Bob Harris: My Nashville Y
'Whispering' Bob Harris journeys to America's country music capital to reveal why Nashville became Music City USA. From the beginnings of the Grand Ole Opry on commercial radio, through the threatening onset of rock 'n' roll in the 1950s, right up to the modern mainstream hits of Music Row, this is the story of how music has shaped Nashville and why today it's a place of pilgrimage for musicians from all over the world.
As well as iconic venues on Lower Broadway and the historic hit factories of 16th Avenue, Bob also explores the East Nashville music scene and discovers a rebellious flipside to the country coin. With exclusive performances from the city's top talent, Bob explains why country music owes its enduring success to Nashville's unique nurturing community of songwriters.
Bob Marley: Exodus '77
1977 was the 60th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, the 30th anniversary of the Partition of India, the 20th anniversary of the First Age of Rock'n'Roll, the 10th anniversary of Sgt Pepper and the Summer of Love. It was the year of Punk, the Queen's Jubilee and the death of Elvis. It was also the year that Bob Marley, with the album Exodus, reached the whole world.
Marley's legendary concert at the Rainbow that summer took reggae music and the message of Rastafaria to a world that hitherto had been exposed to neither. The programme is a visual evocation of the world of 1977, a world that seems very far away now, and of the spirit of Marley's most significant album. It is not a film about the making of an album, it's a film about an artist and his world; about the impact of the world on Bob Marley and of Bob Marley on the world.
Bob Marley: Time Will Tell
A program which celebrates the life and music of Bob Marley, one of the most legendary artists of our time. The musical genius and cultural hero, who is responsible for widely popularizing the reggae music of Jamaica, is captured in rare performances and interview footage together with rehearsal footage, newsreel and archival film clips. All of this gives a compelling portrait of a true icon.
Born To Be Wild - The Golden Age of American Rock – Riders on the Storm
During the era of flower power, Vietnam and LSD, bands such as the Doors, Jefferson Airplane and MC5 not only sang about the revolution, they were the revolution. This episode explores the artists that made the soundtrack to the peace and love generation. The culmination of this era was when half a million people descended on a field in the small hamlet of Woodstock. At that moment rock music seemed a beacon of hope for those who believed in the ideals of equality and freedom. But instead of inspiring a new generation of artists to lead the revolution through political songs the festival proved to be a watershed moment for rock music's reactionary era. The marketing men lined up ready to sign and keen to turn this music from protest into profit.
Born To Be Wild - The Golden Age of American Rock - School's Out
This second part tells the story of the 1970s, when rock stars became multi-millionaires and the music they made was the soundtrack for middle America.
After the rage and protest of the previous decade, rock music of the early 70s was gentle and sweet - the songs of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and the Doobie Brothers. Although the USA was riven by political disasters - the end of the Vietnam War, Watergate and the gasoline crisis - rock music seldom commented on them, although Alice Cooper's Nixon satire Elected was a rare exception. But in the middle of the decade new voices started to emerge, such as Bruce Springsteen's songs of working class glory or Tom Petty's tight, 1960s-inspired sound.
The massive success of stadium shows exemplified how big American rock had become and, in 1976 and 1977, the genre soared with a string of multi-platinum albums by Fleetwood Mac, Boston, the Eagles and Meat Loaf. Unlike in the UK, American punk barely diverted the rock gods, but disco did make an impact. Rock became smoother and more saccharine and in the corporate offices of record labels the drive was for ever larger profits.
With interviews with many of the decade's leading rock musicians, the programme also features studio and concert footage including Alice Cooper, Bruce Springsteen and the Eagles.
Born To Be Wild - The Golden Age of American Rock - Welcome To the Jungle Y
The beginning of the decade of the 1980's saw the meteoric rise of MTV which completely changed the landscape of rock music. From Los Angeles, a new rock scene emerged of party-anthem pop-metal, tailor-made for the visual medium of TV. Bands like Van Halen, Motley Crue and Poison sported heavy make-up, flashy clothes and huge hair while singing songs of sex, partying, drinking and drugs.
The other side of American mainstream rock attempted to tackle the social and political issues of the time. John Mellencamp, Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen all produced a stadium rock that appealed to the nation's blue-collar workers. Their music filled arenas, but was anybody really listening to the message?
As the decade moved on, MTV exposure directly translated to commercial profit and soon the hugely popular pop-metal - dubbed Hair Metal by its critics - was saturating the market. Power ballads, big choruses and even bigger hair were the order of the day, with the highly marketable Bon Jovi leading the pack. Guns N' Roses saw themselves as the antithesis to what they considered fake rebellion, soft-rock drivel. But, as we discover, even they became neutralised by the commercialisation of the rock industry.
The documentary ends in the early 90s with the emergence of Nirvana and grunge, which wiped away the narcissistic, sexist and pompous music form American rock had grown into. However, it was ultimately another genre of pop music that really replaced the golden age of rock, producing the big personalities the rock scene could no longer provide.
Brian Wilson: Songwriter 1962-1969 Y
Reviews the rich tapestry of music written and produced by this brilliant 20th-century composer and former Beach Boy. This investigative documentary includes historical musical performances, archival interviews and rare photographs—plus exclusive contributions from fellow Beach Boys Bruce Johnston and David Marks, Wrecking Crew musicians Carol Kaye and Hal Blaine, Beach Boys manager Fred Vail and many more.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: Blood Brothers N A
In 1995, cameras followed Bruce Springsteen into the studio as he reunited with his E Street Band to record new tracks for his "Greatest Hits" album, yielding this behind-the-scenes glimpse into the magic between the Boss and his band. This documentary includes interviews, plenty of off-the-cuff moments and performances of new songs such as "Blood Brothers," "Secret Garden," the Woody Guthrie homage "This Hard Land" and more.
Bruce Springsteen: Darkness Revisited
Alan Yentob presents this special edition of Thom Zimny's documentary in which Bruce Springsteen describes his attempts to create a sequel to one of the most popular albums of all time, sealing his legendary status in the tortured, but ultimately triumphant, process.
Darkness on the Edge of Town was Springsteen's make-or-break follow-up to the classic 1975 album Born To Run - the recording that made him a superstar. In the period before the album was made, Springsteen was mired in a protracted legal battle that thwarted his desire to produce an album that would surpass his previous achievements. Zimny's film shows the young Springsteen driving himself, his band and his manager almost to distraction in his search for perfection, as he writes and records new compositions and produces ground-breaking work in song after song.
Zimny's film features reflections from Springsteen, manager Jon Landau and members of the all-important E-Street Band on the extraordinary process of making this crucial rock 'n' roll album. It includes visceral, previously-unseen black-and-white footage shot between 1976 and 1978 from the rehearsals that took place both at Springsteen's home and at the Record Plant recording studio in New York.
Buddy Holly Y
Documentary looking at the short but brilliant career of legendary rock'n'roll star Buddy Holly. Features interviews with contemporaries and fans including backing band The Crickets, The Everly Brothers, Keith Richards and Paul McCartney.
Buena Vista Social Club N
Aging Cuban musicians whose talents had been virtually forgotten following Castro's takeover of Cuba, are brought out of retirement by Ry Cooder, who travelled to Havana in order to bring the musicians together, resulting in triumphant performances of extraordinary music, and resurrecting the musicians' careers.
