Great music docs from ‘Amy’ to ‘ZZ Top’
Consider them education. Or entertainment. Music documentaries provide an opportunity to celebrate — or learn about — old music, the history of music or new music. Or just your favorite artist.
Here are some recommended music docs that can be found on YouTube, DVD/Blu-ray or streaming services such as Netflix or Amazon Prime.
“Don’t Look Back” (1967):
No film captures the whirlwind of early pop stardom better than cinema verité pioneer D.A. Pennebaker’s chronicle of Bob Dylan’s 1965 electric tour of England. He’d split up with Joan Baez, switched from folk to rock and turned the Beatles onto pot. The mustsee film also features Dylan flipping cue cards for what became the “music video” of “Subterranean Homesick Blues.”
“The Decline of Western Civilization” (1981):
Punk rockers were rarely seen on film until Penelope Spheeris’ landmark portrayal of the LA punk scene, featuring frantic performances by X, Black Flag and others. To add cinematic drama, she interviewed the musicians under one light bulb as they carped about suburban strip malls and their own urban squalor.
“Gospel According to Al Green” (1984):
After dogged pursuit, Robert Mugge, who has made music docs on the likes of Gil Scott-Heron and Sonny Rollins, finally landed an interview with the soulstar-turned-preacher and filmed the seventh anniversary of his church in Memphis. The complexities, love and happiness of Al Green are here in abundance.
“Truth or Dare” (1991):
If
you think Madonna was the most brilliant superstar of the MTV Age, you might find this to be an insightful backstage glimpse of a rock-concert tour.
“Meeting People Is Easy” (1998):
This film is a snapshot of that moment when a band, specifically Radiohead, explodes into superstardom. Declared Gen X’s answer to “Dark Side of the Moon,” “OK Computer” finds Radiohead on tour coping with living up to the critical acclaim and numbing questions of music journalists.
“Standing in the Shadows of Motown” (2002):
This loving tribute to the Funk Brothers, the 13 musicians who (often anonymously) played on hundreds of Motown records, finds them revisiting their old Detroit haunts and backing modern stars like Gerald Levert, Ben Harper and Joan Osborne in a concert of Motown music.
“Metallica: Some Kind of Monster” (2004):
After an underwhelming album and the departure of their longtime bassist, these metal heroes went through lots of expensive psychotherapy and aggravating gripe sessions about creative differences and addiction issues.
“The Wrecking Crew” (2008):
This tells the story of the anonymous Los Angeles studio musicians who played on “Good Vibrations,” “You’ve Lost
That Lovin’ Feeling” and other 1960s hits. Hear from Wrecking Crew players — including guitarist Glen Campbell and pianist Leon Russell — and such stars as Cher and Herb Alpert. A must-see for liner-note readers.
“It Might Get Loud” (2009):
This is the best movie ever made about guitars — and one of the best rock docs, period. Oscar-winning director Davis Guggenheim explores guitars through the stories of heroes from three different eras — Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, U2’s the Edge and the White Stripes’ Jack White.
“Searching for Sugar Man” (2012):
Sixto Rodriguez was a late 1960s/early ’70s singer-songwriter forgotten everywhere except South Africa, where he became something of a cult hero. Decades later, two obsessive fans tracked him down in Detroit and brought him to South Africa for a series of concerts that became the subject of this Oscar-winning doc.
“20 Feet From Stardom”
This Oscar-winning documentary shines a spotlight on backup singers, including Darlene Love, Lisa Fischer and Judith Hill, proving that they have the voices to be front and center. Plenty of superstars, including Bruce Springsteen and Bette Midler, testify.
(2013):
“Muscle Shoals” (2013):
It’s another behind-thescenes doc about two recording studios in the tiny Alabama town of Muscle Shoals where such classics as “Brown Sugar,” “Free Bird” and “When a Man Loves a Woman” were recorded in the 1960s and ’70s. Hear from Wilson Pickett, Etta James, Mick Jagger, Lynyrd Skynyrd and many other greats, including Aretha Franklin, in her last movie appearance.
“Glen Campbell: I’ll Be
It’s hard to watch a once-great singer/ guitarist struggle with dementia onstage and off during his farewell tour. The “Wichita Lineman” hitmaker’s musical skills were still there, but the lapses and vulnerability are telling and heartbreaking.
Me” (2014):
This doc is as powerful and memorable as the late Amy Winehouse’s kohl-eyed ’00s soul music — only the film leaves you numb. With cellphone videos and TV footage, this well-rounded portrait details her life, art and issues with a compelling dramatic arc, even though we already know the ending.
“Amy” (2015): “What Happened, Miss Simone?” (2015):
It’s not the personal mementos of singer/activist Nina Simone or the interviews with her daughter and ex-husband that make director Liz Garbus’ profile so powerful. It’s the live performance footage that speaks volumes.
“David Crosby: Remember My Name” (2019):
Rarely have we seen such an unvarnished, unflattering and revealingly real portrait of a rock star. Crosby gushes without a filter about taking too many drugs, making harmonyfilled rock ’n’ roll and being a complete jerk to his lovers and bandmates in the Byrds and Crosby Stills Nash & Young.
“ZZ Top: That Little Ol Band from Texas” (2019):
You don’t get behind the shades and beards of Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and beardless Frank Beard. But you do get a history of the band and its sound. You learn how publicist Howard Bloom pumped up their image with Texas-sized hype for a record-setting tour and how they reinvented themselves as MTV darlings with unplanned beards.