Highest-Rated Movies about 'Musical Legacy'

Ella Fitzgerald: Just One of Those Things (2019), BB King: The Life of Riley (2014), You're Gonna Miss Me (2005), The Last Waltz (1978), Khachaturian (2003), Bob Marley: The Making of a Legend (2011), High Fidelity: The Guarneri String Quartet (1989), Standing in the Shadows of Motown (2002) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Musical Legacy movies.

#3. You're Gonna Miss Me (2005)

Storyline: Filmmaker Keven McAlester explores the life of legendary vocalist and songwriter Roger Kynard "Roky" Erickson, who, during the '60s, fronted the influential rock 'n' roll band 13th Floor Elevators. Following extensive psychedelic drug use and a stint in a mental hospital, Roky spent the greater part of the last four decades suffering from schizophrenia. McAlester finds Roky living with his brother, who has aided in his recovery and encouraged his return to music.

Plot Keywords: music documentary, mental illness, family conflict, creativity, schizophrenia, music history, psychedelic rock ...

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#4. The Last Waltz (1978)

Storyline: Thanksgiving, 1976, San Francisco's Winterland: the Band performs its last concert after 16 years on the road. Some numbers they do alone, some songs include guest artists from Ronnie Hawkins (their first boss, when they were the Hawks) to Bob Dylan (their last, when as his backup and as a solo group, they came into their own). Scorsese's camera explores the interactions onstage in the making of music. Offstage, he interviews the Band's five members, focusing on the nature of life on the road. The friendships, the harmonies, the hijinks, and the wear and tear add up to a last waltz.—<jhailey@hotmail.com>

Plot Keywords: music documentary, rock music, concert, band, 1970s, classic, music history ...

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#6. Bob Marley: The Making of a Legend (2011)

Storyline: Based on footage shot in the early seventies and lost for more than thirty years, NAACP IMAGE AWARD winner Esther Anderson takes us on a journey to Jamaica and into 56 HOPE ROAD, Kingston, to see and hear the young BOB MARLEY before he was famous. The film shows us the WAILERS' first rehearsal, when the idea of a Jamaican supergroup like the BEATLES or the STONES was still just a dream. We sit in on the launch of their international career with "GET UP STAND UP", "I SHOT THE SHERIFF", and the "BURNIN'" and "CATCH A FIRE" albums that brought to the world REGGAE music and RASTA consciousness together as one, starting a revolution that would change rock music and contemporary culture.—Esther Anderson

Plot Keywords: music documentary, music history, cultural impact, social change, classic songs, songwriting, music industry ...

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#8. Standing in the Shadows of Motown (2002)

Storyline: In 1959, Berry Gordy Jr. gathered the best musicians from Detroit's thriving jazz and blues scene to begin cutting songs for his new record company. Over a fourteen year period they were the heartbeat on every hit from Motown's Detroit era. By the end of their phenomenal run, this unheralded group of musicians had played on more number ones hits than the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, Elvis and the Beatles combined - which makes them the greatest hit machine in the history of popular music. They called themselves the Funk Brothers. Forty-one years after they played their first note on a Motown record and three decades since they were all together, the Funk Brothers reunited back in Detroit to play their music and tell their unforgettable story, with the help of archival footage, still photos, narration, interviews, re-creation scenes, 20 Motown master tracks, and twelve new live performances of Motown classics with the Brothers backing up contemporary performers.—Anonymous

Plot Keywords: music documentary, music history, oral history, music legends, music influence, music interviews, classic songs ...

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#9. The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town (2010)

Storyline: Bruce Springsteen's "Darkness on the Edge of Town," released in 1978, was three years in the making, 10 songs chosen from 70 written and rehearsed during that period. Using archival footage from the studio and contemporary interviews with Springsteen, the E Street Band, and those who were in the control room, the film presents a portrait of an artist driving himself to capture working-class life with a rough and raw sound that felt more like a live performance than a studio recording.—<jhailey@hotmail.com>

Plot Keywords: music documentary, rock music, behind the scenes, songwriting, american music, music history, musician biography ...

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#10. Let It Be (1970)

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 ...

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#11. Buena Vista Social Club (1999)

Storyline: A group of legendary Cuban musicians, some as old as their nineties, were brought together by Ry Cooder to record a CD. In this film, we see and hear some of the songs being recorded in Havana. There is also footage from concerts in Amsterdam and New York City's Carnegie Hall. In addition, many of the individual musicians talk about their lives in Cuba and about how they got started in music.—George S. Davis

Plot Keywords: music documentary, musician biography, cultural heritage, live performance, music history, music legends, musical journey ...

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#12. Everything: The Real Thing Story (2019)

Storyline: Dubbed 'the black Beatles' by the British tabloids, the 'other' four lads from Liverpool recount their incredible story from the tough streets of Toxteth to the bright lights of New York - a journey of international stardom as Britain's pioneering million-selling soul and funk band. Against a backdrop of prejudice and political turmoil in the 1970s, The Real Thing were the first all-black British band to hit #1 in the UK pop charts, with the universally-loved 'You To Me Are Everything'. Other hits like 'Can't Get By Without You', 'You'll Never Know What You're Missing' and 'Can You Feel the Force' set dance-floors alight, but their proudest moment was composing the rousing 'Children of the Ghetto' - the first ever protest song to address the plight of black immigrants in Britain. The group's massive success has been tempered with racism, drug addiction and suicide but, for the very first time, original band members Eddy Amoo, Chris Amoo and Dave Smith reveal the brutally honest truth behind their trailblazing 50-year career. After five decades together, they remain the godfathers of black British music.—Baker Street

Plot Keywords: music documentary, music legends, music industry, british culture, musical influence, creative process, musical innovation ...

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#13. Control (2007)

Storyline: Ian Curtis is a quiet and rather sad lad who works for an employment agency and sings in a band called Warsaw. He meets a girl named Debbie whom he promptly marries and his band, of which the name in the meantime has been changed to Joy Division, gets more and more successful. Even though Debbie and he become parents, their relationship is going downhill rapidly and Ian starts an affair with Belgium Annik whom he met after one of the gigs and he's almost never at home. Ian also suffers from epilepsy and has no-good medication for it. He doesn't know how to handle the feelings he has for Debbie and Annik and the pressure the popularity of Joy Division and the energy performing costs him.

Plot Keywords: british film, depression, 1970s, music history, indie film, based on true story, music culture ...

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#14. Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten (2007)

Storyline: As the front man of the Clash from 1977 onwards, Joe Strummer changed people's lives forever. Four years after his death, his influence reaches out around the world, more strongly now than ever before. In "The Future Is Unwritten", from British film director Julien Temple, Joe Strummer is revealed not just as a legend or musician, but as a true communicator of our times. Drawing on both a shared punk history and the close personal friendship which developed over the last years of Joe's life, Julien Temple's film is a celebration of Joe Strummer - before, during and after the Clash.—IFC First Take

Plot Keywords: music documentary, british film, musician's life, social commentary, archival footage, musical influence, independent film ...

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