Burt Bacharach . . . This is Now Y
Dusty Springfield narrates a documentary profile of the songwriter who won an Oscar for the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid score, enjoyed stage success with Promises, Promises and whose classic songs continue to influence modern music. Featuring interviews with Dionne Warwick, Noel Gallager, Hal David, Herb Alpert, Elvis Costello, Cilla Black, Richard Carpenter, Carol Bayer Sager and Gillian Lynne.
The Byrd Who Flew Alone: The Triumph and Tragedy of Gene Clark
Bob Dylan described Missouri-born country boy Gene Clark as one of the three best songwriters in the world. He was the original frontman for one of the most iconic and influential bands of the 60s. After his abrupt departure from the Byrds at the peak of their popularity, he made records that are still regarded as classics. And he was one of the great pioneers of both folk rock and country rock. Yet, as far as the public is concerned, Clark is largely unknown and his reputation lags far behind that of peers such as Gram Parsons.
Since his death in 1991 at the age of 46, his songs have been covered by artists ranging from Robert Plant to Yo La Tengo and he has been hailed as a key influence by successive generations of musicians such as Tom Petty, Primal Scream and Fleet Foxes, despite some of his albums having been unavailable for long periods and only now all in print again.
This documentary explores the mystery of why this richly talented but deeply enigmatic and often self-destructive man failed to enjoy the success his work deserved. Drawing on interviews with his family, friends and fellow musicians including fellow Byrds David Crosby and Roger McGuinn, a wealth of great music from the four-decade span of his career and previously unseen archive material, it is a story that is both compelling and moving, veering between moments of magic and moments of madness.
Cachao Uno Mas
2008, almost 90-years old. A maestro of legendary status on the world stage and ultimately considered one of the greatest Afro-Cuban musicians of all time, he had made his home in the United States for the past four decades. Coming from a family of classical musicians, he had formal conservatory training and held a seat in the Havana Philharmonic Orchestra for 30 years, performing under the direction of all of the legendary international conductors of the time – beginning at age 10! American Masters pays tribute to the Father of Mambo in the series’ bilingual film, Cachao: Uno Más. The film is produced, narrated and illuminated by the actor Andy Garcia, a close friend and ardent fan, who helped re-establish Cachao’s career in the ‘90s. Among the film’s many treats is Garcia playing the bongos with Cachao.
California Dreamin': The Songs of the Mamas & The Papas Y
Celebrates 50 years of the harmonious pop-folk-rock group that defined an era. The special features interviews and performances by Mama Cass, Michelle, Denny and John, with rare footage not seen in decades.
Can't You Hear the Wind Howl: The Life and Music of Robert Johnson Y
An in-depth, award-winning documentary on the life and music of legendary bluesman ROBERT JOHNSON. Mixing rare photographs, exclusive interviews, and dramatic re-creations, director PETER MEYER presents a compelling portrait of this enigmatic figure. Hosted by Danny Glover with Keb' Mo' as Robert Johnson, featuring Johnny Shines, Honeyboy Edwards, John Hammond, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards.
Carmen: The Dream and the Destiny
1970s documentary by celebrated filmmaker Christopher Nupen which tells the story of composer Georges Bizet and his most famous composition. A failure when it premiered in Paris in 1875, Carmen is now regarded as one of the great stories in the history of Western music. But Bizet never lived to know that his opera would become one of the most popular of all time, dying of a heart attack at 36 just three months after the disaster of the opening night. The film explores Bizet's most famous work and offers a revealing insight into the life of the great composer.
The Carpenters Story: Only Yesterday Y
2007 documentary about brother and sister duo the Carpenters, one of the biggest-selling pop acts of the 1970s, but one with a destructive and complex secret that ended in tragedy with Karen Carpenter's untimely death at 32. Featuring behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Richard Carpenter, family and friends.
Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker Y
Celebrating Bird is a revealing look at an enigmatic yet endlessly appealing man, who soared to the heights of creative freedom but couldn't beat a lifelong addiction to heroin. It includes a TV appearance with Dizzy Gillespie and rare footage with jazz greats including Billy Eckstine, Count Basie, Art Tatum, Thelonious Monk, Louis Armstrong, Kenny Clarke and Lucky Thompson, Lester Young, among others. This exciting soundtrack contains many of Parker's finest recordings including: Ballade, Yardbird Suite, Relaxin' At Camarillo, Just Friends, Koko, Confirmation, Au Privave, Kim, and Bloomdido.
Charles Bradley: Soul of America
Charles Bradley may have had a difficult life, but nothing will stop him from pursuing his dream of becoming a musician. Not even the fact that he’s just turned 62. Abandoned as a child before finally reuniting with his mother years later, a period of homelessness, and the shocking death of his older brother are just a few of the struggles that Charles has faced. Charles Bradley: Soul of America follows Charles in the weeks leading up to his debut album release, showcasing his incredible talent and his unbeatable spirit as he attempts to build a career in music at a time when others would be retiring.
Charles Mingus: Triumph of the Underdog N A
Filmmaker Don McGlynn examines the tumultuous personal life and creative legacy of jazz legend Charles Mingus as never before in this insightful documentary. Performance footage of Mingus, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie and Gerry Mulligan accompanies interviews with Mingus disciples, radio performances and more. Songs include "Goodbye Porkpie Hat," "Epitaph" and "Peggy's Blue Skylight." Sue Mingus, the artist's widow, co-produced the production.
The Charlie Parker Story Y
Hugh Quarshie narrates the story of one of the greatest jazz saxophonists of all time. Charlie Parker was a pioneer of the postwar bebop school which changed the face of jazz forever, before his tragic death at the age of 34.
Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary
Written and directed by critically-acclaimed documentary filmmaker John Scheinfeld (The U.S. vs. John Lennon and Who Is Harry Nilsson…?) the film is produced with the full participation of the Coltrane family and the support of the record labels that collectively own the Coltrane catalog. Scheinfeld brings his strong story-telling skills to the creation of a rich, textured and compelling narrative that takes the audience to unexpected places.
Set against the social, political and cultural landscape of the times, CHASING TRANE brings John Coltrane to life as a fully dimensional being, inviting the audience to engage with Coltrane the man, Coltrane the artist.
Chops
Each year, Jazz at Lincoln Center and its artistic director Wynton Marsalis host the Essentially Ellington Festival, a competition of high school jazz bands from across the country. Bruce Broder's documentary focuses on one Florida band's experience at the festival.
The Clash: Westway to the World N
The only full, unexpurgated story of one of Rock music's legendary acts. The Clash were the band who made Punk real, they were the last great British Rock'n Roll band, they were the coolest, the most political, the most eclectic and most thrilling of the Punk bands. Blasting away from the parochial concerns of the London Punk scene of the late 1970's, the Clash explored and expanded musical boundaries like no act before, or since. For seven years they set the agenda for future generations of Rock bands. In 1981 the Clash played in front of a screaming, adoring full house at Shea Stadium as their fifth album stood in the Top 5 of the U.S.
