375 Rock Docs (so far)

375 Rock Docs (so far)375 Rock Docs (so far)375 Rock Docs (so far)

375 Rock Docs (so far)

375 Rock Docs (so far)375 Rock Docs (so far)375 Rock Docs (so far)
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Compiled by Chris Fralic over many years but mostly since 2020. I like music and I like documentaries, and I've been keeping a list of all the good music or rock documentaries or "rockumentaries" that I've seen. Going into lockdown on March 13th, 2020 I decided to share a version that contained 90 music documentaries, and that seemed like a lot at the time. I got a bunch of feedback including ones that I still needed to watch, and since I had some extra time that year and kept at it, it's now reached these "good to great" ones that I definitely recommend. Most are easy to find, but some are really hard to track down - and that is part of the fun. What else am I missing? Let me know at the link at the bottom of the page. 

BEST OF THE BEST (20)

1971 (2021 Documentary)

The Black Godfather (The story of Clarence Avant)

Beware of Mr. Baker (Cream drummer Ginger Baker)

The Beatles Get Back (2021)

David Crosby: Remember My Name

DEVO (2024)

Tom Dowd and the Language of Music

Defiant Ones (Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine)

ENO - (2024)

Amazing Grace (Aretha Franklin)

The Devil and Daniel Johnston

Laurel Canyon - A Place In Time

Muscle Shoals (a special place for music in Alabama)

Runnin' Down a Dream (Tom Petty)

Quincy (Quincy Jones)

Beside Bowie: The Mick Ronson Story

Rumble - The Indians Who Rocked The World

Summer of Soul (Directed by Questlove)

TINA: Tina Turner

The Greatest Night in Pop - making of We Are The World


GOOD TO VERY GOOD - WATCH IF YOU LIKE THE ARTIST (355)

1991: The Year Punk Broke (Sonic Youth, Nirvana, etc)

20 Feet From Stardom (Backup Singers)

808 (history of the Roland TR-808 synthesizer)

A-Ha The Movie

If These Walls Could Sing (Abbey Road Studios)

All the Streets are Silent - NYC Hip Hop and Skating scene

Aerosmith - The Making of Pump

Air Guitar Nation

Laurie Anderson Homeland

I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead - Steve Aoki

The Apollo (history of NYC's Apollo Theater)

Duane Allman - song of the south Duane Allman and the Rise of the Allman Brothers

Allman Brothers - After the Crash

Anvil! The Story of Anvil

Keeping Time - LA Pan African People’s Arkestra (The Ark)

Louis Armstrong’s Black and Blues

A Song For You - the Austin City Limits story

May it Last - (A Portrait of the Avett Brothers)

Bad Company

Joan Baez - I Am A Noise

The Last Waltz (The Band)

Once Were Brothers - Robbie Robertson and The Band

Pet Sounds (Beach Boys Classic Albums w/ Brian Wilson, Wrecking Crew**)**

Beach Boys - Disney+

The Beastie Boys Story

Awesome; I F*in' Shot That! - Beastie Boys

Beatles - Eight Days A Week

Beatles - Get Back (2024 release of the original 1970 Let It Be film by Michael Lindsay-Hogg)

Let it Be (Beatles)- Disney+

Beatles ‘64 - Disney+

Joan Baez and BB King at Sing Sing (by David Hoffman)

Jeff Beck - Still On The Run

The Bee Gees - How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?

BANG: The Bert Berns Story

Homecoming (Beyonce)

Big Star - Nothing Can Hurt Me

Biggie - I Got A Story To Tell

All up in the Biz - Biz Markie

The Ritchie Blackmore Story

All I Can Say - The Shannon Hoon Story Blind Melon (by Danny Clinch)

What The Hell Happened to Blood, Sweat & Tears?

Blue Note Records - Beyond The Notes

Bluebird (Cafe in Nashville)

Born to Boogie (Marc Bolan and T. Rex)

Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful

The Sound of 007 - James Bond movies

Cracked Actor: A Film About David Bowie

David Bowie: Last 5 Years

David Bowie: Finding Fame

David Bowie - Serious Moonlight

Bowie: The Man Who Changed the World

The Sigma Kids (David Bowie making Young America at Sigma Studios in Philadelphia)

Moonage Daydream ****- David Bowie

Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown

Jackson Browne: Going Home

Jeff Buckley: Fall In Light

Buena Vista Social Club

Desperate Man Blues - bluegrass collector Joe Bussard

David Byrne’s American Utopia

Cachao - Como Su Ritmo No Hay Dos

Glenn Campbell: I'll Be Me

Karen Carpenter: Starving for Perfection

Jimmy Carter - Rock and Roll President

Tricky Dick and the Man in Black (Johnny Cash and Richard Nixon)

