Band/artist documentaries.
These types of films may not be for everyone, but I’ve been on a viewing kick recently and encourage your recommendations for all to enjoy. It’s been interesting to see the stories of the various subjects and get some great insights, stories, and entertaining anecdotes firsthand. Listed below are a few I’ve seen and can recommend. Please follow suit with yours - and enjoy!
Music from the inside out
The Last Waltz (of course)
Lost Angel (Judee Sill)
Sound City
Neil Young - Journeys
David Crosby - Remember my name
Linda Ronstadt - The sound of my voice
Rumble
Once Were Brothers (The Band)
Muscle Shoals
The Wrecking Crew
Standing in the Shadows of Motown
Seymour: An Introduction
YMMV, but having a full blown home theater set up with a 9 foot projection screen sure does enhance the experience...
Though not acclaimed for his music, his art has long been "music-adjacent": R. Crumb. The documentary is entitled Crumb, made by his friend Terry Zwigoff. His record collection (shown in the film) appears to be entirely 78's (played on a Lenco table, iirc), recordings of "old timey" music from the early part of the 20th century. His view and opinion of the San Francisco bands he was surrounded by (expressed in the film) are really funny. He probably approves of Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks.
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I’ve enjoyed many of the documentaries mentioned above. One documentarian not mentioned yet whose films are well worth tracking down is Les Blank. He’s done some really good work with blues musicians, particularly Lightnin’ Hopkins. Look for: The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins A Well-spent Life (Mance Lipscomb) A Poem is a Naked Person (Leon Russell) His catalog is vast and includes films about Tex-mex, Mexican, Cajun, Bluegrass and other music genres. if you happen to be a fan of Werner Herzog, you might enjoy Werner Herzog eats a shoe, about a bet Herzog made with Blank and lost. |
And then there is classical music! The Ken Russell 1962 documentary on Elgar made for the British Broadcasting Corporation's fine arts program Monitor was voted best TV program of the decade in the UK. That is despite Monitor insisting that the actors were not allowed to speak, and the documentary being shot in black and white. It kick started Ken Russell's film career and several other music documentaries. Worth an hour of anybody's time, in my opinion. |
Hall of Fame guitarist, John Cippolina, slipped under the radar of many, but deserves respect and consideration. RIP, Mr. Coppolina. Here are a few links to documentaries about John’s life and music: The first one is 4 minutes well spent if you want a short introduction to John’s personality, wit, and how he viewed the music industry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aV8cm9x7NA https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11115712/ |
