His death was announced by his brother, the J. Geils keyboard player Seth Justman, toNamed Best Non-Fiction Film of 2002 by the New York Film Critics, among other awards including two Grammys,chronicled the story of the Funk Brothers, the legendary, if at the time largely unknown, studio musicians who played on numerous Motown hits.
The film gave long overdue credit to musicians Jamerson, Jack Ashford, Bob Babbitt, Joe Hunter, Uriel Jones, Joe Messina, Eddie Willis, Richard “Pistol” Allen, Benny “Papa Zita” Benjamin, Eddie “Bongo” Brown, Johnny Griffith, Earl Van Dyke and Robert White, who played on hits by the Temptations, the Supremes, the Miracles, the Four Tops, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and Mary Wells, among others.