"Feelin' No Pain"
Produced and Directed by Josh Aronson

Cleveland Still

A feature documentary that celebrates Doo Wop music and the legendary singers of the 50’s and 60’s who sang on the street corners of Brooklyn and made group harmony singing famous. Kenny Vance, founder of Jay and the Americans, is our guide. He visits with some of the mythic singers whose music he grew up loving. We meet these legends today as they reminisce with Kenny and yes they sing together in scenes that will raise the hairs on the back of your neck. They still have the poignancy and just plain soulfulness that always separated them from the pack and that makes their music timeless.

Pookie Hudson

Some of the artists you’ll meet today and who sing with Kenny are Little Anthony and the Imperials, Eugene Pitt of the Jive 5, Pookie Hudson of The Spaniels, Cleveland Still of The Dubs, Charlie Thomas of The Drifters and Kenny’s old partner, Jay Black of Jay and the Americans who sings his hit, Cara Mia with Kenny’s new group The Planotones.

Kenny’s struggles to hold this group together are woven through Feelin’ No Pain. As his brother Ronny says in an interview, at 50 years old Kenny had a bodily attack of needing to sing again and The Planotones is the result. This is Kenny’s effort to honor the oldies Doo Wop music that he loves and to bring it to audiences who still go crazy for this music. In the beginning The Planotones are his hand-picked choice of aging singers from Brooklyn who are from that era and they have a soulfulness that brings this music to life. They sing it the way it was meant to be sung.

Woven through the film are songs from a live concert The Planotones recorded for an album at New York’s Bitter End. These are quintessential performances from the original days of The Planotones.

Shot over 5 years, Feelin’ No Pain follows Kenny’s struggle to hold the band together. He finds that the economics of making ends meet for an oldies band and the grind of the road are hard masters and holding his singers together is a real struggle. But Kenny’s dream fuels him. The Planotones personnel changes as the film goes on but, with Kenny’s vision and artistic purity, the sound of Doo Wop continues to be heard.

About Kenny Vance

Images from the production

Clips from the Movie

Film Credits

 

Purchase Feelin' No Pain on DVD $25.00

For more information contact:
Josh Aronson - Aronson Film Associates
phone: 212-253-6941 - fax: 212-253-8863
eMail josh@aronsonfilms.com