Posted at 1:35 PM on October 13, 2011
by Peter Valelly
(2 Comments)
In honor of the twelfth annual Sound Unseen Film & Music Festival, we here at The Current polled our staff members and put together a list of our favorite music documentaries. Check out the list below, and let us know your picks in the comments section! Plus, don't forget to check out Sound Unseen this week!
This film from the lengendary documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker is perhaps the archetypal music film. Even though it's influenced nearly every other rock doc that came after it. this portrayal of Bob Dylan at the height of his meteoric rise is one of the most thrilling and fascinating things ever committed to film. Dont Look Back (yup, no apostrophe) is the benchmark of the rockumentary genre.
Mark Wheat, Host & Phillip Drier, Digital Media Intern
This in-depth documentary on the electric guitar explores the varying styles, approaches and careers of three very different yet very important guitarists from three different eras: Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White. It Might Get Loud culminates with the trio meeting to discuss their influences and play together, including taking turns at each other's songs.
Barb Abney & Jade, Hosts & Lindsay Kimball, Program Coordinator
Although it was only released in 2004, Dig! has already secured a place in the rock-doc pantheon. Director Ondi Timoner's film offers an incisive portrayal of the dysfunction of the music industry, the pitfalls of rock'n'roll lifestyle and the inner politics of the 1990s indie-scene — all told through the story of the relationship between two great bands, the Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Dandy Warhols.
Released at the same time (and under the same name) as a three-double-CD rarities set and a massive coffee table book stuffed with memorabilia, the nearly 12-hour documentary series The Beatles Anthology is packed with rare footage of live performances, studio sessions, interviews and more.
This 2005 documentary tells the wild and weird story of one of alternative rock's most unusual bands, The Flaming Lips, from their start as a derivative, lysergically inclined Oklahoma City punk outfit through their short-lived stint as chart-topping alt-rockers (with the surprise sucess of 1993's "She Don't Use Jelly" and the band's subsequent Beverly Hills 90210 apperance) all the way to the art-rock elder statesmen status conferred on them by masterpieces The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.
This poignant and fascinating look at the inner life of outsider musician Daniel Johnston is at once a cautionary tale about fame, an intimate and wrenching examination of mental illness and a heartfelt, compelling story of redemption. If you're a fan of any of Johnston's music — or even if you've ever wondered what Kurt Cobain's "Hi, How Are You?" shirt was all about — you owe it to yourself to check this one out.
This 2002 documentary is an unflinching portrait of one band grappling with its own brilliance. The film follows Wilco during what would become perhaps the defining moment of their career — the recording of their magnum opus Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, whose experimental sound led the band's record company to balk at its release and whose recording process brought to light tensions and troubles within the band.
One of the most visceral films about rock to ever grace the silver screen, Gimme Shelter chronicle's the tail end of the Stones' 1969 world tour — culminating, of course, in the band's infamous and tragic performance at the Altamont Speedway in northern California. The moral of the story: don't get the Hell's Angels to do security for your massively attended rock concert — even if Jerry Garcia swears it's a good idea.
This 2008 documentary from the Dutch director David Kleijwegt chronciles Duluth, Minn.'s own Low, both as musicians and as ordinary citizens and even parents. Interviews with the band span topics as wide-ranging as the American economy, religion and philosophical questions of violence and conscience. You May Need a Murderer gives us a glimpse into the inner life of one of indie rock's most enduring, intriguing acts.
This 1981 film from director Penelope Spheeris (perhaps more famous for helming Wayne's World over a decade later) offers a valuable document of the nascent Los Angeles punk scene, with astonishing performances from legends like The Germs, X, Black Flag, The Circle Jerks and more. (The film's sequel chronicles a completely different but no less entertaining L.A. rock milieu — the hard-rockin', high-livin' lifestyle of late '80s hair-metal stars — while the late-'90s third installment looks at a new generation of L.A. gutter-punks).
This film tackles the story of one of '80s American punk's greatest acts, San Pedro, Calif.'s Minutemen, from the very beginning of their career through the tragic car crash that killed singer D. Boon. We Jam Econo's got it all — radical politics, DIY attitude, a truckload of invaluable live footage and interviews with band members and fellow '80s luminaries like Ian MacKaye, Thurston Moore, Henry Rollins and more.
Released on the heels of photographer Anton Corbijn's heavily stylized 2007 Ian Curtis biopic Control, this film, whose narration was scripted by legendary British music journo and punk historian Jon Savage, offers a nuanced documentary portrait of one of the most beloved and influential bands of all time, with interviews with the band's surviving members (a.k.a. New Order) as well as journalists, contemporaries and friends (including Corbijn). It was directed by Grant Gee, who also made the Radiohead doc Meeting People is Easy.
This 2000 film tells the story of one of the most legendary bands of all-time, British punk-rockers The Clash. Told through interviews with onetime Clash members and contemporaries like Siouxsie Sioux, plus a bunch of rare footage from the band's personal collection, The Clash: Westway to the World provides a compelling portrait of a band that no history of punk rock could ever be complete without.
Martin Scorsese's epic concert film documents the final performance by the legendary band The Band, featuring guest apperances from a massive range of rock, blues and folk superstars, including Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Dr. John, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr and Neil Young (...and more — yes, really). For classic rock fans, this one is unmissable.
Festival Express chronicles the train tour of the same name, which brought the music of classic-rock legends like The Grateful Dead, The Band and Janis Joplin to five cities across Canada during the summer of 1970. Composed largely of original footage, the film spotlights not only the bands' live performances but also their drunken jam sessions and hi-jinks.
This documentary tells this story of the singular genius of the brilliant, little-known musician Arthur Russell, an avant-garde classical cellist who promptly fell in love with disco upon moving to New York in the late '70s, where he cavorted with luminaries like The Talking Heads and Richard Hell, released some of the disco era's strangest yet most beloved singles and ultimately developed a haunting, wholly unique sound on his 1986 classic World of Echo.
Hope you enjoyed our picks! Don't forget to check out the following Sound Unseen events hosted by our staff members.
Sound Unseen Film Screenings hosted by Current Staff
Thurs. Oct 13
Better Than Something: Jay Reatard
7 p.m. at the Trylon — Introduced by Bill DeVille
Fri. Oct 14
Hit So Hard
7 p.m. at the Ritz Theater — Introduced by Jill Riley
Sat. Oct 15
The Other F Word
7:30 p.m. at the Ritz Theater — Introduced by Jim McGuinn
Sun. Oct 16
Janie Jones
3 p.m. at The Trylon — Introduced by Barb Abney
Head over to the Sound Unseen website for information on even more screenings for this year's festival, and don't forget to let us know your picks for favorite music docs below in the comments section!
Many good ones listed. Of course the seminal rock music docs are "Woodstock", and "The Concert for Bangladesh." Perhaps not listed because they were seen almost as "entertainment" at the time they hit theaters. It's hard to find a doc that jams more important musicians into one film than either of these two.
For true guitar enthusiasts "It Might Get Loud" may be the best.
But for sheer joy, I remember sitting in the Varsity Theater in Lincoln, Nebraska as the thundering bass lead in on the song "Wooden Ships" (CSNY) fired up as Woodstock began. Still gives me chills.
