BB King: The Life of Riley (2014), Foo Fighters: Back and Forth (2011), Amazing Journey: The Story of the Who (2007), Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer (2007), Let It Be (1970), Jimi Hendrix (1973), The Filth and the Fury (2000), Ray (2004) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Music Biography movies.
Storyline: The life and music of BB King.
Plot Keywords: music documentary, musician's life, american music, music history, musical influence, musical innovation, biographical film ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Rising from the ashes of Nirvana, the Foo Fighters became a Grammy-winning sensation on their own. Sixteen years of the band's history comes to life in this documentary, from their demo tapes through the creation of their 2011 album, "Wasting Light."—Anonymous
Plot Keywords: music documentary, rock music, band history, behind the scenes, music career, interviews, music industry ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: This epic documentary reveals the legendary rock band The Who in unrivaled detail. Spanning four decades of their explosive and innovative rock music, the film includes rare and never-before-seen concert and archive footage from the group's humble beginnings to their meteoric rise to world stardom. This in-depth narrative offers extensive interviews with each member of the band as well as testimonials from other rock music icons about the influence of The Who on their own music and careers.
Plot Keywords: music documentary, band history, classic rock, music history, music interviews, behind the scenes, music influence ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A documentary look at the improvised life of Anita O'Day (1919-2006), singer and stylist whose timing, phrasing, interpretations, and unique sound put her among the finest vocalists of jazz. Interviews with her late in life are interspersed with archival footage of performances and old interviews as well as with comments by friends, arrangers, critics, and other musicians. She talks about singing without a uvula (sing eighth notes), of jail time for a marijuana arrest, of taking and kicking heroin, of finally making money after appearing at the Newport Jazz Festival, of loss, of a broken arm that almost cost her life, and of living in 4/4 time, one day at a time, smiling.—<jhailey@hotmail.com>
Plot Keywords: documentary, music, jazz, biography, singer, female lead, american film ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A documentary showing both how The Beatles made music together, and how they split up. Hundreds of hours of raw footage was condensed into the final product. The rooftop performance ending the film remains a rock-n-roll archetype.—Ed Chen <echen@bcm.tmc.edu>
Plot Keywords: music documentary, the beatles, rock music, live performance, music history, 1960s, british film ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: This documentary was made three years after Jimi Hendrix's untimely death. At the time it was an example of how a visual biography should be done, but some of the information in it needs revising in the light of new information uncovered over the years. The film contains concert footage spanning the Marquee in 1967 to his last UK performance at the third Isle of Wight festival in 1970; along the way we see classic performances at Monterey (1967), Woodstock (1969), Fillmore East (1969/70), and Berkeley (1970). A double album was released to tie-in with the film, containing the complete performances in the film, along with interviews with people in the film (not necessarily the same interviews). The film is worth seeing for Jimi's performances, and to hear what his contemporaries have to say about him (Eric Clapton, Mitch Mitchell, Lou Reed, Mick Jagger, Pete Townsend, and others).—Martin <martin.o_brien@which.net>
Plot Keywords: documentary, rock music, concert film, 1970s, guitarist, classic rock, live performance ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A documentary about the punk band The Sex Pistols. The film tries to lighten some of the backgrounds of their way through the punk era while telling the story of the band from zero back to zero. Features lots of interviews and comments of folks who were involved.—Oliver Heidelbach
Plot Keywords: documentary, music, biography, punk, uk, rock, band ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: The story of Ray Charles, music legend. Told in his adult live with flashbacks to his youth we see his humble origins in Florida, his turbulent childhood which included losing his brother and then his sight, his rise as pianist in a touring band, his writing his own songs and running his own band and then stardom. Also includes his addiction to drugs and its affect on his working life and family life.
Plot Keywords: biography, music, drama, usa, pianist, soul, jazz ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A documentary film about the life of pianist and jazz great Thelonious Sphere Monk. Features live performances by Monk and his band, and interviews with friends and family about the offbeat genius.
Plot Keywords: jazz, documentary, musician, pianist, improvisation, biography, concert ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Concert footage and offstage documentary of singer Elvis Presley.
Plot Keywords: music documentary, elvis presley, concert film, live performance, american film, classic rock, music history ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A day and a half in the life of the Fab Four leading up to a televised concert gig. The boys seem to be constantly on the run, from their crazed fans and from their manager, who is constantly trying to rein them in. Sir Ringo Starr however is arrested and still isn't in the studio half an hour before air time. With Sir Paul McCartney's grandfather available for additional comical relief, the group performs a dozen or so songs.
Plot Keywords: musical, comedy, rock, the beatles, black and white, british film, mockumentary ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Directed by Andreas Neumann and Joshua Homme, American Valhalla tells the story of an unlikely musical collaboration between two mavericks of American rock: Joshua Homme, frontman of Queens of the Stone Age and Iggy Pop, the Godfather of Punk. The film, co-directed by Homme, follows the recording of Iggy's final album 'Post Pop Depression' in the California desert, with his band comprising of Homme, his QOTSA bandmate Dean Fertita and Arctic Monkeys' drummer, Matt Helders, as well as the explosive tour that builds to a crowning performance at London's iconic Royal Albert Hall. Featuring stunning cinematography and intimate access, American Valhalla reveals the growth of an intense bond between the musicians who have taken to heart the mantra: "you risk nothing you gain nothing".
Plot Keywords: music documentary, rock music, music composition, artistic expression, behind the scenes, music industry, experimental music ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: As the title suggests, this dramatised documentary about the eccentric Canadian pianist Glenn Gould is broken up into thirty-two short films (mirroring the thirty-two part structure of Bach's 'Goldberg Variations', the recording that Gould made famous), each giving us an insight into some aspect of Gould's life and career. Out of respect for the music lead actor Colm Feore is never seen playing the piano, merely reacting to Gould's own recordings, which are extensively featured—Michael Brooke <michael@everyman.demon.co.uk>
Plot Keywords: biography, musician, classical music, piano, experimental, anthology, docudrama ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Cinema-verite footage of the rock singer, as his androgynous alter ego, in concert at London's Hammersmith Odeon in 1973.
Plot Keywords: music documentary, 1970s, stage performance, psychedelic rock, concert film, visual spectacle, fan culture ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: From 'Lemmy' co-director/producer Wes Orshoski comes the first ever film about the long-ignored pioneers of punk: The Damned, the first of the UK punk bands to release a single, album and the first to tour America. This authorized film includes appearances from Chrissie Hynde, Mick Jones, Lemmy and members of Pink Floyd, Black Flag, Guns N Roses, the Sex Pistols, Blondie, the Buzzcocks, and more. Shot around the world over the past three years, it tells the story of the band's complex history, as it celebrated its 35th anniversary and found its estranged former members striking out on their own anniversary tour, while still others battle cancer. The film gets up close and personal with Damned founders Rat Scabies, Dave Vanian, Captain Sensible, and Brian James as it tells the story of one of the most criminally ignored acts in music history. File under: Vampiric, Absurdist, Psychedelic, Gnarled, Authentic, Influential, Energetic, Original, Uncompromising, Defiant, Trailblazing, Snotty, Offensive, Adored and definitely not the Clash or the Sex Pistols.
Plot Keywords: music documentary, band history, music culture, rock music, music interviews, music influence, underground music ...
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