By John North - Ashville "Daily Planet"

Wednesday, 13 July 2011

From left are singers Zonya Love, Trista Dollison and Sidney Barnes, backed up by the house band, in “The Music of Motown,” which recently was performed in Flat Rock Playhouse’s Music on the Rock concert series.

  FLAT ROCK — From the  opener — “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” — to the show’s end, “The Music of Motown” revue literally had the floorboards shaking and the delighted audience dancing in the aisles during the last performance on July 5 on the Second Stage at Flat Rock Playhouse.

  Motown alumnus Sidney Barnes, who noted that Marvin Gaye once sang second baritone in his high school band, variously crooned and wailed the lead with style and grace, shared tidbits of Motown history and his own memories of the iconic record label. He also showed his natural showmanship by cutting up with backup singers Trista Dollison and Zonya Love — and the crowd..

  Barnes, who now lives in the Leicester community of Buncombe County, also played a mean tambourine, effectively accentuating the backbeat.
  Dollison and Love added dead-on harmonies and occasionally gave Barnes, 70, a breather by rotating as leads on a number of songs. In addition, and perhaps more importantly, they fancy-stepped, shimmied and undulated like snakes on stage, demonstrating quintessential Motown precision choreography. The women also appeared to get much pleasure from taking turns teasing Barnes, especially about his age.
  A seven-piece band backed up the singing trio, swinging and swaying with the music. The talented band members were not just going through the motions, as they appeared to be getting a blast out of playing the music and to share a deep appreciation for it.
  “We’re going to bring back musical memories,” Barnes told the packed house of about 100 people at the beginning of the show.

Sidney Barnes (foreground) croons a ballad during “The Music  of Motown” show on the Fourth of July at Flat Rock Playhouse’s Music on the Rock concert series. In the background, performing quintessential Motown choreography are singers Zonya Love and Trista Dollison. Photo courtesy of Audrey Goforth

  He then said that, “once upon a time in the early ‘60s in Detroit, Mich., a man named  Berry Gordy” was writing hit songs, such as “Reet Petite (The Finest Girl You Ever Want to Meet)” and “To Be Loved,” both sung by soul legend Jackie Wilson.
  However, Barnes said that Gordy was told that if he wanted to make big money, he would need to start his own record label. “So he borrowed $800 from his Daddy and that’s how Motown got started. And one of the first kids who came in (to audition at the new label) was Smokey Robinson.”
  Barnes asserted that Robinson’s “very first recording was a million-seller, ‘Shop Around,’ and it got Motown off the ground.”
  The trio then launched into what Barnes termed the “second hit” from Motown, “Please Mr. Postman” by the Marvelettes, as Dollison electrified the stage with her stellar lead on the dramatic song.
  Next, they sang a medley of Four Tops’ songs, including “It’s The Same Old Song,” “Baby, I Need Your Loving” and “Reach Out I’ll Be There,” after which the crowd applauded so enthusiastically that Dollison felt compelled to gush with wonder, “You guys like The Four Tops!”
  Barnes crooned Robinson’s sexy “Ooh, Baby, Baby,” and the audience cheered. Sensing the spirit around him, he said, “Love is the biggest power in the world.”
  Other performances before intermission included a Stevie Wonder medley by Barnes, a stirring rendition of Martha and the Vandellas’ “Jimmy Mack” and The Contours’ “Do You Love Me?”
  In the second half, the trio began by tackling Gaye’s “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “Mercy, Mercy Me” and then the song that some  say was Motown’s greatest, “What’s Going On,” sung movingly by Dollison. The trio finished its Gaye segment with “How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You.”
  Taking the romantic theme even farther, they sang Mary Wells’ “My Guy,” followed by The Temptations’ “My Girl,” with much vamping by both of the female singers. The crowd laughed and swayed to these songs.
  Next was the Jackson Five’s “I Want You Back,” with a stellar effort by Dollinson, followed by perhaps the best performance of the night — Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s call-and-response “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing,” featuring Barnes and Love. The duo was so good that the crowd started cheering in the middle of the song.
  The show wrapped up with a Supremes medley and a nearly show-stopping version of Martha and the Vandellas’ “Heat Wave” by Dollison. After receiving a standing ovation, the trio performed The Supremes’ “You Can’t Hurry Love” as an encore.