motown acts such as Marvin Gaye, the ⦠That same year, Motown got its first pop hit with The Marvelettes' "Please Mr. A black-owned recording company having such a hit was, at that time, revolutionary. They were able to transition into becoming adults with greater ease.". Postman." He gathered a stellar group of area jazz musicians (all men), known collectively as The Funk Brothers. Girl groups subject matter articulated a common teenage experience, regardless of race, even as the culture around them was slow to catch up. The Ronettes, who were biracial, also became famous for their bad-girl short skirts, high-piled hair and thick eyeliner. He stuck with a select group of songwriters who were told to write songs in first person and present tense. "This is not a singer-songwriter thing, where they were coming in with their own material," she says. "We listen to Pat Boone covering Little Richard songs now and it's just laughable," she says, "but at the time that was a real phenomenon. …We sang one of The Chantels' numbers—I'm thinking it was 'Maybe.' The ⦠Yes, it was based on the Supremes. … And I'd even think—and this is where it gets interesting racially—oh, I want to look like Mary Wilson, she's beautiful. Thirty-five years after the ground-breaking original Broadway production, the sensational and iconic musical DREAMGIRLS makes its UK premiere at the Savoy Theatre starring Amber Riley (Glee) as âEffie Whiteâ.. Long touted and denied by the creative team behind Dreamgirls that there is any connection between the musicalâs plot and the Supremes life stories, there do ⦠They enter a talent show held in New York's Apollo Theatre. Privacy Statement He also brought in professional choreographers. Summary: Twenty-five years after bringing Broadway audiences to their feet, the Tony Award-winning musical sensation Dreamgirls comes to the big screen. "For them to be on Ed Sullivan—almost every week it seemed like—that was a tremendous, incredible influence," Whitall remembers. The groups, usually made up of three to five singers, often formed through glee clubs and high schools, with many having backgrounds in church gospel music. ", It wasn't uncommon for a group to get its big break at a high school talent show or, like The Dreamettes in the movie Dreamgirls, at a local talent contest. ... Chicago (yes, it's based on a 1920s play that was based on a true story) "Jaws is the Citizen Kane of ⦠Dreamgirls hits, sometimes obliquely, on a number of big historical moments from this period, such as the scene where Taylor ... Based on a genuinely moving true story⦠It was a time for people to forget who they are and just get with each other to be happy and loving and dance and rejoice. For instance, "Please Mr. Postman" is in some ways a classic girl group song, with a girl waiting for a letter from a boy. Connect with: Hundreds of girl groups recorded songs during the sixties, but hardly any of them were seasoned musicians. The post-war baby boom had produced more teenagers than ever before, and the 1950s brought the explosion of a new teen culture with its own music, clothes, movies and dancing. Little do they know of the hard, competitive world of show business. These grown-up themes contrast with The Shangri-Las singing healsongs about teenage drama. ", In Motown, Berry Gordy had a specific formula for making a hit song. or The movie, based on the 1981 Broadway play, tells the story of a small black record label and its star singers whose success crosses over to the pop charts. Terms of Use Dreamgirls is a fictional work, adapted from a 1981 successful Broadway musical inspired by the real-life story and success of The Supremes. It also employed call-and-response vocals and heavy use of tambourine. DREAMGIRLS has the requisite high energy, but more, it nails the even higher emotional stakes working in the tricky idiom of an artificial framework. In the 1950s, Chuck Berry had songs at the top of the R&B and pop charts, as did Little Richard. Opening in 1981, Dreamgirls is composer Henry Krieger and lyricist/librettist Tom Eyen's tribute to the lives and struggles of many 1960s R&B acts. Dreamgirls is a 2006 American musical drama film written and directed by Bill Condon and jointly produced and released by DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures. When offered the part of Curtis, Foxx initially declined because DreamWork⦠The story follows the history and evolution of A⦠Opening in 1981, Dreamgirls is composer Henry Krieger and lyricist/librettist Tom Eyen's tribute to the lives and struggles of many 1960s R&B acts. In an era of cultural upheaval, girl groups helped articulate the personal experiences of teenagers—of all races—who were living through tremendous political upheaval. Dreamgirls, which won three Golden Globe awards Sunday night, draws its story from Detroit's legendary Motown record label. Soon people started talking about how the group's hit song "Dancing in the Streets" was about social uprising. Smithsonian Institution. Based on a True Story . They start as three talented, close friends and gradually sharpen their act and rename themselves "The Dreams". For American girls to see female groups was something new. Yet The Supremes aren't necessarily representative of the rest of girl group culture. Yet before girl groups, it was easier for a song to cross over than for artists themselves to do, says Warwick. Instead, says Whitall, it was more of a movie studio system. Plus, all your questions about the Bradley Cooper/Lady Gaga remake answered. So they're sitting at home or gathering at a friend's house or they're sitting on the bench during basketball practice at school, and doing the same kind of thing—harmonizing and making up songs. Often left to fend for herself while her single mother works nights to support her and her eleven siblings, Shelly's harsh reality doesn't stop her from dreaming of busting out of the 'hood. The remake of the 1976 film and another project, the "Dreamgirls" movie and play, are based, to some extent, on the story of The Supremes. A film version was released in 2006 after being in the works for years. Although loosely based on The Supremes, the movie is a work of fiction. "I was just overcome every week by this, these incredible visions, they were just such beautiful girls in these beautiful gowns, singing the music that I was listening to all week on the radio. You even see an young BBKing stile singer , most likely to â¦
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