Classic Albums: Fleetwood Mac: Rumours Y A
Oh, the heartache. Oh, the drug intake. And oh, the sales records they did break. It's all here in this 70-minute, 1997 chronicle of the making of one of pop music's biggest albums ever, Rumours. All five members of Fleetwood Mac's most successful incarnation are interviewed, and their comments are even more candid than the confessional songs ("Dreams," "Go Your Own Way" et al.) on the album itself; descriptions of the torturous process of making a record while John and Christine McVie's marriage and the Lindsey Buckingham- Stevie Nicks liaison were breaking up at the same time makes for compelling, if slightly discomfiting, viewing. Meanwhile, lest one forget that Rumours was terrific as well as revealing, plenty of attention is paid to the songs. Particularly fascinating (as with most Classic Albums packages) are the breakdowns of the separate instrumental and vocal components of individual tracks. A great tale, wonderfully told.
Come Bell Ringing: With Charles Hazlewood
For over 1,200 years church bells have called the faithful to worship, helping people celebrate triumph and commemorate tragedy. But the fact that they are one of the largest and loudest musical instruments in the world is often overlooked.
This is something musical innovator Charles Hazlewood wants to change - he wants to see if church bells can be used to make original music in their own right.
Choosing Cambridge for his musical experiment, Charles immerses himself in the world of bells and bell ringing. He tries his hand at ringing church bells, handbells and even a carillon - an instrument which resembles an organ made out of bells. He discovers why church bell ringing sounds the way it does and tries out some radical techniques - pushing the boundaries, he re-rigs a whole church tower so it can play a tune.
At the culmination of his investigations Charles devises and performs an extraordinary piece of music which involves three separate church towers and 30 handbell ringers gathered from across the eastern counties.
Concerto: A Beethoven Journey With Leif Ove Andsnes
Filmed over the course of four years, award-winning director Phil Grabsky follows one of the world's greatest pianists, Leif Ove Andsnes, as he attempts, in a series of sold-out worldwide performances, to interpret one of the greatest sets of works for piano ever written - Beethoven's five piano concertos.
However, Concerto is more than a portrait of a famous musician on tour - it is an exploration into Ludwig van Beethoven's life as revealed by these five masterworks. The relationship between the composer and his world is mirrored by the relationship between the pianist and orchestra in these concertos. The film seeks to reveal Beethoven in a way rarely seen before and bears witness to what is increasingly being regarded as one of the greatest interpretations ever of these five great pieces of music.
Considered one of the top pianists of the age, Leif Ove Andsnes offers rare insights into the mind of a world-class pianist and access to his personal and professional life. Andsnes gives an insight into the world of a contemporary classical musician. Against the wonderful background of Leif Ove playing these five pieces, we also peel back the many myths of Beethoven's life - from prodigious talent in Vienna to greatest composer alive by the time he wrote the fifth concerto. Perhaps above all, it is the fresh new biography of Beethoven that is most revealing.
Cool
Documentary exploring the meaning and history of cool through the American music of the 1940s and 50s that became known as cool jazz. Those who wrote and played it cultivated an attitude, a style and a language that came to epitomise the meaning of a word that is now so liberally used.
The film tells the story of a movement that started in the bars and clubs of New York and Los Angeles and swept across the world, introducing the key players and setting them in the context of the post-war world.
Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul
Filmmaker Fatih Akin examines diverse music performed by the denizens of Istanbul, Turkey. Rap, experimental music, street music and other forms bring the city alive with rich sounds, including performances by musician Orhan Gencebay and singer Sezen Aksu.
Dancing in the Street: A Rock and Roll History Y
Dancing in the Street: a Rock and Roll History (U.K. title) is a 1995 American-British documentary miniseries about the history of rock and roll music produced by the BBC and WGBH. Music critic Robert Palmer served as chief consultant on the series.
1. Whole Lotta Shakin'
2. Be My Baby
3. So You Want To Be A Rock And Roll Star
4. R.E.S.P.E.C.T
5. Crossroads
6. Eight Miles High
7. Hang On To Yourself
8. No Fun
9. Make It Funky
10. Planet Rock
Danielle de Niese: The Birth of an Opera
2016 sees the 200th anniversary of the premiere of Rossini's masterpiece The Barber of Seville, one of the greatest comic operas ever written. In this documentary, internationally acclaimed soprano Danielle de Niese provides a unique backstage pass to her preparations for the role of Rosina in Glyndebourne's 2016 production.
With extraordinary access, this documentary gives an unparalleled insight into how a top opera professional shapes a performance, both musically and dramatically. As well as actuality filming of all stages - from singing to warm-ups to costume fittings, lighting and set building on stage, through to hair and make-up - there are masterclass sessions with director Annabel Arden, conductor Enrique Mazzola and other key cast members to explore key scenes in depth. Danni also visits the Rome theatre where the disastrous premiere took place in 1816.
The film also features interviews with Arden, Mazzola, designer Joanna Parker and other key figures in the production, and footage from the staged version of the opera throughout.
Dave Brubeck: In His Own Sweet Way
Three young men who emerged in the 1950s - Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Dave Brubeck - not only captured the public's imagination, but in their own unique way determined the evolution of jazz as we know it today.
This Clint Eastwood co-produced documentary tells Dave Brubeck's personal story, tracing his career from his first musical experiences to the overwhelming success of the Dave Brubeck Quartet and the iconic status he and his varied forms of musical expression have achieved.
It is told with contemporary interviews, vintage performances, previously unseen archive and additional performances filmed especially for the documentary. The story is also told by Dave and Iola Brubeck, both in their own words and by musical example. Contributors include Bill Cosby, Jamie Cullum, Yo-Yo Ma, George Lucas and Eastwood himself.
In 2009 Brubeck was awarded the Kennedy Center Honors, with Robert De Niro, Bruce Springsteen, Grace Bumbry and Mel Brooks. He played with his sons for President Obama at the White House, and 55 years ago became the first jazz musician to appear on the cover of Time magazine. His classic Take Five is as familiar today as in 1959 when it was a Top 10 hit all over the world.
Brubeck has an unlikely origin for a jazz giant, growing up on a ranch in Monterey, California. Monterey resident Clint Eastwood introduced Brubeck and his Cannery Row Suite at the 2006 Monterey Jazz Festival and each were so inspired by the success of the event they agreed to move forward with this full-length documentary together.
The Dave Clark Five Above and Beyond: Glad All Over
Three British bands defined the British Invasion of 1964 which changed America. The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Dave Clark Five. Fifty years later this film tells the story of the Dave Clark Five, their emergence from working-class Tottenham, their unique sound, their close friendship, their self-managed business philosophy and the youthful exuberance with which they captured the USA.
Testifying to the lasting impact of the band and what made them unique in an era of brilliant, game-changing creativity, Dave Clark's two-hour documentary features newly-filmed interviews with Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John, Sir Ian McKellen, Stevie Wonder, Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne, Bruce Springsteen, Steven van Zandt of the E Street Band, Gene Simmons of Kiss, Whoopi Goldberg, Dionne Warwick and Twiggy.
Interwoven throughout, boyhood fan Tom Hanks's inspirational and moving speech at the DC5's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2008 explains what five guys from north London and the Tottenham Sound meant to Hanks's generation. As well as barnstorming live and TV performances by the DC5, the film weaves archive interviews with band members alongside extraordinary footage of the DC5 on tour and in the studio and also features rare TV footage from the legendary Ready Steady Go! series, where the DC5's fellow pop pioneers the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, Dusty Springfield, Stevie Wonder, the Supremes, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Marvin Gaye and Otis Redding highlight a time of unparalleled excitement and innovation. This film captures the youth, innocence and zany zest of the swinging 60s and the Dave Clark Five's driving role in those years.
