My Favourite Music Documentaries
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- DirectorGjon MiliStarsLester YoungGeorge 'Red' CallenderHarry EdisonCreated under the guidance of jazz impresario and Verve Records founder Norman Granz, this short captures the spontaneity of a jam session and is one of few film records of black jazzers of the day including tenor sax legend Lester Young.
- DirectorWolf KoenigRoman KroitorStarsGlenn GouldBanquoMrs. Wm. DoolittleIn preparation for a recording session in New York City, Glenn Gould, as he usually does, first makes a stop at at the Steinway showroom to choose from among the many concert grand pianos available which he would like to use for the recording. Mention is made of his favorite piano on which to practice, namely the one at his recreational property on the shores of Lake Simcoe, his tastes in such not for the bells and whistles of newer instruments, said piano which is seventy years old with a tone and touch more reminiscent of a harpsichord. Mention is also made of his wish to retire from performing at age thirty-five, eight years away, to concentrate on composing. And while he is known primarily for performing the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, he favors more contemporary atonal music. He himself talks about among other things performing on stage versus in a recording studio, and why he doesn't attend concerts of other musicians.
- DirectorWolf KoenigRoman KroitorStarsGlenn GouldHoward ScottStanley JacksonToronto-based pianist Glenn Gould is in New York City to record Johann Sebastian Bach's Italian Concerto, four years after Gould made an international name for himself with his bestselling recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations. Gould will perform each of the three movements several times over the course of his stay in the studio in his perfectionism, he and the recording crew who will critically review each. That recording crew will have to deal with some of Gould's idiosyncrasies, some problematic, such as his tendency to hum when he plays, and some just humorous, such as he conducting himself when he has a free hand when he is playing. Gould will also have to deal with some of what he would consider necessary evils of the process, such as publicity, including having publicity photos taken. Away from the piano, he talks about his career, being in New York compared to his home in Toronto or anywhere else in Canada, and his very conscious decision, unlike many artists, not to live in the creative epicenter of New York.
- DirectorJack SmightStarsMiles DavisPaul ChambersJimmy CobbMiles playing with sextet and Evans orchestra. A TV program hosted by Robert Herridge, The Robert Herridge Theater from Studio 61, and recorded in New York in 1959.
- StarsGlenn GouldLegendary piano virtuoso, Glenn Gould , from Canada is well known for his Goldberg Variations. He hums while he plays which some say distracts but others don't care. There is a movie of his life which is very good.
- StarsJohn LennonPaul McCartneyGeorge HarrisonPathe News technicolor short showing The Beatles in concert at the ABC Cinema in Manchester, Lancashire on 11/20/63. This footage was incorporated into the 1965 Pathe feature "Pop Gear".
- DirectorDonald BrittainDon OwenStarsDonald BrittainLeonard CohenRobert HirschhornNational Film Board of Canada Donald Owen teamed with NFB producer Donald Brittain for an imaginative profile of Montreal poet Leonard Cohen.
- DirectorPeter WhiteheadStarsSyd BarrettNick MasonPink FloydShot by movie maestro Peter Whitehead, this film features rare full length performances from the classic late 60's Pink Floyd line-up at Sound Techniques London & material from the legendary '14 hour Technicolor Dream' extravaganza in April '67 at Alexandra Palace. The footage includes performance art by Yoko Ono and a Sgt. Pepper era John Lennon taking in the festivities (John and Yoko had not met then).
- DirectorAlbert MayslesDavid MayslesCharlotte ZwerinStarsMick JaggerKeith RichardsMick TaylorWhen three hundred thousand members of the Love Generation collided with a few dozen Hells Angels at San Francisco's Altamont Speedway, the bloody slash that transformed a decade's dreams into disillusionment was immortalized on this film.
- DirectorLes BlankSkip GersonStarsLightnin HopkinsBilly BizorMance LipscombA portrait of the great Texas bluesman, 'Lightnin' Hopkins. The film includes interviews and a performance by Hopkins.