20,000 Days On Earth - Nick Cave

A Life In Waves (electronic music pioneer Suzanne Ciani)

Rise and Fall of The Clash

Clarence Clemons: Who Do I Think I Am

Dave Chapelle’s Block Party

Now More Than Ever: The History of Chicago

The Last Band On Stage - Chicago

Eric Clapton - A Life in 12 bars

Coachella: 20 years in the desert

Record Safari - Digging in the Crates of America (Coachella Record Store Guy)

Cobain: Montage of Heck (Kurt Cobain of Nirvana)

Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song

Leonard Cohen - I’m Your Man

Coldplay: A Head Full of Dreams

Chasing Trane (John Coltrane)

Joe Cocker: Mad Dog with Soul

The Two Killings of Sam Cooke

Super Duper Alice Cooper

Credence Clearwater Revival - Traveling Band at the Royal Albert Hall

CREEM: America’s Only Rock Magazine

In the Court of the Crimson King

Crowded House: Farewell to the World

Crowded House: I Like To Watch

CSNY: Fifty by Four (Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young)

A Tuba to Cuba - Preservation Hall Jazz Band

Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of our Lives

Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool

A Band Called Death

DEVO: The complete truth about DE-EVOLUTION

Dig! The Dandy Warhols and Brian Jonestown Massicre

Count Me In (Drummers)

Doobie Brothers - Let The Music Play

When You're Strange (The Doors)

The Decline of Western Civilization (the birth of punk in 3 parts)

Depeche Mode 101

Freakscene - The Story of Dinosaur Jr.

I Am - Celine Dion

Disco’s Revenge (2024 on DOC NYC)

Dread Zeppelin - A Song of Hope

Duran Duran: There's Something You Should Know

Don’t Look Back - (Bob Dylan)

No Direction Home (Bob Dylan)

Rolling Thunder Review: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorcese

History of the Eagles (Part One and Two)

Echo in the Canyon

Billie Eilish - The World’s A Little Blurry

Brian Eno - 1971-1977: The Man Who Fell To Earth

Our Latin Thing - Fania All Stars

Finding Fela

Festival Express (1970 Canadian Rail Rock Show)

Danny Says (Danny Field managed Doors, Lou Reed, Ramones)

Flaming Lips Space Bubble Film - Criterion Collection

The Story of Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac Rumours (Classic Albums)

Blaze Foley: Duct Tape Messiah (2011)

Like a Rolling Stone (magazine) - Ben Fong-Torres

Foo Fighters: Back and Forth

David Foster - Off The Record

Instrument - 10 years with the band Fugazi

Standing in the Shadows of Motown (Story of the backup band The Funk Brothers)

Music Box: Listening to Kenny G

Gaga: Five Foot Two

Inventing David Geffen

Genesis: Sum of the Parts

Inside Genesis - The Peter Gabriel Years 1970-1975

The Go-Go's

Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me

Supermensch - the Legend of Shep Gordon

Long Strange Trip (Grateful Dead)

Norman’s Rare Guitars about the famous LA store ****

Buddy Guy: The Blues Chase the Blues Away

George Harrison : Living in the Material World

An Accidental Studio - George Harrison

Concert for George (George Harrison)

Blondie's New York and the Making of Parallel Lines (Debbie Harry)

Heartbreakers Beach Party Tom Petty (2024 and 1983, Cameron Crowe)

Jimi Plays Monterey - Jimi Hendrix (by D.A. Pennebaker; recorded in 1967, released in 1986)

Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis)

The Hollies - Look Through Any Window

Whitney (Houston) - The untold story for the first time (2018)

Alone with Chrissy Hynde (Pretenders)

Janis Ian: Breaking Silence

Immediate Family - The world’s best session players (Wrecking Crew director Denny Tedesco)

Imogen Heap - Everything In Between

Jason Isbell - Running with eyes closed (Music Box)

Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child

Jimi Hendrix: At Last... The Beginning: The Making Of Electric Ladyland

HIP HOP - THE SONGS THAT SHOOK AMERICA

Hired Gun (“first call, A-list” musicians)

Jaco (Jaco Pastorius, the greatest bass player ever)

Being Mick: You Would If You Could (Mick Jagger)

Bitchin - The Sound and Fury of Rick James

Jazz - Ken Burns

Bad Reputation (Joan Jett)

Billy Joel: A Matter of Trust

ReMastered: Devil at the crossroads (Robert Johnson Story)

Janis: Little Girl Blue (Janis Joplin)

Chasing Happiness (Jonas Brothers)

Carole King: Natural Woman

The Kinks: Life on the Road

Biography: KISStory

American Dream / American Knightmare (Suge Knight Story)

Let The Canary Sing - Cindy Lauper

Shut Up and Play the Hits - LCD SoundSystem

The Song Remains the Same (Led Zeppelin)

Led Zeppelin: Dazed and Confused

Becoming Led Zeppelin (2025)

Lemmy (Motorhead bassist Lemmy Kilmister)

The U.S Versus John Lennon

The Lost Weekend: A Love Story  John Lennon and May Pang

John Lennon - Murder Without a Trial (series)

John and Yoko - Above Us Only Sky (John Lennon)

Imagine - John Lennon and Yoko Ono and Gimme Some Truth on DVD

Huey Lewis and the News: BEFORE!

