"The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story"

I have been wanting to see "The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story" for a while and I finally got my chance tonight from Netflix. It was an amazing story of the songwriting team that created so many memorable songs. These are the songs that stay with you for the rest of your life.

You hear them tell their story from when they were kids up to just a couple of years ago with the Broadway debut of Mary Poppins. They tell the stories of when Bob Sherman joined the Army during WWII and was injured in the line of duty. They didn't know if he was going to make it or not.

Also of the time when Richard Sherman was trying to decide what to major in in college. He went for a walk trying to figure it out when he started to hear music. He looked around and realized that the music was coming from his head. He rushed home and jumped on the piano and started to play what was in his head. His father Al Sherman heard this and told him right there and then that he was going to be a music major.



The one story that really blew me away was how they came up with the song "A Spoonful of Sugar Helps The Medicine Go Down" for Mary Poppins. Robert's son Jeff had just come home from school and had received an immunization shot. He found his father sitting in a dark room with all the shades drawn. His father asked him how his day went. He told him he got a shot at school. "Did it hurt?" "Well, yeah, but they put a sugar cube on a plastic spoon and then you take your medicine so it helps it go down." "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down?!" Robert called Richard and just said "A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR HELPS THE MEDICINE GO DOWN!!" I couldn't believe that some of the greatest songs are inspired by such simple situations.

It's times like that when a true genius can find the beauty and art in anything.





They even wrote the one song that seems to get stuck in everyone's head every single time



They also talk about the first time they met Walt Disney. It was amazing to see them to this day still get choked up when they talk about it.



The one thing that was unbelievable to watch was how different they were. To see these two men who through their songs have brought so many families together, they own families were so far apart. Their sons Gregg and Jeff directed the movie but hadn't seen each other in about 30 or 40 years because their dads kept them apart. They would say, "It's just easier that way."

I highly recommend to anyone who is a fan of these great and classic songs to go out and watch this movie right now!!

Click here to go to the official website for the film.