Recommended Documentaries

We’ve been watching a lot of documentaries over the past few years, especially music documentaries, and there has been a strong multi-year run of so many fantastic new releases it’s worth recommending some of what we’ve seen.

Most of these we rented or purchased on iTunes or Netflix. There are a few DVDs. These are the ones worth seeing again, not a list of everything watched. Even if you don’t necessarily like the band (Journey, Rush, whatever) the movies are fantastic.

Bold titles indicate a particular awesomeness. (Updated April 2019.)

Music Documentaries
  • Beyoncé, Homecoming
  • Rolling Stones, Olé Olé Olé
  • Shot, The Psycho-Spiritual Mantra of Rock and Roll
  • Ed Sheeran, Songwriter
  • Taylor Swift, Reputation
  • The History of Chicago
  • Bill Frisell, a Portrait
  • Gaga: Five Foot Two
  • Chasing Trane
  • Roger Waters The Wall
  • Long Strange Trip: The Untold Story of the Grateful Dead
  • Eat That Question, Zappa In His Own Words
  • Frank Zappa & the Mothers: Roxy the Movie
  • Jaco
  • The Other One: The Long Strange Trip of Bob Weir
  • Amy (Winehouse)
  • Paradise Is There: The New Tigerlily Recordings – A Film Memoir by Natalie Merchant
  • R.E.M. By MTV
  • The Pleasures of Being Out of Step: Notes on the Life of Nat Hentoff
  • Charles Lloyd: Arrows Into Infinity
  • One Track Heart: The Story of Krishna Das
  • Kansas: Miracles Out of Nowhere
  • The Wrecking Crew
  • Leonard Cohen: Live in Dublin
  • The Sea In Between
  • Find Your Way: A Busker’s Documentary
  • Muscle Shoals
  • Artifact
  • Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train a Comin’
  • Billy Joel Live at Shea Stadium
  • Imagine: John Lennon
  • Classic Albums: John Lennon – Plastic Ono Band
  • Spark: A Burning Man Story
  • Neil Young Journeys
  • History of the Eagles
  • Jimi Hendrix: The Dick Cavett Show
  • Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey
  • Sound City
  • Metallica: Some Kind Of Monster
  • Legends of the Canyon
  • Inventing David Geffen
  • Crossfire Hurricane
  • George Harrison: Living In The Material World
  • Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage
  • The Other F Word
  • Pearl Jam Twenty
  • Michael Jackson: This Is It
  • Stones In Exile
  • Under African Skies
  • Electric Daisy Carnival
  • Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
  • It Might Get Loud
Related Music & Culture
  • Grass is Greener
  • Ram Dass, Going Home
  • Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond
  • Orange Sunshine
  • The Sunshine Makers
  • Indie Game: The Movie
  • Ken Kesey’s Magic Trip
  • Taking Woodstock
  • Ram Dass Fierce Grace
  • We Live In Public
  • Gonzo: Life and Work of Hunter Thompson
Architecture
  • The Oyler House: Richard Neutra’s Desert Retreat
  • Frank Lloyd Wright: A Film By Ken Burns & Lynn Novick (PBS TV)
  • Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman
  • Eames: The Architect and the Painter