And beyond the 60s? Unseen archive interviews and performances with Sir Laurence Olivier and Freddie Mercury feature among the rare footage telling the story of TIME, the spectacular, innovative and visionary rock musical with which producer and entrepreneur Dave Clark reinvented London's live music theatre in the 80s, playing to over a million people and spinning off 12 million record sales.
David Bowie: Cracked Actor Y
To mark David Bowie's comeback album and a new exhibition at the V&A, Alan Yentob looks back at his legendary 1975 documentary, Cracked Actor. The film follows Bowie during the Diamond Dogs tour of 1974.
Alan Yentob says "I'd caught him at what was an intensely creative time, but it was also physically and emotionally gruelling. Our encounters tended to take place in hotel rooms in the early hours of the morning or in snatched conversations in the back of limousines. He was fragile and exhausted, but also prepared to open up and talk in a way he had never really done before."
Cracked Actor has become one of the classic rock documentaries of all time, remaining an enduring influence on generations of Bowie fans.
David Bowie; The Last Five Years
There was nothing predictable about David Bowie. Everything was designed to intrigue, to challenge, to defy all expectations. But perhaps no period in David Bowie’s extraordinary career raised more fascination, more surprise, and more questions than the last five years. This is an intimate portrait of one of the defining artists of the twentieth and early twenty first centuries, told by the people who knew him best – his friends and artistic collaborators.
This film takes a detailed look at Bowie’s last albums, The Next Day and Blackstar, and his play Lazarus. In his final five years, Bowie not only began producing music again, but returned to the core and defining themes of his career. This film explores how Bowie was a far more consistent artist than many interpretations of his career would have us believe. It traces the core themes from his final works and relates them to his incredible back catalogue. His urge to communicate feelings of spirituality, alienation and fame underpin his greatest works from the 1960s to 2016. This is what lies at the heart of his success and appeal – music that deals with what it means to be human in a way that goes far beyond the normal palette of a rock star.
The film is not a comprehensive overview of his entire career, but an in-depth exploration of pivotal moments that show how the themes, the narrative and the approach is consistent – it is simply the palette that changes. The film includes every key member of the Next Day band, the Blackstar band and those who worked with him on the stage play Lazarus. In addition, old friends and colleagues are on hand to explore how the work of the last five years relates to Bowie’s back catalogue. And, as in David Bowie: Five Years, there is a wealth of unseen and rare archive footage.
David Gilmour: Wider Horizons
After a break of nine years, David Gilmour steps back into the spotlight with a number one album and world tour. This film is an intimate portrait of one of the greatest guitarists and singers of all time, exploring his past and present.
With unprecedented access, the film crew have captured and detailed key moments in David Gilmour's personal and professional life that have shaped him both as a person and a musician.
David Starkey's Music and the Monarchy Y
Dr David Starkey reveals how the story of British music was shaped by its monarchy. In this first episode he begins with kings who were also composers - Henry V and Henry VIII - and the golden age of English music they presided over. He discovers how the military and religious ambitions of England's monarchy made its music the envy of Europe - and then brought it to the brink of destruction - and why British music still owes a huge debt to Queen Elizabeth I.
Featuring specially recorded music performances from King's College Cambridge, Canterbury Cathedral and Eton College, and early music ensemble Alamire; and the music of Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, John Dunstable and John Dowland.
Dr Starkey reveals why Henry V took a choir with him to the Battle of Agincourt, and hears the music the king wrote to keep God on-side in his crusade against the French - rarely performed in the centuries since, and now sung by the choir at Canterbury Cathedral. He visits Eton College, founded by Henry VI, where today's choristers sing from a hand-illuminated choir-book which would have been used by their 16th-century predecessors; King's College, Cambridge, built by successive generations of monarchs and still world-famous for its choir; and the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace, where Henry VIII and Elizabeth I heard works created especially for their worship by some of the greatest composers in British history.
Defiant Requiem N A
This World War II documentary relates the inspiring and tragic story of Rafael Schächter, a young conductor held in the Terezin concentration camp. In an act of artistic defiance, Schächter taught a prison chorus to perform Verdi's "Requiem."
Delius: Composer, Lover, Enigma Y
The composer Frederick Delius is often pictured as the blind, paralysed and caustic old man he eventually became, but in his youth he was tall, handsome, charming and energetic - not Frederick at all for most of his life, but Fritz. He was a contemporary of Elgar and Mahler, yet forged his own musical language, with which he always tried to capture the pleasure of the moment.
Using evidence from his friend, the Australian composer Percy Grainger, who reported that Delius 'practised immorality with puritanical stubbornness', this film by John Bridcut explores the multiple contradictions of his colourful life. Delius has long been renowned for his depiction of the natural environment, with pieces such as On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, yet his music is usually steeped in the sensuality and eroticism that he himself experienced.
Depeche Mode: Dark Progressions Y
Featuring rare archival performance footage, clips and interviews with band members, key associates and contemporaries such as Gary Numan, Thomas Dolby, OMD, producers Gareth Jones & Phil Legg and biographer Jonathan Miller, The Dark Progression is an illuminating glimpse into one of the most electrifying outfits in music today.
Discovering Eurythmics
Documentary exploring the history of Eurythmics, examining Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart's unlikely partnership, the impact of their breakthrough hit Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) and how they conquered the music scene on both sides of the Atlantic. When Annie Lennox first met Dave Stewart in a London restaurant, few predicted that the unlikely pair’s futuristic synthpop would become a defining sound of the 1980s. Critics and journalists including Michael Bonner, Hamish MacBain and John Aizlewood reflect on Stewart and Lennox's first band the Tourists and their early experiments with synthesizers.
Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing A N
"Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas." This film documents how those 15 words in 2003 took the Dixie Chicks from the peak of their popularity as the top-selling female recording artists of all time, through the days, months and years of mayhem that followed.
Django Reinhardt: Three-Fingered Lightning Y
The film introduces us to those who worked with him, lived with him and loved him. It shows us how his mutilated left hand becomes a Major asset of his musical creativity and later his discovery of jazz through Louis Armstrong's work.
It takes us to his encounter with the violinist Stéphane Grappelli to the creation of the Quintette du Hot Club de France, from the luxurious years to his American disillusions. And finally, it depicts his famous flights to his sudden death on the banks of the Seine. We hear his friend Stéphane Grappelli's loving words, Jean Sablon's unusual anecdotes, Boris Vian's regrets, Henri Salvador's fantasy.
Dmitry Shostakovich A Man of Many Faces
Enter the world of Dmitri Shostakovich, one of the 20th century's most brilliant and fascinating composers, in this exciting documentary by filmmaker Reiner Moritz. Highlights include extensive interviews with Shostakovich-specialist Valery Gergiev and excerpted performances by the Mariinsky Orchestra, the Borodin Quartet, and the composer himself!
Dolly Parton: Platinum Blonde
Dolly Parton is one of the world's great superstars, feted for her figure as much as for her music. Platinum Blonde goes inside her world to discover the woman under the wigs as she returned to the concert stage in the UK in 2002 after an absence of 20 years. Born into grinding poverty in rural Tennessee, Dolly has risen to the top of her tree in music, films and as a businesswoman who owns her own theme park.