Jerry Lee Lewis - Trouble in Mind

Gordon Lightfoot - if you could read my mind

Feats First - The Life and Music of Lowell George (Little Feat)

Get Back - The Story of Liverpool

My Generation - Michael Caine, Beatles, London music + culture scene into the British Invasion

Art Dealers - Low Cut Connie

Lynyrd Skynyrd - If I Leave Here Tomorrow

Truth or Dare - Madonna

Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt ****and The Magnetic Fields (2010)

Bob Marley: The Making of a Legend

Who Shot The Sheriff? (Bob Marley)

Produced by George Martin (Beatles and much more)

McCartney 3,2,1 Paul McCartney and Rick Rubin

Crock of Gold - A Few Rounds with Shane McGowan

John Mellencamp: Plain Spoken

Melody Makers: Should have been there! Photographer Barrie Wentzell story and pics

Metallica: Some Kind of Monster

Metallica - Apple Vision Pro 2025

Joni Mitchell: Woman of Heart & Mind

Mixtape - the media that launched Hip Hop

Once In A Lifetime Sessions - Moby

Monterey Pop

Lou Adler and D.A. Pennebaker (on the Monterey Pop festival)

The Importance of Being Morrissey

Music Box - Jagged (Alanis Morisette)

Hitsville - The Making of Motown

Mumford & Sons - We Wrote This Yesterday

How Music Got Free - The rise of digital downloads (2024 Paramount)

It All Begins With A Song - The Story of the Nashville Songwriter

Mistaken for Strangers (The Nationals roadie brother)

New Order: Decades

New York Doll (Arthur “Killer” Kane) - New York Dolls

Personality Crisis - One Night Only (David Johansen and New York Dolls)

Hate to Love: Nickelback

Nightclubbing: The Birth of Punk Rock in NYC

Who Is Harry Nilsson (and Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him?)

Gary Numan: Android in La La Land

Nothing Compares - Sinead O’Connor

Oasis Knebworth 1996

Oasis: Supersonic

God Bless Ozzy Osborne

Other Music Documentary of NYC store

Cassette: A Documentary Mixtape (History of the cassette with inventor Lou Otten)

It Might Get Loud - Jimmy Page, The Edge, Jack White

Dolly Parton - Queen of Country

Here I Am - Dolly Parton

Les Paul - Chasing Sound

Pearl Jam 20 (by Cameron Crowe)

The Pedal Movie

Tom Petty: Somewhere You Feel Free - The Making of Wildflowers

Philadelphia: The Way It Was (Val Shively, Jerry Blavet, Billy Harner)

P!nk: All I Know So Far

Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii Director’s Cut

Pink Floyd Dark Side Of The Moon (Classic Albums)

Pink Floyd The Story of Wish You Were Here

Chit Chat with Oysters - Pink Floyd (1971)

I Am What I Play (story of rock radio with 4 DJs)

Can’t Stand Losing You: Surviving The Police (from Andy Summers)

aka Doc Pomus - Save the last dance for me ****

Elvis Presley: The Searcher

The Public Image is Rotten

The Story of Queen: Mercury Rising

RECOLLECTIONS - Val Shively and 50 Years of Selling and Collecting Music in Philadelphia

Funky Monks - Red Hot Chili Peppers making of Blood Sugar Sex Magik

Shake! Otis (Redding) at Monterey (Pop Festival)

Lou Reed: Rock and Roll Heart

Lou Reed: Transformer (Classic Albums)

Color Me Obsessed: A Film About The Replacements

Randy Rhoads - Reflections and a Guitar Icon

Little Richard - I Am Everthing

Keith Richards: Under the Influence

Take Me To The River (the Memphis music scene)

Long Live Rock - Celebrate the Chaos (hardcore metal and their fans)

Rock Camp

Rockfield: The Studio on the Farm

Searching for Sugar Man (the search for mysterious '70s artist Rodriguez)

Rolling Stone: Stories From The Edge

The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus

In Exile - Rolling Stones

Crossfire Hurricane (Rolling Stones 50th Anniversary)

Gimme Shelter (Rolling Stones at Altamont)

Shine a Light - Rolling Stones (Scorsese at Beacon 2008)

