Recommend some good music documentaries/films?

dinneenp

Hi,
Can anyone recommend some good music documentaries/films?
there must be a load out there but I'm not aware of that many.
some I've seen are:
It might get loud
Spinal Tap
Dig
End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones
Must have that record



Some I've heard of but not seen:
Re:generation
that Chamical Brothers one
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart: A Film About Wilco

Cheers,
pa.

Sinfonia

Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser (1988)
Great documentary about his life, still great even if you're not that familiar with him, just a class documentary. Produced by Clint Eastwood, Bruce Ricker and Charlotte Zwerin.

The Blues (2003)
Seven-part documentary tracing the development of blues music. Different directors/producers for each episode (Clint Eastwood being one - he's everywhere..!). Brought to you overall by Martin Scorsese.

Buena Vista Social Club (1999)
Ry Cooder's (successful) effort to bring a group of Cuban musicians (many very elderly) together and ultimately toward international fame. Fantastic story and of course great music.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2008)
Basically the real Spinal Tap. Absolutely hilarious, and actually very interesting! Produced by Clint Eastwood (just kidding :P )

Rothko

loudQUIETloud - Pixies
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449121/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HWMMI0hsxE (Part One)

Control - It's about Ian Curtis of Joy Division
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_%282007_film%29

Irish Guitarist

Episodes of the BBC Classic Albums series are available on DVD. Dark Side Of The Moon is especially good. Nirvanas Nevermind, Bob Marleys Catch A Fire, Lou Reeds Transformer and Who's Next by The Who are also worth watching. There's more than likely some other great ones that I can't think of offhand.

The Pink Floyd And Syd Barrett Story (originally shown on BBC as part of the Omnibus series and now on DVD) is great.

Band Of Gypsys tells the story of the band of the same name that was put together by Jimi Hendrix.

Cracked Actor was a great seventies documentary about David Bowie. I don't think it's ever been released on DVD.

Deep Blues was on Sky Arts a while ago. It was a great film made in 1990 about early blues music. Moog was on Sky Arts and was pretty good too. It was about the synthesizer invented by Robert Moog. Keep an eye out if you're interested and they might be repeated.

I almost forgot The Beatles Anthology. It's something like thirteen hours long and is great.

rcaz

Meeting People Is Easy is a Radiohead documentary about the tour just after OK Computer, when they were getting all the buzz about being the 'biggest band in the world' and all, really deadly little picture of how ****ed up the whole thing was and how Thom Yorke was losing his mind.

The Fearless Freaks is a SAVAGE film about The Flaming Lips. I don't think you need to be a fan to enjoy it, so many interesting characters were involved with the band. Really great scene where Steven Drozd discusses his drug addiction while preparing some heroin.

You mentioned Wilco, I really liked Ashes Of American Flags when I watched it. Some SAVAGE performance scenes in it.

henryporter

rcaz wrote: »

Meeting People Is Easy is a Radiohead documentary about the tour just after OK Computer, when they were getting all the buzz about being the 'biggest band in the world' and all, really deadly little picture of how ****ed up the whole thing was and how Thom Yorke was losing his mind.

The Fearless Freaks is a SAVAGE film about The Flaming Lips. I don't think you need to be a fan to enjoy it, so many interesting characters were involved with the band. Really great scene where Steven Drozd discusses his drug addiction while preparing some heroin.

You mentioned Wilco, I really liked Ashes Of American Flags when I watched it. Some SAVAGE performance scenes in it.

+1 for Ashes of American Flags.

Some more of my favorites:

No Direction Home - Scorsese does Bob Dylan: Bob as usual attempts to rewrite his own history while other acquaintances tell the other side.

The Last Waltz - Scorsese does The Band: combination of footage from the Bands last ever concert and interviews with all of the members. Great footage of Van Morrison really enjoying himself.

Fallen Angel - Gram Parsons: You might not like the music (or you would if you like Wilco) but its an interesting story.

30 Century Man: Scott Walker - saw this one night on BBC4 - utterly amazing character who walked away from a life of pop genius and returned with music as original as you will ever hear.

The Devil and Daniel Johnston - see here for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Johnston

Malice

Suas11 wrote: »

loudQUIETloud - Pixies
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449121/

I was just about to post that. It's well worth watching even if it is very depressing in places.

