# Great Documentaries About Music? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 19, 2019, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries-about-music/828057 "2019-01-19T16:36:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries-about-music/828057/1 "2019-01-19T16:36:02Z")
I’ve seen so many about certain bands/artists, but I don’t think I’ve seen a documentary about music; the history, or the language, evolution, how it spread early on, what effects it has on people, etc. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries-about-music/828057/2 "2019-01-19T16:57:37Z")
While not exactly what you describe, you might enjoy the 2016 documentary series [Soundbreaking](http://soundbreaking.com/). It’s about the history and evolution of recorded music, so it’s focused on the past 100+ years, and it’s about the innovation and experimentation that went into modern music. (Also, it was produced by Sir George Martin.) Because of its subject matter, it doesn’t focus on particular artists (though there are definitely a ton of musicians featured in it). ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries-about-music/828057/3 "2019-01-19T16:59:34Z")
Don’t know if this is exactly what you’re looking for, but there was the PBS documentary series [Soundbreaking](https://www.pbs.org/soundbreaking/home/) which aired last year. And hey, they’re running it again at the end of March! ETA: Ninja’ed! ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries-about-music/828057/4 "2019-01-19T17:00:16Z")
PBS, American Masters. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries-about-music/828057/5 "2019-01-19T17:42:06Z")
Maybe not exactly what you’re looking for, but you could try Sound City. Also, 20 Feet From Stardom was very good. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries-about-music/828057/6 "2019-01-19T20:43:39Z")
I’ll check them out, thank you! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries-about-music/828057/7 "2019-01-19T22:01:16Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Maybe not exactly what you’re looking for, but you could try Sound City. I enjoyed that one a great deal. Relatedly (as Dave Grohl produced Sound City), you might also check out the project he worked on after that: [Sonic Highways](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_Fighters%3A_Sonic_Highways), a documentary series about the music scene and history in various cities (New York, New Orleans, Nashville, etc.), which was hosted by Grohl and his band, Foo Fighters. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries-about-music/828057/8 "2019-01-19T22:41:50Z")
[The Howlin’ Wolf Story](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3fdpbu) is excellent. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries-about-music/828057/9 "2019-01-19T22:52:41Z")
The BBC series [The Story of Music](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+story+of+music+bbc+howard+goodall) by Howard Goodall is great. His series _How Music Works_, also available on YouTube is also fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries-about-music/828057/10 "2019-01-19T22:59:49Z")
3rd on Soundbreaking. Great series. Might also check out the little cheesy half-hours ‘Rockumentaries’ on the VICE channel. Shallow, but entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries-about-music/828057/11 "2019-01-19T23:14:16Z")
Focused on the Blues, _The Land Where the Blues Began_, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eMe54XsJUE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eMe54XsJUE) by Alan Lomax, John Bishop and Worth Long, is an outstanding documentary about how the Delta Blues evolved from African rhythms and traditions. As much as I appreciate the well-known bluesmen like Robert Johnson, Elmore James and Howling Wolf, IMO, these are the real bluesmen with stories to tell. A bit of triva. In his book filming and editing this documentary, Lomax said that when Joe Savage is singing about his time at the county jail (44m:54s), he cut to Savage’s hands because his facial expressions were too painful to watch. He soon realized that Savage wringing his hands was an even more powerful image that the keep in the film. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries-about-music/828057/12 "2019-01-20T02:31:11Z")
The BBC did a great 3 part documentary on the history of house music: Can You Feel It - How Dance Music Conquered the World. [Here’s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwyMuYY-LY4) the first part. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries-about-music/828057/13 "2019-01-20T02:39:42Z")
If you’re interested in the history of an individual instrument, _[Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theremin:_An_Electronic_Odyssey)_ is worth watching. [Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumble:_The_Indians_Who_Rocked_the_World) talks a lot about the influence of Native Americans in the music of America. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries-about-music/828057/14 "2019-01-20T04:28:06Z")
If you like it loud, “The Decline of Western Civilization” series are a good summation of the ca. 1980 punk scene in part 1, and the 80s and 90s L.A. metal scene in parts 2 and 3. ---
**Author:** ![road\_lobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d78d45/32.png) [@road\_lobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/road_lobo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries-about-music/828057/15 "2019-01-20T08:49:37Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > The BBC series [The Story of Music](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+story+of+music+bbc+howard+goodall) by Howard Goodall is great. His series _How Music Works_, also available on YouTube is also fascinating. I recommend Howard Goodall’s [Big Bangs](http://www.howardgoodall.co.uk/works/tv-presenting/howard-goodalls-big-bangs), which can also be seen on YouTube. It covers the inventions of notation, opera, equal temperament, the pianoforte, and recorded sound. [Radio Soulwax - This is Belgium Part 1](https://youtu.be/4XUipCxjmmw) is about New Beat. [Synth Britannia](https://youtu.be/TK1P93r9xes) is about the origins of British synth pop and sequelae. [Punk Britannia](https://youtu.be/5VZ-cSo0PhA) is about British punk. The link is to part 1 of 3. [Reggae - The Story of Jamaican Music](https://youtu.be/wv1Iy26qlLk) is obvious. [Dub Echoes](https://youtu.be/wPVDrKiNVg4) is about dub reggae. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries-about-music/828057/16 "2019-01-20T13:08:51Z")
Leonard Bernstein’s radio lectures – now podcasts, here: [Bernstein's Lectures, or Music Podcasts From the Past | WQXR Editorial | WQXR](https://www.wqxr.org/story/bernsteins-lectures-or-music-podcasts-past/) – come closer to what the OP seeks, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries-about-music/828057/17 "2019-01-20T13:14:35Z")
I really loved Leonard Bernstein’s **Omnibus** and **Young People’s Concerts**. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries-about-music/828057/18 "2019-01-20T13:15:44Z")
Also, Ken Burns’s **Jazz**. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries-about-music/828057/19 "2019-01-20T15:52:33Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > Also, Ken Burns’s **Jazz**. Great one. ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_Maven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_maven/32/3272_2.png) [@Steven\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Maven)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries-about-music/828057/20 "2019-01-20T16:51:20Z")
Tom Dowd & the Language of Music (sorry, no link) Dowd was a recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records, and worked with numerous legendary musicians. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-documentaries-about-music/828057.md?page=2)