I remember the lowest I ever got: I had all seven of my guitars in the pawnshop. I had just taken my last one over, I was hoping to get some checks in, or something, before the weekend, when I had some gigs. As soon as I got home, I got a call from Sigma Sound, which is a big recording studio in Philadelphia. So I had to bum some money, get the guitar that I had just pawned, then I had to pay the service fee, because as soon you walk out the door, it's an instant month of interest. Then I go play the gig, as soon as the gig's over, I bring the guitar back, pawn it again to get the money so I can bring it back to my neighbor. And that's the way I lived for 11 years.

We had lawsuits, we had deaths. There were actually executives (who shall remain nameless) who actually tried to torpedo it. And even when we were making the film, once we got funded, it was still insane.

"God was the Art Director"

Allan: After 11 years, the guys in the Funk Brothers thought I was nuts. But they were right with me for the first five or six years, because they figured, "Well, he did get the book done. And he did win an award." But after six years, it started to wear thin. They were always polite, but I think they were treating me like the crazy aunt again. "Oh, there's Slutsky, talking about the movie again."

So finally it happened, and they didn't believe it! I remember calling [pianist] Joe Hunter when I was up in Detroit, and saying, "Joe, come over here, I've got a check for you. We're ready to go!"

He said, "Oh man, c'mon, I'm too old for this s***!"

I said, "No, I'm serious. I've got a check for you. Come over!"

Our worst fear was shooting in the winter in Detroit. And we wound up getting worse than our worst fear: we wound up shooting in the worst winter in Detroit in a quarter of a century. It snowed every day for a month and a half, and some days it was 14 inches, and some days it was half an inch. But the upside was that it looked beautiful all the time. Every morning, you started out with a clean white sheet, all over the city.

Ed: I think the producer said that "God was the art director" on the audio commentary of the DVD.

Allan: Yeah, exactly. But one night, from the weight of the snow, the roof collapsed, and wiped out half of the equipment on the stage. I remember when we were shooting Chaka Kahn's version of "What's Going On", I had water dripping on my head. And I'm playing electric guitar! So I'm sitting there thinking, "Well, so should I take a chance dying, or should I call it off?" And I thought, "You waited 11 years, you might not get the chance again!"