- StarsNeil YoungA solo performance by Neil Young, recorded and broadcast in February 1971 at the BBC's television studio in the Shepherd's Bush area of London.
- DirectorAdrian MabenStarsDavid GilmourRoger WatersRichard WrightLive versions of the songs, filmed in an old Pompeii amphitheater. Songs included are Echoes (split into 2 parts), Careful with that axe, Eugene, A saucerful of secrets, One of those days, Set the controls for the heart of the sun, Mademoiselle nobbs (Seamus, but with Rick's dog on vocals). "Careful" and "Set the controls" are shot at night with minimal lighting, setting a beautiful mood. And the live Saucerful just has to be seen, with Waters jumping around in the sunlight banging the huge gong. The 80-minute version features studio footage from the recordings of Dark side of the Moon, with alternate versions of Us and them, On the run and Brain Damage, as well as interviews with the band.
- DirectorPeter CliftonJoe MassotStarsRobert PlantJimmy PageJohn Paul JonesThe line forms here for the world's greatest and possibly most influential band--Led Zeppelin. This mesmerizing movie built around Zep's famed 1973 concerts at New York's Madison Square Garden is convincing proof why.
- DirectorNeil YoungStarsNeil YoungRalph MolinaFrank 'Pancho' SampedroDocumentary covering Neil Young's October 22, 1978 concert performance at the Cow Palace.
- DirectorPenelope SpheerisStarsEugene TatuAlice Bag BandBlack FlagA look into the Los Angeles punk rock scene, that was largely ignored by the rock music press of the time.
- DirectorGordon Forbes IIIStarsJohn DensmoreJerry HopkinsRobby KriegerTen years after the death of lead singer, Jim Morrison, remaining members of the Doors offer insight into the unique vision of a rock and roll legend.
- DirectorJean-Jacques FloriStéphane TchalgadjieffStarsFela KutiMartin Luther KingPope John Paul IIFELA KUTIis to African music what Bob Marley is to reggae: its prophet. All contemporary forms of black music, from funk to electronic, owe something to the irresistible groove of the Afrobeat sound that he created. Shot in Lagos at the peak of his career in 1982, this documentary contains interviews with Fela detailing his thoughts on politics, Pan-Africanism, music and religion, alongside unpublished versions of songs like ITT, Army Arrangement and Power Show.
- DirectorBrian WisemanStarsBlack SabbathTony IommiOzzy OsbourneGreat Concert footage of one of the best and original heavy metal bands to grace the stage.
- DirectorDick DarleyClark SanteeFrank ZappaStarsFrank ZappaGeorge DukeRuth UnderwoodDirect to video film by Frank Zappa. Features footage from two of his concerts: a 1974 Los Angeles concert and a 1981 New York City concert. It also includes clay animation by Bruce Bickford.
- DirectorRay ManzarekStarsRay ManzarekJohn DensmoreRobby KriegerA combination of concert footage, television appearances, record company promo clips and new video footage shows the Doors, a top '60s rock band.
- DirectorShirley ClarkeStarsOrnette ColemanJohn GiordanoFort Worth Symphony OrchestraIt captures Ornette's evolution over three decades. Returning home to Fort Worth, Texas in 1983, it chronicles his boyhood in segregated Texas and his subsequent emergence as an American cultural pioneer and world-class icon.
- DirectorJohn HeynJeff KrulikStarsJohn Cloud Jr.Judas PriestA look at the wild scene outside a Judas Priest concert.
- DirectorCarol DysingerSteve GebhardtStarsJohn LennonYoko OnoStan BronsteinIn 1972, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and the Plastic Ono Elephants Memory Band put together a benefit concert for mentally and physically handicapped children in New York. Their performance in Madison Square Garden included material culled mostly from Lennon's "Sometime in New York" album.
- DirectorRay ManzarekStarsJim MorrisonRobby KriegerRay ManzarekA 1968 concert given by the rock group The Doors at the Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood, California.