Friends, family and colleagues - including Lily Tomlin, Kenny Rogers, Billy Connolly, Dabney Coleman and Alison Krauss - help tell her story, along with the full and frank views of Dolly herself. With cameo appearances from Sinead O'Connor, Norah Jones, Jonathan Ross and Terry Wogan.
The Doors: The Story of L.A. Woman
By 1969, the Doors had found themselves at the forefront of a movement that consisted of a generation of discontents. Operating against a backdrop of the Vietnam War and of social unrest and change in the USA, the Doors were hip, they were dangerous, they were anti-establishment, anti-war and they were hated by middle-America.
Featuring exclusive interviews with surviving band members Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, Robby Kreiger and their closest colleagues and collaborators, along with exclusive performances, archive footage and examination of the original multi-track recording tapes with producer Bruce Botnick, this film tells the amazing story of landmark album LA Woman by one of the most influential bands on the planet.
Duke Ellington: A Duke Named Ellington Y
PART ONE: Includes the Ellington early years, from the gilded 20's through the Great Depression of the 30's, when his emergence as a dynamic musical force inspired and uplifted an entire generation. Performances ranging from the rare to the classic, from "Timon of Athens" and "Ad Lib on Nippon" to "Rockin' in Rhythm" and "The Opener", are interlaced with the anecdotes and early recollections of vocalists Adelaide Hall and Herb Jeffries, clarinetist Jimmy Hamilton, bassist-composer Charlie Mingus and tenor saxophonist Ben Webster, providing the audience with intimate, first-hand insights into the Ellington experience. Outstanding artists who knew him as a peer, from pianist Willie The Lion Smith to pianist Teddy Wilson, recall Ellington's unique approach to his creative artistry, his tireless search for new musical sounds and forms, his foibles, his passions, and his spirituality.
PART TWO: The Ellington renaissance of the 1950's, ignited by the spectacular Ellington triumph at the Newport Jazz Festival, his irrepressible experimentation, his development of extended works, including suites, religious music and ballet scores, his strong influence on yet another generation, are all recounted by music critic Leonard Feather and artists such as pianist-composer Herbie Hancock, Sweden's foremost vocalist Alice Babs, and legendary choreographer Alvin Ailey. Also captured for this production are the remembrances of outstanding musical artists and others who reflect on how their lives and their professional experiences have been deeply influenced by the Ellington phenomenon, including drummer Louis Bellson, trumpeter Clark Terry, and more. Musical selections include Ellington orchestral performance excerpts from "Black, Brown and Beige", "The Sacred Concerts", "The Far East Suite" and climactic dance sequences, choreographed by Alvin Ailey, from "Night Creature" and "The River".
Duke Ellington: Love You Madly Y
Shot in and around the Bay Area in 1965 and originally broadcast on NET (the precursor to PBS), Love You Madly portrays Ellington in his autumn years, as he prepares for his benchmark Concert of Sacred Music and plays with his band at the Monterey Jazz Festival, at San Francisco's Basin Street West and recording sessions. We see him playing piano with and conducting his band through selections from his hallowed songbook--which ultimately was the purest expression of his mtier.
Duke also ruminates on the composing process that produced “Sophisticated Lady" and “Take the A Train" as well as his extended piece “Black, Brown and Beige." Peers like Earl “Fatha" Hines and Dizzy Gillespie each attest to Ellington's greatness in the film. The interviews are conducted by Ralph J. Gleason, a world renowned jazz critic and lifelong devotee of Ellington, who would go on to co-found Rolling Stone magazine, and champion the likes of the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane.
Dusty Springfield: Once Upon a Time Y
Unquestionably Britain's greatest female vocalist, Dusty Springfield made some of the finest recordings of the sixties. Dusty Springfield: Once Upon A Time 1964-1969 features 20 complete songs filmed from 1964 to 1969 and has all of her greatest hits and more. Included on the DVD are her early classics 'I Only Want To Be With You', 'Wishin' And Hopin'' and 'I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself' as well as timeless hits 'Son Of A Preacher Man', 'The Look Of Love' and 'You Don't Have To Say You Love Me.' In between the performances, Dusty's story is told through new interviews with Burt Bacharach, singer Madeline Bell (who sang back-up for Dusty in the '60s) and Simon Bell (who sang back-up for Dusty from the '70s through the '90s) filmed exclusively for the DVD as well as Dusty herself via a newly discovered, previously unseen biographical interview from 1978.
Eat That Question: Frank Zappa In His Own Words A N
Told solely through rare and never before seen historic footage of Frank Zappa’s highly acclaimed 30-year career, this unique 90 minute documentary is an energetic celebration of an often outspoken and brilliant musician. Unforgettable Zappa interviews and performances from one of rock and roll’s most legendary self-taught musicians have been painstakingly gathered across decades by director Thorsten Schutte from the obscure vaults of TV stations around the world to create this unparalleled look at one of the brightest minds popular music has ever witnessed.
Edith Piaf: Without Love We Are Nothing Y
The story of the tragic life and glittering career of the French singer who, despite numerous personal setbacks, became a music icon. It explores the harsh realities of Piaf's private life and features interviews with her childhood friend Mômone and her accordionist Marc Borel. Extracts from Jean Cocteau's play Le Bel Indifférent, written for and starring Piaf, as well as an extraordinary interview at the time of her manager's murder, makes this a truly unique documentary, offering a rare opportunity to understand the emotions behind some of the most dramatic ballads of the 20th century.
Elgar: The Man Behind The Mask
The composer of Land of Hope and Glory is often regarded as the quintessential English gentleman, but Edward Elgar's image of hearty nobility was deliberately contrived. In reality, he was the son of a shopkeeper, who was awkward, nervous, self-pitying and often rude, while his marriage to his devoted wife Alice was complicated by romantic entanglements which fired his creative energy. In this revelatory portrait of a musical genius, John Bridcut explores the secret conflicts in Elgar's nature which produced some of Britain's greatest music.
Elizabeth 1's Battle for God's Music
Lucy Worsley investigates the story of the most remarkable creation from the tumultuous and violent era known as the Reformation - choral evensong.
Henry VIII loved religious music, but he loved power more - when he instigated his English Reformation he dramatically split from the ancient Catholic church that controlled much of his country. But in doing so set into motion changes that would fundamentally transform the religious music he loved.
Following Elizabeth I's personal story, Lucy recounts how she and her two siblings were shaped by the changes their father instigated. Elizabeth witnessed both her radically puritan brother Edward bring church music to the very brink of destruction and the terrifying reversals made by her sister Mary - which saw her thrown in the Tower of London forced to beg for her life.
When Elizabeth finally took power she was determined to find a religious compromise - she resurrected the Protestant religion of her brother, but kept the music of her beloved father - music that she too adored. And it was in the evocative service of choral evensong that her ideas about religious music found their ultimate expression.
Elvis Costello: The Making of Almost Blue Y
The wearing of a cravat is a sign of sophistication and style. Only the most self-assured can carry it off. Look at Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief, or, David Niven telling us The Moon’s a Balloon, or the dear Master himself, Noel Coward, accessorized with smoking jacket, tinkling the ivories, saying how he would go through life in First or Third Class, but never Second. Yes, it takes considerable confidence to wear one, for it signifies a sense of the wearer’s identity and self-importance.
