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The music documentary thread


LC

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I love documentaries, especially music-related ones. Here's an example of one I saw recently and can highly recommend: Echo in the Canyon. It features Jakob Dylan as host, and he travels to California to capture the beauty and innovation of late-1960s pop music coming from that area. He interviews the  likes of Brian Wilson, Roger McGuinn, Neil Young, Jackson Browne, Tom Petty, and others. There are some great performances within, too. Anyone else see it?

 

 

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Loved the Rondstadt doc... but Susie, you nailed two that have been on my "must-watch" list for quite a long time. I mean, "The Wrecking Crew"—who among us wouldn't want to see that one? That gang played on so many classic songs we've heard over and over. Same with the Motown material. Clearly, I need to peg a lonely Friday or Saturday night for a few hours of music-doc watching. 

You know what I saw recently that this gang will enjoy? Who Is Harry Nilsson (and Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him?) Brilliantly done. I was sort of a casual fan, largely because I was aware of his connection to Beatles John and Ringo. And because his reading of Badfinger's "Without You" is iconic. But after watching this doc, I developed a deeper respect. The man could write! Too bad he left us so soon! 

https://www.amazon.com/Who-Harry-Nilsson-Brian-Wilson/dp/B00B99S00S/ref=sr_1_1?creativeASIN=B00B99S00S&linkCode=w61&imprToken=OGn3R8e3SEA0g.9eEWStPA&slotNum=9&ascsubtag=[]vu[p]a-dd5edad8d0459afaa86f1ae579f5c21ezQmOcg[d]D[z]m[t]w[r]google.com&tag=vulture-20 

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I LOVE Harry!!!!

Didn't know about this film.  Thank you!

I bought the Wrecking Crew film DVD because I kept missing it on cable.

Well worth the price.

 

Beatles' protégé, Mary Hopkin.

I also love Harry's theme to The Courtship of Eddie's Father.

 

 

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As an aside on Harry Nilsson, if you ever get a chance to listen to the Pussycats collaboration by Nilsson and Lennon, it is a pretty cool album.

Once again, I lost my copy in my house fire, but my wonderful father was kind enough to replace it with my mom's copy after she passed.  So this one is EXTRA special.

Check out the album personnel listed in the Wiki article.  It's a who's who of rock.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pussy_Cats

220px-Harry_Nilsson_Pussy_Cats.jpg

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  • 1 year later...

Of course, the King of all music documentaries came out in November and I loved every millisecond of it: The Beatles/Get Back. Totally riveting.

In fact, even after eight hours of viewing bliss, I’m more than willing to watch the 52 hours supposedly on the cutting-room floor. 

I think there’s another Get Back thread here — I will look for that to see other responses. 
 

Meanwhile, I started watching The Quiet One, a Bill Wyman documentary. Pretty fascinating, because of the way he so thoroughly documented the craziness that was the Stones. Can’t wait to finish watching that one.

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Almost two years after your recommendation, Susie, I finally caught The Wrecking Crew on Netflix last night. Love it. So much so that I need to watch it again.

The musical references are one thing; if you follow music, you know the impact and general catalog of that amazing group of studio musicians. But I didn't realize just how deep their contributions go, from the obvious ("Be My Baby," Sinatra, the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, Simon and Garfunkel, the Carpenters) to the surprises (all those 1960s and '70s TV show theme songs: Bonanza, Batman, Green Acres, Mission Impossible...)—and everything in between. 

Even more than that, I love the often moving insight we get into the personal lives of the players, including Tommy Tedesco (didn't realize it was his son who was behind the film), Hal Blaine, and Carol Kaye. In fact, it left you wanting a little more on the musicians' personal lives. This could have been a multiple-part documentary, a la Get Back.

Yes, highly recommended! 

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Oh—another music documentary I caught during the past year was Rush: Time Stands Still. Now I'm not a Rush fan, not at all. It isn't a documentary I went searching for. It just came on while I was involved in some work (I like having the "noise" in the background while I work). So I let it run, and then found myself looking up at it so often that I became fully attentive. And it was pretty darned good.

While it didn't inspire me to buy Rush's catalog, or even download their music, I came away with an appreciation for how they started, their impact, and their evolution.  

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Susie, thanks for those links, they're going on my to watch list.

LC, if you liked that Rush doc I think you'd enjoy a new film put out by the same production company, Banger Films, called Triumph: Rock & Roll Machine. You don't have to be into Canadian Party Rock to dig it...though I imagine it might not be so widely distributed south of the border. I only caught the first half hour of it so far this morning but it's a lot of fun. Banger has produced some excellent docs in recent years on the likes of Alice Cooper, Iron Maiden, and ZZ Top among others. 

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There are a couple of moments in the flick which may be of interest to the board in general. Eddie Trunk does one or two talking heads. And one of the Triumph superfans is shown with a "got triumph?" sign on her massive wall o' Triumph memorabilia. They were more successful in the U.S. than I realized--they even played the US Festival.

But I'm afraid I was mistaken about the Rush film you cited above. The Banger-produced one I was thinking of came out about a decade ago and was called Beyond the Lighted Stage. I'm pretty sure I've seen both docs but I guess I was conflating the two.

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For those who don't have Disney+ or Hulu, the excellent Summer of Soul will be shown on ABC on Sunday Feb. 20. I subscribe to neither so this was the first movie I saw in a theater post-lockdown, but I can't wait to watch it again.

https://deadline.com/2022/02/summer-of-soul-abc-broadcast-premiere-oscar-nominated-documentary-ahmir-questlove-thompson-news-1234931050/

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  • 1 month later...
  • 9 months later...

Any new music documentaries to add to this thread?

I love the one Pat highlighted in a different thread: If These Walls Could Sing. It delivers! Highly recommended. There are some very moving parts in there, like Paul McCartney rehearsing "Blackbird" and tapping his feet as he played guitar. So many great Beatles moments... yet it's hardly a Beatles-only affair. 

And as noted in Susie's bumped thread, I've lined up 20 Feet From Stardom for tonight. 

One of my all-time favorite documentaries is Dave Stewart: The Ringmaster General. I highlighted that one on another thread that I'm having trouble finding.... but it's worth a watch if you can find it. Sadly, Apple Music no longer has the songs from the soundtrack available! That's criminal! There are at least three A+ songs on the soundtrack: Stewart with Martina McBride doing "All Messed Up on Love," Stewart with Stevie Nicks doing "Cheaper Than Free," and Stewart with Colbie Caillat doing "Bulletproof Vest." This great video is lifted from the documentary.

 

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