The Rolling Stones Ole Ole Ole: A trip across Latin America (and Cuba)

Rolling Stones - Cocksucker Blues

Rolling Stone (magazine) - Stories from the Edge (2018)

The (Rolling) Stones and Brian Jones

Catching Fire - the story of Anita Pallenberg ,  Rolling Stones muse and Keith Richards wife

Watch The Sound with Mark Ronson (6 episodes)

Linda Ronstadt - The Sound of my Voice

More Than This - Roxy Music

Shangri-la: Rick Rubin documentary

Todd Rundgren Healing (filmed at The Franklin Institute)

Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage

A Poem is a Naked Person (Leon Russell)

Carlos - Carlos Santana

Scratch (history of DJs)

The Harmony Game - Simon and Garfunkel

Sinatra - All or Nothing at All

Sinatra in Palm Springs

Sisters with Transistors - Electronic Music’s Unsung Heroines

Slash: Raised on Sunset Strip

Bunch of Kunst: A Film about Sleaford Mods

Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) Sly and the Family Stone - 2025 by Questlove

Patti Smith: ****Dream of Life

Ladies and Gentlemen- 50 Years of SNL Music (by Questlove)

Songbirds - guitar museum in Chattanooga since 2015

Sound City (LA Sound Studio with David Grohl)

The Sparks Brothers

Britney vs Spears

The Story of Rod Stewart

Gimme Danger (the story of The Stooges and Iggy Pop)

Meet Me In The Bathroom - Strokes, Interpol, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, LCD Sundsystem, NYC bands

Springsteen and I

Springsteen on Broadway

Bruce Springsteen’s Letter To You

Western Stars - Bruce Springsteen

Backstage Springsteen ABC

Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

Mavis! (Mavis Staples of the Staple Singers)

Steely Dan: Aja (Classic Albums)

Note By Note - The Making of Steinway L1037

Bring On The Night (Sting)

Sting - All This Time (preparing for concert on Sept 11 2001)

Style Wars (the story of Graffiti and Hip Hop and Break Dancing in 1982 NYC)

Donna Summer - Love to Love You

Sun Ra - Brother from Another Planet

Resynator - the story of Don Tavel who helped invent the synthesizer

Miss Americana (Taylor Swift)

folklore: the long pond studio sessions (Taylor Swift)

Stop Making Sense (Talking Heads)

The T.A.M.I. Show (1964 TV special)

Thin Lizzy - Rocker On The Loose (featuring Phil Lynott)

Only the Strong Survive - Rufus Thomas, Isaac Hayes, Wilson Pickett, Sam Moore

Timbuk 3 - Espace Ornano

Beats, Rhymes and Life - ****The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest

All Things Must Pass (The Tower Records story)

Steven Tyler - Out on a Limb

Rattle and Hum - U2

U2 Bono & The Edge - A Sort of Homecoming, with David Letterman

Uncropped - The Story of James Hamilton Rock Photographer (and more)

The US Festival 1982: The US Generation Documentary (Steve Wozniak, Bill Graham concert)

Lost Weekend - Partying with Van Halen (Tribeca Short Film)

Luther - Never Too Much 2024 (Luther Vandross)

Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple

Rise of a Texas Bluesman: Stevie Ray Vaughan 1954-1983

Velvet Underground (2021)

Vinyl Nation (2020 Record Store Day documentary by Kevin Smokler)

Under The Volcano - the story of George Martin’s Air Studio Montserrat

Louden Wainwright III Surviving Twin

Scott Walker - 30th Century Man

The Weezer Documentary - a (mildly) full compilation of the Weezer timeline

His Way - The Jerry Weintraub Story

The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir

Jeen-yuhs - Kanye West

Wham!

Dancin’ Outlaw - the story of Jesco White

The Kids are Alright (The Who)

Quadrophenia - Can You See The Real Me? (The Who)

Lambert and Stamp - (Managers of The Who)

Wilco - I Am Trying To Break Your Heart

Brian Wilson - Long Promised Road

Paul Williams - Still Alive

Amy (Amy Winehouse)

Woodstock: 3 Days That Changed Everything

Woodstock 99 - Peace, Love and Rage

The Wrecking Crew (LA session musicians by Denny Tedesco)

The Quiet One (Bill Wyman of ****the Rolling Stones)

XTC At The Manor (1980 BBC)

Yacht Rock - a Dockumentary (2024 HBO)

YesYears

Neil Young’s Music Box: Here We Are In The Years

Neil Young - Harvest Time

Roxy: The Movie (Frank Zappa)

Eat That Question: Frank Zappa In His Own Words

Zappa (2020)

Worst to First The True Story of Z100 New York

ZZ Top: That Little Old Band from Texas

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