I like Metallica- Some Kind Of Monster. It's really fascinating even if you aren't a Metallica fan. Red Hot Chili Peppers- Funky Monks (which covers the writing and recording of Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik) is also highly recommended.
Tom Petty - Runnin' Down a Dream Just finished watching this and I can't really imagine a better documentary. I don't think you particularly have to be a Petty fan to enjoy this - it's fascinating about the music business and the business of making music. So many great moments, my favourite being Tom going off at the A&R man for trying to force Roger McGuinn to sing what is 'just a bad song'. You tell 'em! Still Bill - a Bill Withers documentary I wrote about this here after being blown away by it at the London Film Festival. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to have got much coverage, but if you have any interest in Bill Withers whatsoever, please check it out. It really moved me in a profound way. Tom
Yes, Runnin' Down a Dream is great. I was also greatly entertained (and informed) by Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage. Just well put together - pacing, humor, quite touching at times...and some remarkable archival footage and home movies that just dropped my jaw. The Blu-ray looks and sounds fantastic in HD.
I forgot the name of it (maybe it was called the history of Rock and Roll), but it was shown in segments by genre each day on KPBS, back in '96. It was a UK production from what I can recall. I wish I still had that VHS tape in which I recorded it on... But I love how it was narrated, and jumped from genre to genre, with great interviews with the artists of the time, e.g. Roger Waters, Siouxsie Sioux, Jeff Beck.
The pianist Glenn Gould produced a series of radio documentaries for the CBC. Stokowski - A Portrait For Radio is my favorite of his radio productions that deal specifically with music, but his Solitude Trilogy turns the concept of Musical Documentary inside out with musical arrangements [in the form of what Gould called "contrapuntal radio"] of documentary materials—interviews edited into monologues by editing out the interviewer, overlapping monologues edited into dialogs and so on. http://www.cbcshop.ca/CBC/shopping/product.aspx?Product_ID=2031&Variant_ID=PSCD+2031&lang=en-CA
It Might Get Loud (Blu Ray) meeting of Jimmy Page, The Edge, and Jack White...have watched it several times since getting it.
X: The Unheard Music The Decline of Western Civilization Gimmie Shelter The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan Live at the Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965
The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (the documentary parts, anyway) Be Here to Love Me (Townes Van Zandt) The Kids are Alright Monterey Pop The Power of Song (Pete Seeger)
Yes, it was called Rock & Roll. At nearly 20 hours spread over 10 episodes, it still ranks as the best overall summary of rock history ever, IMHO...really, really great! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0291656/ http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=15584 Sadly, it was never released on DVD, probably due to various licensing issues.
Ray Davies' The world from my window The Beatles Anthology It was 20 years ago today PBS' Rock History The kids are alright
Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage - Sam Dunn's other documentaries Metal: A Headbanger's Journey and Global Metal are very good too! DIG! Gimme Shelter The Filth And The Fury Montery Pop Edit: Damn, after seeing the below post...how could I forget We Jam Econo? Great film, goes to show what can be done on a low budget these days!
"We Jam Econo", about The Minutemen, is a great one. I love Dylan, but I could barely get through "Dont Look Back". I think I'm just not a fan of the verite style. "No Direction Home", on the other hand, is terrific.
Curious, since I didn't connect with it at all (but then I'm not a "rock guy") - are you watching it all at once, or revisiting various segments?
The Filth and the Fury - Can't say enough good things about this one really. Tupac Resurrection - A bit of a puff piece at times, but still a rather fascinating and well-made documentary that's worth watching whether you're a fan of 2Pac's music or not. Beef & Beef II - A look into the history of hip-hop rivalries from the earliest days to present. Great stuff for rap fans, probably not so much for others. Soul Train: The Hippest Trip in America - VH1's recent doc about the show. Nothing groundbreaking exactly, but always interesting and filled with great music. Plus plenty of the previously mentioned and a handful I know I'm forgetting and can't think of at the moment.
Two of the darkest, and most honest: The Flaming Lips - The Fearless Freaks Anvil! The Story of Anvil General history of the bands: Yes - Yesstory Genesis - The Genesis Songbook
Oh man! I even recorded most of it too...but I doubt my friend still has that tape since he's had it way back to '03. The narrator's voice was perfect too. Now that I can remember, I saw it in '95.
I love: "The Devil And Daniel Johnston" "The Fearless Freaks" & "DIG!" AND, let me be the one to say I never felt anything from Bob Dylan until I saw "No Direction Home"!
Dig is the best one I've seen. Worthwhile even if you're not a fan of Brian Jonestown Massacre or Dandy Warhols.