Herb Powell

Metal: A headbanger's journey

delbertgrady

George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Overlong but ultimately impressive Martin Scorsese film about the Quiet Beatle. Suffers from some questionable editing, but is a treasure trove of photos and footage, not least from the height of Beatlemania.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin' Down a Dream
Exceptional, four-hour documentary by Peter Bogdanovich that rockets along and feels like a film half that duration. Excellent contributions from band members and others. Truly one of the greatest, most comprehensive music documentaries ever made.
Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage
Even for non-fans, this is an exceptionally well made film that charts the band's progress and goes a long way to demonstrating their influence on a wide and diverse group of musicians.
The Who: The Kids Are Alright
The more recent Amazing Journey film was a valiant effort, but this is the original and best Who documentary. Well worth seeing.

Malice

True Norwegian Black Metal is worth a watch as well (there are YouTube links at the bottom of that Wikipedia page) but there is quite a bit of misrepresentation done on it.

Finneen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpYIWThQbYU

Rothko

I forgot to add Don't Look Back which follow Bob Dylan on his tour in 1965
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Look_Back

Also, rcaz has mentioned them already but The Fearless Freaks and Meeting People Is Easy are definitely both worth a watch.

bullpost

Stones in Exile - http://www.rollingstones.com/news/stones-exile-dvd-out-now

Fly on the wall about them making Exile on Main Street album. They reluctantly moved to France at the time. Shows them as very different from the stereotype - trying to source English staples like branston pickle in France and minding their kids etc.

Welsh Megaman

Are you a fan of 80's heavy metal? Good, I thought so! Then I recommend

Heavy Metal Parking Lot
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_Metal_Parking_Lot

and

The Decline Of Western Civilisation Part 2: The Metal Years
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Decline_of_Western_Civilization_Part_II:_The_Metal_Years

cloptrop

The last waltz is good . Its a farewell concert when they split up for a period in the 70s. Nearly every song on it has a great special guest like Bob Dylan Joni Mitchell Van Morrison and so on even Eric Clapton is in there.
A young Martin Scorsese directs it .
Watched it on netflix the other day , very good.

Oh its "the Band" that the thing is about.

dasdog

bullpost wrote: »

Stones in Exile - http://www.rollingstones.com/news/stones-exile-dvd-out-now

Fly on the wall about them making Exile on Main Street album. They reluctantly moved to France at the time. Shows them as very different from the stereotype - trying to source English staples like branston pickle in France and minding their kids etc.

The documentary about the tour is rock n' roll hedonism.

Latchy

For all Doors fans .I watched this last and well worth it .It's also repeatd tonight and monday on BBC4 and BBC 4 Iplayer ...don't miss .

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01f7y7c

By 1969, the Doors had found themselves at the forefront of a movement that consisted of a generation of discontents. Operating against a backdrop of the Vietnam War and of social unrest and change in the USA, the Doors were hip, they were dangerous, they were anti-establishment, anti-war and they were hated by middle-America.

Featuring exclusive interviews with surviving band members Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, Robby Kreiger and their closest colleagues and collaborators, along with exclusive performances, archive footage and examination of the original multi-track recording tapes with producer Bruce Botnick, this film tells the amazing story of landmark album LA Woman by one of the most influential bands on the planet.

cloptrop

Latchy wrote: »

For all Doors fans .I watched this last and well worth it .It's also repeatd tonight and monday on BBC4 and BBC 4 Iplayer ...don't miss .

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01f7y7c[/QUOTE]

Its not on bbc 4 tonight, I just went through the hassle of turning on the tv and upc box and looking for it and cant find it , gosh darn it , Im sad now

oops Sunday night/monday morning 00:15 found it , it set to record , thanks for that.

Jimmy Iovine

Wu Tang Clan ain't nuthin to fúck with.