Elvis Costello wears a cravat in this documentary on the making of his 1981 album, Almost Blue. He carries it off, in his own way. In much the same way as the Post-Punk, New Wave singer made this album of classic Country and Western covers his very own.
It was an inspired decision, one perhaps touched by genius. At the height of his Indie Pop success, Elvis moved to Nashville, hooked up with legendary producer Billy Sherrill, and learned to make a near perfect C&W album.
The South Bank Show followed Elvis Costello during the making of Almost Blue, and captured almost the whole process by which Sherrill and Costello chose, worked on and recorded the album. It is an excellent documentary, revealing the talent, arrogance and self-belief required to make a landmark album, or to wear a cravat.
Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint: The River in Reverse N
With "The River in Reverse," Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Elvis Costello teamed up with New Orleans R&B legend Allen Toussaint to produce the first major music session in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. Go behind the scenes of the making of the album in this bonus DVD. The album, a spirited gumbo of new Costello tunes and covers of classic New Orleans standards, also features guest appearances by the Imposters and the Crescent City Horns.
Eric Burdon: The Animals and Beyond
When it was first screened in 1991, this was an awesome documentary about the band, its history, and the personalities in and outside of the band, and it has aged well. The early performance clips -- especially a live performance of "Talkin' 'Bout You" -- from the venues where they played at the outset of their history present some of the best footage you're likely to see of any English group of the period. The group's historical footage and then-current interviews are interspersed with framing interview footage of Sammy Hagar explaining the group's influence on his generation of American rock & rollers. The last third of the documentary covers the group known as Eric Burdon & the Animals, sometimes called "the New Animals" -- including interview clips with singer/organist Zoot Money -- and Burdon's work with War, ending with the singer's 1980s association with Brian Auger. Burdon is interviewed more extensively than anyone else in the band (and Alan Price is nowhere to be found), and some of his anecdotes concerning conversations with Jimi Hendrix et al. are very revealing of the period and the people around him. The overall production is not only a thorough look at the band and its era, but also how each affected the other.
Eric Dolphy: Last Date Y
This 1991 documentary is a love letter to Eric Dolphy, mysterious master of the alto sax, flute and bass clarinet who died at 36 in Germany after he lapsed into a coma brought about by diabetes; doctors mistakenly assumed it was because he was a drug addict and didn't give him the proper care. While the DVD covers Dolphy's whole career, its focal point is the June 2, 1964, radio session Dolphy did in the Netherlands with the Misha Mengelberg Trio, featuring Han Bennink and Jacques Schols. The session was made 27 days before Dolphy died in Berlin, and all the members of the trio reminisce about the American they had met only days before the session.
The documentary team also travels to Los Angeles to visit Dolphy's old home, and musicians like Buddy Collette, Ted Curson, Jaki Byard and Richard Davis provide commentary about their contemporary. But the best parts are from a TV appearance Dolphy made with the Charles Mingus group in Oslo, Norway. Not only is the music good, it's spooky to hear the prickly Mingus egg on the reticent Dolphy to explain why he's going to leave the group and stay in Europe.
Eva Cassidy: Timeless Voice Y
Few voices have touched millions of souls in the way that Eva Cassidy's has. Few success stories are quite as poignant. Timeless Voice - The remarkable Eva Cassidy and the story of how the music business could be turned on its head by the voice of a girl from small town Bowie in Washington DC.
Evgeny Kissin: The Gift of Music
In this documentary, Kissin prepares, discusses, and rehearses for his now famous concerts of the summer of 1997, concerts that are themselves included here on film. We also watch Kissin in his historic Royal Albert Hall recital of the same year, the first solo recital in the 100-year history of the Proms. While a potentially perilous bet on the part of the BBC, it proved well worth the risk: never had a larger audience (nearly 6,000 people) filled the Royal Albert Hall for Proms! At the end of the concert, Kissin played the longest series of encores in Proms history.
The Fall: The Wonderful and Frightening World of Mark E Smith
A profile of one of England's truly unique and underrated bands, The Fall. One of the most enigmatic, idiosyncratic and chaotic garage bands of the last 30 years, The Fall are led by the belligerent and poetic Mark E Smith and grew out of the fringe of the Manchester punk scene. By 2005, they had released in excess of three dozen albums, toured relentlessly, inspired two successful stage plays, recorded 24 Peel Sessions, and performed with contemporary ballet dancer Michael Clark along with various spoken word events.
All this has happened under the guidance of Smith with various line-ups totalling over 40 different members. They have never conformed to fashion or musical trends and when asked why they were his favourite band, John Peel replied 'they are always different, they are always the same'.
This is the first time that Mark E Smith has agreed to the story being told on television and he along with many of the major players take us through this unique English rock 'n' roll story. It is told alongside footage of their most recent and sadly now last Peel Session recorded in August 2004 at the BBC Maida Vale studios, and there is also film of John playing out the session at Peel Acres a week later.
Contributors include past and present band members such as Marc Riley, Una Baines, Steve Hanley, Ben Pritchard and Eleni Smith, plus thoughts from key fans/critics including Paul Morley, Tony Wilson, Stewart Lee, promoter Alan Wise, original Buzzcocks manager Richard Boon, and Franz Ferdinand.
Festival Express A
In the summer of 1970, some of the era's biggest rock stars took to the rails for Festival Express, a multi-artist, multi-city concert tour that captured the spirit and imagination of a generation. What made it unique was that it was portable; for five days, the bands and performers lived, slept, rehearsed and let loose aboard a customized train that traveled from Toronto, to Winnipeg, to Calgary, with each stop culminating in a mega-concert. The entire experience was filmed both off-stage and on, but the extensive footage and sound tapes of the events remained locked away for decades, only recently having been rediscovered and restored. The film Festival Express is a momentous achievement in rock film archaeology which combines the long-lost material with contemporary interviews that add important context to the event nearly 35 years after originally being filmed.
Film Music Masters: Jerry Goldsmith Y
The acclaimed documentary on Jerry Goldsmith produced by the late Fred Karlin and made at the time of the recording of The River Wild score. The extended interviews with Bruce Botnick, Arthur Morton, Alexander Courage, Sandy De Crescent, Jo Ann Kane and Ken Hall offer further insight into Jerry Goldsmith and his working relationships and features some fascinating information along the way. At times revealing unknown facts behind some of Jerry Goldsmith's assignments and what goes on behind the scenes.
The Filth and the Fury N
Julien Temple's second documentary profiling punk rock pioneers the Sex Pistols is an enlightening, entertaining trip back to a time when the punk movement was just discovering itself. Featuring archival footage, never-before-seen performances, rehearsals, and recording sessions as well as interviews with group members who lived to tell the tale--including the one and only John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten)-- THE FILTH AND THE FURY is a relevant viewing experience for those unfamiliar with the band; for fans, it's mandatory viewing.
Flamenco: Gypsy Soul Y
Writer Elizabeth Kinder embarks on a journey through Andalusia from Malaga to Cadiz to find the soul of flamenco, the beguiling mix of guitar, song and dance strongly associated with southern Spain's gypsies.
