Highest-Rated Movies about 'Soul Music'

BB King: The Life of Riley (2014), The T.A.M.I. Show (1964), Monterey Pop (1969), The Blues Brothers (1980), Standing in the Shadows of Motown (2002), Wattstax (1973), Everything: The Real Thing Story (2019), Lightning in a Bottle (2004) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Soul Music movies.

#2. The T.A.M.I. Show (1964)

Storyline: Chuck Berry opens the show and performs "Johnny B Goode" and his 1955 hit "Maybelline". He is then joined by "Gerry and The Pacemakers" who do their updated British version of the song. and a medley of their hits. "Billy J Kramer and The Dakotas perform "Little Children " and "Bad To Me". Detroits' Motown is represented as "Diana Ross and The Supremes " sing "Baby Love" , by "Smokey Robinson and The Miracles" who sing "You've Really Got A Hold On Me" and by Marvin Gaye who sings " Hitchhike". NYCs Lesley Gore sings "It's My Party" and "You Don't Own Me",a million seller several years before "women's lib" The 'early surfer' hosts, Jan and Dean sing "The Little Old Lady From Passedena". "The Beach Boys" sing " I Get Around". James Brown, making his first nationally televised appearance, performs his standards "Out Of Sight", "Prisoner Of Love", "Night Train" and "Please Please Please", with cape. The Rolling Stones , in their first major venue, close the show performing "Time Is On My Side", "It's All Over Now", ' Around and Around ", and are joined by a festive cast who dance to Mick Jagger's rendition of "I'm Alright".—efffee@aol.com

Plot Keywords: concert film, pop music, live performance, music documentary, 1960s, usa, classic ...

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#3. Monterey Pop (1969)

Storyline: Legendary California music festival (pre-Woodstock) that launched the state-side careers of several performers, most notably Jimi Hendrix. Check out Mama Cass being absolutely blown away while watching Joplin sing. Here there be REAL acid rock.—Raymond Clay <banquosa@concentric.net>

Plot Keywords: music festival, documentary, rock music, live performance, 1960s, american culture, counterculture ...

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#4. The Blues Brothers (1980)

Storyline: After the release of Jake Blues from prison, he and brother Elwood go to visit "The Penguin", the last of the nuns who raised them in a boarding school. They learn the Archdiocese will stop supporting the school and will sell the place to the Education Authority. The only way to keep the place open is if the $5000 tax on the property is paid within 11 days. The Blues Brothers want to help, and decide to put their blues band back together and raise the money by staging a big gig. As they set off on their "mission from God" they seem to make more enemies along the way. Will they manage to come up with the money in time?

Plot Keywords: musical, comedy, action, crime, brotherhood, car chase, classic ...

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#5. 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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#6. Wattstax (1973)

Storyline: Documentary with a selection from a non-stop 7-hour musical event at Watts, the Los Angeles Coliseum, August 20, 1972. It's a sort of Woodstock event but with black artists, namely the groups Dramatics, Staple Singers, Rance Allen Group, Emotions, Bar Kays, Mel & Tim.—Artemis-9

Plot Keywords: concert, documentary, music festival, black culture, live performance, 1970s, los angeles ...

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#7. 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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#8. Lightning in a Bottle (2004)

Storyline: Beginning with a stirring African folk song (Zélié performed by Angélique Kidjo) the roots are established and rapidly swell into a trunk thickened by the hardships of the Great Depression (Gamblin' Man performed by David 'Honeyboy' Edwards) and the oppression of segregation (Jim Crow Blues performed by Odetta). Finally, this Blues family tree shows off vibrant new growth as it reveals the Blues' influence on our modern wealth of talented musicians (Midnight Special performed by John Fogerty and Hound Dog done by Macy Gray). Ruth Brown gives Blll Cosby a full-throttle serenade (and a playful smoldering gaze), along with Mavis Staples and Natalie Cole. Angélique Kidjo persuades Buddy Guy to an unforgettable rendition of 'Voodoo Child,' shortly before Bonnie Raitt and Robert Cray accompany B.B. King and Lucille for the final number, 'Paying the Cost to be the Boss.' This documentary presents to the audience, with authority and candor, an authentic history of this musical form. The highly esteemed elders of this musical family are exemplary in their humbleness toward one another, rich with decades of shared memories; and their performances are of a quality rarely seen in modern times. These men and women are true artisans, yet they continue to generously pass their legacy down to select members of each musical generation. Those who grew up on this music find themselves performing on the stage with the very heroes who served as their earliest inspiration. Legends, such as Ruth Brown, Honeyboy Edwards, Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown, B.B. King, Howling Wolf, and Buddy Guy, gave the world a double helping of their genius-first with song and secondly as the spirit which supplies the continuation of their art: in such artists as Natalie Cole, Jimmie Vaughan, John Fogerty, Macy Gray, Alison Krause, and Bonnie Raitt.—Annie Campos

Plot Keywords: music documentary, music history, american music, music culture, improvisation, music legends, musical performance ...

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#11. What's Love Got to Do with It (1993)

Storyline: Anna Mae Bullock always had a special voice. Soon after arriving in St. Louis to live with the mother who had walked out when she was small, she soon attracts the attention of pop group leader Ike Turner. She becomes his band's singer, his wife, and mother to his children - not all hers. In love with him and determined not to leave in the way her mother had, she finds herself the target of increasing violence from him who can't see who is making his band such a success.

Plot Keywords: biography, music, drama, romance, true story, singer, marriage ...

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#13. Soul Power (2008)

Storyline: In 1974, music producers, Hugh Masekela and Stewart Levine worked with the boxing promoter, Don King, to create a music festival in Africa to run concurrently with his championship boxing match he arranged with Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, aka "The Rumble in the Jungle," in Kinshasa, Zaire. However, due to an unforeseen delay due to Foreman injuring himself in training, it was decided that the music festival must still go on as scheduled. This film covers the preparation of that festival with both stage construction and the arrival of the participating musicians. When all is ready, the people of Zaire got to experience a musical event that Africa had never seen before with great African-American and local artists performing with verve and purpose, with the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, just the biggest star of this musical extravaganza.—Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)

Plot Keywords: music documentary, concert, black culture, historical archive, live performance, music history, african american ...

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#14. The Sapphires (2012)

Storyline: 1968 was the year that changed the world. And for four young Aboriginal sisters from a remote mission this is the year that would change their lives forever. Around the globe, there was protest and revolution in the streets. Indigenous Australians finally secured the right to vote. There were drugs and the shock of a brutal assassination. And there was Vietnam. The sisters, Cynthia, Gail, Julie and Kay are discovered by Dave, a talent scout with a kind heart, very little rhythm but a great knowledge of soul music. Billed as Australia's answer to 'The Supremes', Dave secures the sisters their first true gig, and flies them to Vietnam to sing for the American troops. Based on a true story, THE SAPPHIRES is a triumphant celebration of youthful emotion, family and music.

Plot Keywords: musical, comedy, drama, historical, australian film, race relations, vietnam war ...

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#15. Sparkle (1976)

Storyline: Three sisters (Sister and the Sisters) from Harlem become singers. Sister (Lonette McKee) becomes involved with drugs, while Sparkle (Irene Cara) ends up being the one who gets famous. This film tells of how drugs ruin Sister's relationships and eventually end her life. It is also about the relationship between Sparkle and Stix (Philip Michael Thomas).—Anonymous

Plot Keywords: musical, drama, family, inspirational, sisterhood, dreams, success ...

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