This tribute to unsung vocalists is a must-see for anyone who loves music. The viewer will grow almost giddy hearing singers describe the jubilation that comes from harmonizing with others.



Now, in the massively entertaining and heartfelt documentary 20 Feet from Stardom (*** ½ out of four; rated PG-13; opens Friday in select cities), audiences meet the most memorable voices in the world of backup singers. They perform with world-famous musical acts, but theirs are not household names. Their stories, however, are inspiring, heartbreaking and enthralling.


Several African-American singers were ministers' daughters, and gospel traditions informed their soulful sounds. "Think about Lou Reed and Walk on the Wild Side, that iconic song with the line that makes a lot of people uncomfortable because it says 'colored girls,' " says Janice Pendarvis, who has sung with Stevie Wonder and David Bowie. "But what is he referencing? The fact that there's a power to these women that stand on stage and sing with the guys."

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"It's pretty debilitating to the spirit to see somebody else on television lip-syncing to the song you recorded," Love says.


Then there's Merry Clayton, one of Ray Charles' Raelettes and the haunting vocal force belting out "Rape, murder! It's just a shot away," on the Rolling Stones' Gimme Shelter. She reminisces about how the band came to pick her up at home in the middle of the night. She was pregnant, in pajamas and getting ready to go to bed.

Once they got to the studio, "I said to myself, 'I'm going to blow them out of this room,' '' she says.



"To me there's no more heavenly instrument than the voice," says Sheryl Crow, who was once a backup singer for Michael Jackson, Don Henley and others stars. "There are so many great singers who are such a massive presence on so many rock records, people whose names we don't necessarily know, but who had a huge impact."
