I've been revisiting (and discovering) a lot of music docs, and forgive me if there's already a thread on this, but I figgered ya'll would probably have some suggestions/know some I don't.

Here lately I've gotten:

No Direction Home (Bob Dylan; great, would like to know if there's one that goes further into his career?)
It Might Get Loud (Haven't watched it yet)
Learning to Live With Myself (Merle Haggard; very insightful into the man behind the music; love the scenes of him going back to his childhood home)
Can't You Hear the Wind Howl? (Robert Johnson, pretty straight-forward bio-channelish narrarated by Danny Glover)
Hellhounds on My Trail (Robert Johnson, haven't watched it yet)
Rock N Roll Circus (Rolling Stones w/guests; haven't watched)
About a Son (Kurt Cobain; haven't gotten to yet)

and I revisited Heartworn Highways, Be Here to Love Me (Townes), Fallen Angel (Gram Parsons), The Last Waltz, Gimme Shelter & Cocksucker Blues (Rolling Stones), & The Devil & Daniel Johnston (I also caught some Nick Drake doc on Sundance not too long ago)


I plan on picking up We Jam Econo next, whats some more good ones?

I don't know how I forgot Neil Young's Heart of Gold & the Silver & Gold DVD; also Wilco's I Am Trying to Break Your Heart & Ashes of American Flags

This is my favorite, it's probably the most moving music documentary I've seen:

i just watched 'Exile on Main Street' and it was okay, not great. not a TON of footage but a few cool interviews...

I second the Devil and Daniel Johnston. Great movie. This is kinda similar, and just about as good:



You don't have to be a fan of either of these bands to enjoy this. Completely ridiculous, like a real life This Is Spinal Tap:



Drawing a blank now but I'll post more when I think of them...

This has been in my Netflix queue forever but I haven't seen it yet. Supposed to be pretty good though:

Standing in the Shadows of Motown - a must see

Shine a Light - Surprisingly good late period Stones, stolen by buddy motherfuckin' guy. Also interesting to see Christina Aguilera totally awed by being on stage w/ the big boys, kind of a deer in the headlights thing. Jack White's surprisingly similar tho not to the same extent.

Stop Making Sense

The Decline of Western Civilization (parts 1&2)

beantownbubba wrote:Standing in the Shadows of Motown - a must see

Shine a Light - Surprisingly good late period Stones, stolen by buddy motherfuckin' guy. Also interesting to see Christina Aguilera totally awed by being on stage w/ the big boys, kind of a deer in the headlights thing. Jack White's surprisingly similar tho not to the same extent.

Stop Making Sense

Love Shine a Light it is suprisingly good, I've got Four Flicks & Biggest Bang "boxsets" and altho they got their spots it blows them away

good stuff all around this thread.

not a fan of shine a lite, tho.

this was a good one.

buddy guy rips it up. non stop party on a train full of rock stars crossing canada back in the day. canadian hippies were a lot cleaner than american hippies.

DIG is really good but I couldn't listen to either band after seeing it.

Festival Express is great, too.

Hype - grunge
The Funk Brothers - Motown studio musicians
American Hardcore - punk
End of the Century - Ramones
Fearless Freaks - Flaming Lips
The Kids Are Alright - The Who
The Last Waltz - The Band
Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage - for LJ
The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story - for Zip

Check out
Deperate Man Blues - about a wackjob in Maryland who collects old records, and thinks music basically died in the 40's. It is pretty entertaining fare in spite of his uppity attitude.

Great call on Festival Express, dime. What I wouldn't a given to be a fly on the wall of that train. Liquor stops in Bumfuck Nowhere & outlandishly good music throughout.

I bet this one's right up there:

But, I can't say, because I have yet to see it...