In the summer of 1993, the Wu-Tang Clan emerged from the slums of Staten Island and took the hip-hop world by storm. Their legacy spanned over a decade, garnering fans worldwide and generating sales in excess of $50 million. This is their story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHN_XD76XiA

CiaranK

Rush - Beyond The Lighted Stage

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Runnin' Down A Dream

The Who - Amazing Journey

Anvil - The Story Of Anvil

Pearl Jam Twenty

No Direction Home - Bob Dylan

Horslips - Dancehall Sweethearts

Queen - Days Of Our Lives

windingo

Don't know whether you like him or not but this is a good documentary about Rory Gallagher - Ghost Blues http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/16057149/Rory-Gallagher-Ghost-Blues/Product.html?searchstring=rory+gallagher&searchsource=0&searchtype=allproducts&urlrefer=search

Howard the Duck

+1 on anvil and LOUDquietLOUD
Also End of the Century . the story of the ramones.
Fearless freaks .The Flaming lips

nungesser

"Screaming Messiahs" about the music and scene in Iceland is really interesting
"Heartland Reggae" if your a reggae fan has some amazing live performances
"Pink Floyd Live at Pompei" totally mindblowing footage of pink floyd playing in an ancient amphitheater, with them in studio recording "dark side of the moon" at the end of the film

trashcan

Not a documentary, but Stop Making Sense - Talking Heads. The best concert film ever made.

Rothko

Just remembered this one about the Stone Roses called Blood On The Turntable.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0426340/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DH1vYISXsY

PHIDIAS

Edwyn Collins: After 2 strokes it has not stopped him. Pretty inspirational guy.

http://youtu.be/kH6QPEzrfgI
http://youtu.be/WhEn9ngA2FY
http://youtu.be/sKHERRDF1ZE
http://youtu.be/9pY1IqvICSY

Stompbox

I noticed that 'No Distance Left To Run' with Blur and 'In Transit' with the Strokes have escaped mention so far.

Miguel_Sanchez

Scratch is a great look at hip-hop DJs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_u7s8NDz9o

Jimmy Iovine

Jeff_Lebowski wrote: »

Scratch is a great look at hip-hop DJs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_u7s8NDz9o

Must give that a go. Do they feature much on Shadow? I know he isn't a big fan at all of the spotlight.

Haven't seen this but it could be very good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_5izMhfsQU

Here's another one that I haven't seen but has the potential to be very good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxN2nJIwWNM

I watched this documentary about 5 years ago. Back when the videos on Youtube took 4Eva N a Day to load up. It's a great look at the Chili's recording sessions for Blood Sugar Sex Magik.

Rick Rubin owned the house and he made the band stay there for the duration of the recording of the album. Everyone but Chad Smith. He thought the house was haunted so he commuted every day.

It's pretty interesting from what I can remember. I think John Frusciante gets pretty weird during it all. I suppose he was on everything and anything at that stage and it wasn't long before he quit the band.

It's not often you get to see the makings of an absolutely brilliant album. I must watch it back myself.

For anyone interested, the house that they stayed in has been permanently changed into a recording studio called The Mansion. Some of the all time greats have lived there down through the years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qnkyoVCXWw

EchoO

Peter Green - Man of World.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC0DayWUY64

The Sex Pistols - The Filth and Fury.

Neil Young - Don't be denied.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/musictv/neilyoung/

Rothko

I watched this documentary about 5 years ago. Back when the videos on Youtube took 4Eva N a Day to load up. It's a great look at the Chili's recording sessions for Blood Sugar Sex Magik.

Rick Rubin owned the house and he made the band stay there for the duration of the recording of the album. Everyone but Chad Smith. He thought the house was haunted so he commuted every day.

It's pretty interesting from what I can remember. I think John Frusciante gets pretty weird during it all. I suppose he was on everything and anything at that stage and it wasn't long before he quit the band.

It's not often you get to see the makings of an absolutely brilliant album. I must watch it back myself.

For anyone interested, the house that they stayed in has been permanently changed into a recording studio called The Mansion. Some of the all time greats have lived there down through the years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qnkyoVCXWw

I'm not a huge fan of the band but I do love that album and that is a great documentary.

Miguel_Sanchez

Jimmy Iovine wrote: »

Must give that a go. Do they feature much on Shadow? I know he isn't a big fan at all of the spotlight.

Yeah he's featured a lot in it. He shows the record shop that he buys from - it's pretty incredible.

dyer

'Smile' is a great little docu about brian wilson and the story of the beach boys
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0421696/

Also worth a mention are Blame it on the Fish and Animals Should Not Try To Act Like People by Primus. In the same vein Frank Zappa's docu can be viewed on youtube.

'Sweet and Lowdown' is a fictional work based around the jazz guitarist Emmet Ray, one of Sean Penns finest roles imo.. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0158371/

Not so much a docu but Rory Gallagher's Rockpalast is a must for any fans of his!