Music Documentaries, Round Two

Five music documentaries about how the music we love actually got made

A while back I posted here about jazz documentaries I thought were worth watching. What follows are several films that are about music, or music-adjacent. Some surprised me, and some were just fun to watch. I hope you'll have a chance to see a few of these and let me know what you think in the comments below (do we all love that post-screening conversation best held in a diner?).

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Devo – Netflix
I first learned about Devo, like millions of others, in their now-historic SNL debut. I remember being completely captivated by what I was seeing and hearing, and I felt the same way about this documentary. Their story is layered and nuanced, and it strangely echoes what’s happening in society today. It also reinforces the belief that anything worthwhile and meaningful has a rich backstory, one that involved a lot of work.

Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary – HBO/Max
This might win the prize for most fun music documentary. It’s also an insightful look into a sliver of ‘70s pop, how it was influenced by jazz, and why it became so successful. Kudos to Michael McDonald, Christopher Cross, and Kenny Loggins for sharing their views and experiences on camera. I wish Donald Fagen had been so bold, though I also suspect that wouldn’t have been true to who he is.

John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky – Netflix
This one came out several years ago, but it will always be worth viewing. It’s a deep look at the making of John Lennon’s Imagine album. The film has an intimate, fly-on-the-wall quality built around rare archival footage (previously unseen when this film was made) and the key players who were there. A beautiful film.

Sunday Best – Netflix
For me, this was one of those surprise films. Ed Sullivan is a little before my time, but his name is legendary in the entertainment business. While the film captures some great musical performances from his show, it’s really a film about race and civil rights. Watch it and let me know what you think.

Wrecking Crew – Magnolia (screening on Netflix, Amazon Prime and others)
When I was just starting out as a musician, I read Guitar Player magazine. There were regular columns in the back, and one of them was written by Tommy Tedesco, the legendary studio guitarist of Los Angeles. His column was what I read first. I had a fascination with studio musicians, but more than that, I wanted to know: how were these amazing songs recorded? This film, by Denny Tedesco (Tommy’s son), may be one of the ultimate behind-the-scenes stories of how the music we’ve listened to our whole lives came to be. Last year, the documentary was selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Bravo!