Folk Hibernia Y
Documentary which looks at the Irish folk revival of the last 20 or 30 years. 60 years ago virtually unheard abroad and largely unloved at home, Irish music has given the world a sense of Ireland and Ireland a sense of itself, as the country has risen from an impoverished post-colonial upstart to a modern European power. Contributors include Christy Moore, Paddy Moloney of The Chieftains, Ronnie Drew of The Dubliners, Liam Clancy of The Clancy Brothers and Shane MacGowan of The Pogues.
For the Love of Music: The Story of Nashville Y
For over 130 years, Nashville has evolved into the world's Music City. From the 1800's when the Fisk Jubilee Singers travelled the continents, to Hank Williams, to Johnny Cash, to The Black Keys. This is a special place with a story to tell. A story that started years ago, but gets better every day. A story you may not know, but you'll want to hear.
Forever Young: How Rock 'n' Roll Grew Up
Documentary which looks at how rock 'n' roll has had to deal with the unthinkable - namely growing up and growing old, from its roots in the 50s as a music made by young people for young people to the 21st-century phenomena of the revival and the comeback.
Despite the mantra of 'live fast, die young', Britain's first rock 'n' roll generations are now enjoying old age. What was once about youth and taking risks is now about longevity, survival, nostalgia and refusing to grow up, give up or shut up. But what happens when the music refuses to die and its performers refuse to leave the stage? What happens when rock's youthful rebelliousness is delivered wrapped in wrinkles?
Franz Schubert: The Greatest Love and The Greatest Sorrow Y
Schubert died young and for all the appreciation of his intimate circle of friends, he was undervalued in his own lifetime - and for at least a century afterwards - because he failed to achieve public recognition and financial success. He was the first great composer in Western music to live by his art alone, without patronage, and he enjoyed only one public concert of his music in the whole of his life. When he died at the age of 31, his friend, Franz Grillparzerparzer, saddened and well-intentioned, but misguided, wrote this epitaph, “Music has buried here great riches, but far fairer hopes”.
Those words remain on Schubert's tombstone and perpetuate what I see as an astonishingly durable misconception: that Schubert never achieved complete maturity because he died young and that he failed to reach the level of the greatest masters. In my view both of those ideas are manifestly untrue.
The film begins with the funeral of Beethoven, at which Schubert was a torch-bearer and the story is told almost entirely in music written by Schubert in the 20 months that remained to him after that date, together with quotations from his letters and diaries, and the words that he chose to set in some of his songs. Our title, The Greatest Love and the Greatest Sorrow, is drawn from a dream which Schubert wrote down on 3 July 1822 and which is quoted in full in the film.
Freddie Mercury: The Great Pretender
an Emmy/Rose d'Or award winning 2012 feature-length documentary about Queen singer Freddie Mercury and his attempt to forge a solo career. The documentary premiered on BBC One in edited form as part of the Imagine series, and later the Director's Cut was shown on BBC Four. It gained 3.5 million viewers when aired on BBC One in October 2012 and a further 1.2 million when shown on BBC Four.
Reuniting the producer, editor and director of photography behind 2011's widely acclaimed Queen: Days of Our Lives BBC documentary, The Great Pretender in similar vein presents a compelling insight into its subject matter, unearthing previously undiscovered or rarely seen footage.
Produced and directed by Rhys Thomas, a lifelong Queen fan and expert (to the extent that he famously broke the Mastermind all-time record points score with a specialist subject of Queen), Thomas has this time turned his attention to the Freddie Mercury archive, going back as early as 1976 in search of vintage gems which reveal more than ever before the inside story of Mercury’s life and career and the solo projects he worked on outside of Queen.
Freeway Philharmonic Y
Classical music is often associated with world-class performers and competitions. But what of the vast majority who never solo at Carnegie hall? This documentary follows more-mortal working musicians. The title refers to the fact that a working classical musician (in the SF Bay Area) doesn’t earn a seat on a single symphony orchestra, but on several, within freeway distance of each other.the battles with addiction, the overwhelming demands of fame, and the decision to check out. But as Morgen’s brilliant film shows, the narrative was never quite that tidy.
The Genius of Beethoven Y
A powerful, moving and accurate docudrama based on the life of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). Paul Rhys's masterful portrayal of Beethoven is particularly noteworthy, doing well to vividly convey the isolation and despair Beethoven experienced throughout his life, while insightful narration from the popular conductor, composer and presenter Charles Hazlewood does well to add a sophisticated educational dimension to the series.
The Genius of Verdi Y
Superstar opera tenor Rolando Villazón reveals an insider's view on performing music by one of the greatest opera composers, Giuseppe Verdi, who celebrates his bicentenary in 2013. By looking at some of Verdi's most well-known works including the operas Macbeth, Rigoletto, La Traviata, as well as his Requiem, Villazón shares his unique and passionate insight on Verdi's consummate skill - how he constructed dramatic episodes of searing reality, as well as the historical context in which the operas are set. Along with interviews with some of the world's leading Verdi singers, conductors and theatre directors, Villazón tells us why he thinks Verdi is a genius.
George Frederick Handel Y
George Frideric Handel (German: Georg Friedrich Händel; pronounced ['h?nd?l]) (23 February 1685 -- 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music. He received critical musical training in Halle, Hamburg and Italy before settling in London (1712) and becoming a naturalised British subject in 1727.[1] By then he was strongly influenced by the great composers of the Italian Baroque and the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition.
Within fifteen years, Handel, a dramatic genius, started three commercial opera companies to supply the English nobility with Italian opera, but the public came to hear the vocal bravura of the soloists rather than the music. In 1737 he had a physical breakdown, changed direction creatively and addressed the middle class. As Alexander's Feast (1736) was well received, Handel made a transition to English choral works. After his success with Messiah (1742) he never performed an Italian opera again. Handel was only partly successful with his performances of English Oratorio on mythical or biblical themes, but when he arranged a performance of Messiah to benefit the Foundling Hospital (1750) the critique ended. The pathos of Handel's oratorio is an ethical one, they are hallowed not by liturgical dignity but by the moral ideals of humanity.[2] Almost blind, and having lived in England for almost fifty years, he died a respected and rich man.
The Girl From Ipanema
Written in 1962 by Antonio Carlos Jobim, with lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes, with a later English translation by Norman Gimbel, The Girl From Ipanema defines the moment Brazil charmed the world stage with a laid-back song about a haunting woman.
It’s a vibrant musical journey to the stunning beaches, majestic mountains and buzzy clubs of Rio, where Katie meets key musicians and architects of Bossa Nova (including Carlos Lyra, Roberto Menescal, Joyce, Daniel Jobim and Marcos Valle), witnesses intimate musical performances and uncovers the genesis and story behind Brazil’s most successful musical export.
The Girl From Ipanema is quintessential Bossa Nova, and tracing its roots reveals the fascinating story of this unique music style. Invented by a gang of young bohemians in Rio in the late 1950s, Bossa grew into a Sixties phenomenon, especially in the US where it became a youth craze and later a significant part of the modern jazz repertoire. The Girl From Ipanema as sung by Astrud Gilberto, with sax from Stan Getz, went Top 5 in the US and became a major international hit in 1964.
Nothing sums up Rio as well as the simple and seductive lyrics to The Girl From Ipanema - and as the eyes of the world look to Rio once more this summer, what better way to get to understand the city, its people and its mid-Sixties zeitgeist than through its most famous song?
