Scratch Jandek On Corwood New York Doll Moog Bruce Haack: King Of Techno Heavy Metal Parking Lot Metal: A Headbanger's Journey The Devil And Daniel Johnston Anvil We Jam Econo and of course Spinal Tap
The Kids are Alright (the original cut of 30 Years of Maximum R&B is also good, I found The Story of the Who a bit disappointing, for me the best part is the extras disc with the fly on the wall short showing the making of their song Real Good Looking Boy) Ramones: End of the Century Standing in the Shadows of Motown Message to Love Runnin' Down a Dream American Hardcore The Classic Albums series
My top six: I Am Trying to Break Your Heart (Wilco) Straight No Chaser (Thelonious Monk) No Direction Home (Bob Dylan) Which One's Pink? (Pink Floyd) Funky Monks (Red Hot Chili Peppers) Bring On The Night (Sting)
Rush - Beyond The Lighted Stage. One of the best parts is in the Deli when the waitress leans over Alex to get Geddy's autograph. Alex's response is just classic.
Is this the same show that was also called (or maybe I just remember it that way) "The History of Rock n Roll"? If so, I saw it probably around 1995 on PBS as well, and it was available on VHS at one time. VH1 Classic actually re-aired it not too long ago, but I'm not sure if they showed the whole series or just selected episodes here and there.
I liked that too, and it laid the groundwork for my appreciation of older music beyond the scope of what I was listening to. I could be wrong, but I think there may have been two different History of Rock/Pop Music doc's in the mid 90's. What I really hated, as a teen heavily into Punk Rock and it's recorded history at the time, was that they would show the Sex Pistols final show with the famous "Ever get the feeling you've been cheated" line, then apparently nothing happened with punk and underground music until Nirvana and Green Day. And every region except New York and the U.K. were marginalized. Well...I guess they only had like 50 minutes. The Decline of Western Civilization was a thrill to watch, to see my favorite bands actually in motion during their heydays.
And the ending credits over their dinner meeting. Hilarious! Another good one was The Doors docu, When You're Strange.
I have always thought Monterey Pop was the best music documentary. It was the first big rock concert and it was in the Summer of Love in 1967. There is a lot of innocence to this movie that I still enjoy every time I watch it.
Kinda like for me being a 70's Prog fan, they always have to show the same old clip from Rick Wakeman's "Arthur on Ice". Sure some of it was way over the top and too self-indulgent, but not all Prog Rock was as silly as that.
I decided against it but in my post I was going to write how that clip was used to show how excessive and indulgent rock became, opening the door for punk rock. There may have been a bit about Pink Floyd but that seems to be all as far as discussing Prog. Vaguely related, VH1 was also fond of a grainy video clip of some goofy guys wearing suits and top hats holding wads of cash to show the "bloated" state of 70's rock. Who were those guys?
That's the one. Some of it actually isn't very good, but it's all interesting. And the Otis Redding segment is the greatest performance in the history of recorded music IMHO.
All apologies if my choice is too far off the mark. It doesn't focus solely on one band, nor on music entirely. However the PBS documentary Making Sense of the 60's did a great job of portraying in context, the role of the music. Highly recommended.
+1 on the Rush docu BBC did a few nice ones recently Prog Rock Britannia Heavy Metal Britannia Blues Britannia
My 2 all time favorites: -Howlin' Wolf: The Secret History Of Rock n' Roll -Antone's Home Of The Blues If you love the blues, these are essential. I'm glad they're not VHS as I would've worn 'em right out !
MAn, how could I have forgotten Hype!? An overview of the rise and fall of the "Seattle sound", it's one of the best music doc's IMHO, and certainly one of the best-looking, as it's very well shot. Jandek On Corwood - Pretty incredible how a couple of first-time directors managed to make an engaging 90-minute documentary about an obscure musician about whom almost nothing is known (or was at the time the movie was made). Joy Division - excellent overview of this seminal postpunk band, holds up to repeat viewings.
"Dig!" A documentary on the once promising American rock bands The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols. Both hell-bent on staging a self-proclaimed revolution of the music industry, as darlings of the American indie scene in the mid 1990s the friendship between respective founders, Anton Newcombe and Courtney Taylor, escalated into bitter rivalry as the Dandy Warhols garner major international success while the Brian Jonestown Massacre imploded in a haze of drugs, band in-fighting and unchecked egotism. Ondi Timoner had unprecedented access of the two bands and presents a genuinely fascination of a friendship forged in ambition and destroyed by excess. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. and others already mentioned here. EDIT: I see Dig! has already been mentioned... my bad.
I Need That Record! is great if it hasn't been mentioned already http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/ineedthatrecord.php
Andrew Solt is the man responsible for the 1995 10-hour History of Rock & Roll, and he's a real class act. He was previously partnered with Malcolm Leo for the Beach Boys American Band project, and has done many hours of great historical specials about TV history over the last 20 years. Long before that, Solt did the 1979 Heroes of Rock & Roll special for ABC, which was terrific for the time (though seldom remembered today, and never released to home video due to rights clearance issues). I think the Beatles Anthology was the best single-group special I've ever seen, and they did an extraordinary job putting that together. I'm still p!ssed-off that it hasn't been redone and expanded for HD release. In the meantime, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Martin Scorsese will do a great job on his forthcoming George Harrison documentary, Living in the Material World. And Ringo's reportedly working on his own doc as well.