I don't know much about Brian Jonestown Massacre or Dandy Warhols: but, a buddy was telling me I MUST check this film out:
http://www.palmpictures.com/film/dig-.php

Seven years in the making and culled from 2000 hours of footage, DIG! plunges into the underbelly of rock ‘n’ roll, unearthing an incredible true story of success and selfdestruction. Anton A. Newcombe of the Brian Jonestown Massacre and Courtney Taylor of the Dandy Warhols are star-crossed friends and bitter rivals. DIG! is the story of their loves and obsessions, gigs and recordings, arrests and death threats, uppers and downers, and the delicate balance between art and commerce.

Dig is a must-see.
Also, I Am Trying to Break Your Heart (Wilco), Loud QUIET Loud (Pixies), and We Jam Econo (The Minutemen).

Finally, this ain't rock and roll, but there wouldn't be rock and roll without it:

Penny Lane wrote:DIG is really good but I couldn't listen to either band after seeing it.

I can't stand either band also but it was a great movie.

I found this story fascinating.



------------------------------------------

I cant wait to see this:

bovine knievel wrote:I found this story fascinating.



------------------------------------------

I cant wait to see this:

I've been waiting for that Blaze doc for a couple years now

Gimme Shelter Probably the best rock documentary ever. Has everything. Stones in their prime. Naive idealism versus brutal realism. Muscle Shoals. Bikers. Someone dies at the end.

No Direction Home I think this is Scorcese's best musical documentary. I like it more than The Last Waltz. It really shows how people projected all of this messianic, "voice of his generation" crap onto Bob Dylan. He sort of goes along with it for a while, but by the end of the film he realizes that 1) he is only a musician and 2) a musician is all he ever really wanted to be. It explains why he decided to only focus on the things that really mattered to him after the motorcycle crash. Those things were his family and his music.

http://www.waterstreetfilms.com/

ya'll know anything about this? A film about Richard Manuel

I thought Dont Look Back was listed so I didn't mention it earlier, but I don't see it, and it's pretty much required viewing.

Another vote for Festival Express, and while you're at it, you should probably watch the original Woodstock, just because.

beantownbubba wrote:I thought Dont Look Back was listed so I didn't mention it earlier, but I don't see it, and it's pretty much required viewing.

Another vote for Festival Express, and while you're at it, you should probably watch the original Woodstock, just because.

Just got Standing in the Shadows of Motown, will watch it later (looks very interesting)
There should be a movie about the Swampers

Smitty wrote:http://www.waterstreetfilms.com/

ya'll know anything about this? A film about Richard Manuel

WHAT!? Let me know about this.

Not sure if someone mentioned this, after seeing half of this on PBS, i had to order it..

what a pretty shirt

Penny Lane wrote:DIG is really good but I couldn't listen to either band after seeing it.

I started to feel this way 10 minutes into Lucero's "Dreaming in America". I promptly hit the STOP button so I wouldn't ruin the music that I like so much.

'Scratch wrote:

Penny Lane wrote:DIG is really good but I couldn't listen to either band after seeing it.

I started to feel this way 10 minutes into Lucero's "Dreaming in America". I promptly hit the STOP button so I wouldn't ruin the music that I like so much.

i had to stop going to Lucero's shows for that same reason.
couldn't take their audiences.

My favorite music doc is definitely Wilco's "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart." The film is so perfectly done that even if it was fictional, it would be a great movie. You can just feel the friction and annoyingness of Jay Bennett wearing on the band and then gets fired. Getting dropped from their label for going over-budget. The ups and downs of striving a masterpiece. And the mad scientist Jeff Tweedy at work.

Phish's "Bittersweet Motel" which was filmed by Todd Phillips of "Road Trip" fame directed it. Filmed beginning in 1997 into early 1998, it has in depth interviews and some excellent live footage of Phish in its prime, just slightly before their rise and fall in "jam" dominance. (They've obviously since returned) Their are lot of discussions on their musical philosophy, dealing with success, life as a heavy touring band on the road, etc.

I struggle to put the Talking Heads "Stop Making Sense" as a musical documentary, but its brilliance is eternal.