Girl Groups: The Story of Sound Y
Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production values and backing by top studio musicians. Some acts had certain members taking the lead vocalist position with the other members as supporting vocalists. In later eras the girl group template would be applied to disco, contemporary R&B, and country-based formats as well as pop.
A distinction is made here with all-female bands, in which members also play instruments, though this terminology is not universally followed.
Spice Girls and TLC are considered the best-selling girl groups of all time. Both of their sales records have surpassed any other girl group in the world and their albums (Spice Girls' Spice and TLC's CrazySexyCool) are the best-selling albums of all time by a girl group.
The Girls in the Band
Meet a spirited group of female jazz musicians who refused to let sexism and racism interfere with their love of performing during the Big Band era. Rarely seen performance clips and the women themselves tell their fascinating story.
Glenn Gould: Hereafter
HEREAFTER is a retrospective of the life and work of Gould, seen from today’s point of view. Based a synthesis of all the documents existing on Gould, whether of a musical or of a literary and intellectual nature, this film strives to deal with the question of Gould’s genius such as it is perceived by his audience, an audience that extends far beyond the strict notion of a musical audience. It is made with the participation of anonymous “disciples”, making it seem as if Gould himself was answering their questions; meanwhile, Gould appears as the master of the narration of the film.
God's Composer: Tomas Luis de Victoria Y
Simon Russell Beale continues his Sacred Music journey in this special celebration marking the 400th anniversary of the death of the great Spanish Renaissance composer Tomas Luis de Victoria. In exploring the extraordinary world of this intensely spiritual man - musician, priest and mystic - Simon's travels take him to some of Spain's most stunning locations, from the ancient fortified city of Avila, with its medieval walls and glorious cathedral, to the magnificent El Escorial palace, where Philip II would listen to Victoria's music though a small door leading off his bedroom directly to the high altar of the Basilica.
In Madrid, Simon explores the dramatic religious paintings of Victoria's contemporary El Greco in the Prado Museum and visits the convent of Las Descalzas Reales, named after the barefoot nuns who worshipped there and where Victoria spent the final three decades of his life as choirmaster and organist.
The music is specially performed by Harry Christophers and The Sixteen in the church of San Antonio de los Alemanes, a hidden baroque jewel built in Victoria's lifetime in the heart of Madrid.
Going Against Fate: Recording Mahler's Sixth Symphony Y
The documentary “GOING AGAIN ST FATE ” follows the American conductor David Zinman and the Tonhalle-Ochestra Zurich during rehearsals, concerts and the recording of Gustav Mahler’s 6th Symphony. The central character of the film is the charismatic David Zinman who takes us through the film, providing both content information and an emotional connecting thread. His narration of Mahler’s private life gives us insight into the emotional and musical world of the eminent composer. At the same time, we look behind the scenes and witness how conductor and orchestra interact on their journey towards the finished recording, as they unravel the secret of a musical masterpiece: the symphony. In many ways, Gustav Mahler’s music expresses his searching, tinged with self-doubt, and his longing to explore the most remote areas of the human soul. The problematic existence of mankind was on his mind for his entire life and an ever inspiring, powerful source of his creativity. Every new piece of work was a further attempt to find an answer. The 6th Symphony, called “The Tragic”, is his most autobiographical and personal work. The film conveys Zinman’s intense closeness to Mahler’s emotional universe and takes the audience on a powerful visual and aural
journey into the world of sounds.
The Great American Love Song
Twenties and thirties New York produced the best songs ever written according to presenter and journalist Nicky Campbell. In this film he journeys to Manhattan to explore his lifelong musical passion for the golden age of song-writing when the music of packed Broadway theatres fused with the sounds of Harlem’s raunchy jazz clubs.
Great American Rock Anthems: Turn It Up to 11
It's the sound of the heartland, of the midwest and the industrial cities, born in the early 70s by kids who had grown up in the 60s and were now ready to make their own noise, to come of age in the bars, arenas and stadiums of the US of A. Out of blues and prog and glam and early metal, a distinct American rock hybrid started to emerge across the country courtesy of Alice Cooper, Grand Funk Railroad et al, and at its very heart is The Great American Rock Anthem.
At the dawn of the 70s American rock stopped looking for a revolution and started looking for a good time; enter the classic American rock anthem - big drums, a soaring guitar, a huge chorus and screaming solos. This film celebrates the evolution of the American rock anthem during its glory years between 1970 and 1990 as it became a staple of the emerging stadium rock and AOR radio and then MTV.
From School's Out and Don't Fear the Reaper to Livin' on a Prayer and Smells Like Teen Spirit, these are the songs that were the soundtrack to teenage lives in the US and around the world, anthems that had people singing out loud with arms and lighters aloft.
Huey Morgan narrates the story of some of the greatest American rock anthems and tracks the emergence of this distinct American rock of the 70s and 80s. Anthems explored include School's Out, We're an American Band, Don't Fear The Reaper, Paradise by the Dashboard Light, I Love Rock 'n' Roll, Eye of the Tiger, I Want to Know What Love Is, Livin' on a Prayer and Smells Like Teen Spirit.
A Great Day in Harlem Y A
And what a day it was: nearly 60 jazz musicians, gathered on a Harlem street one morning in 1958 for what photographer Art Kane rightly, if immodestly, calls "the greatest picture of that era of musicians ever taken" (incredibly, it was also Kane's first professional shoot). Like Ken Burns's Jazz, this 60-minute documentary, an Oscar nominee in 1995, is a mixed-media affair: still photographs and 8 millimeter color footage (shot by bassist Milt Hinton and his wife) of the day itself are combined with interviews, background music, and performance clips of some of the players involved (from legends like Lester Young, Count Basie, Charles Mingus, and Thelonious Monk to lesser-knowns like Maxine Sullivan, Red Allen, and Vic Dickenson) to tell the story. There are anecdotes about 35-cent dinners, all-night jams, and film loaded upside down; about pianist Horace Silver's vegetarian diet and trumpeter Roy Eldridge's high notes; about old friends reuniting and what Hinton calls "just sheer happiness." Looking at the photo years later, Dizzy Gillespie sums it up simply: "There's a whole lotta people I like on there!"
The Great Hip Hop Hoax Y
Foul-mouthed Californian hip hop duo Silibil n' Brains were going to be massive. But no-one knew the pair were really amiable Scotsmen, with fake American accents and made up identities. This documentary tells the audacious tale of how two lads from Dundee duped the record industry and nearly destroyed themselves.
When their promising Scottish rap act was branded 'the rapping Proclaimers' by a scornful record industry, friends Billy Boyd and Gavin Bain reinvented themselves as Los Angeles homeboys. The lie was their golden ticket to a record deal and a dream celebrity life. With confessions from the rapping imposters, insight from the music industry they duped and animated elements, the film charts the rollercoaster story of this outrageous scam.
A stranger-than-fiction true account of fractured friendship, the pressure of living with lies and the legacy of faking everything in the desperate pursuit of fame.
Greenwich Village: Music That Defined a Generation L
Greenwich Village was the birthplace of the singer/songwriter and songs of love and relationships. Between 1961-1973, many musicians in The Village banded together to sing about the radical social upheaval of the time. Narrated by Academy Award Winner Susan Sarandon (Thelma & Louise, Broken City, Dead Man Walking), Greenwich Village: Music That Defined A Generation is a feature-length documentary about the Greenwich Village music scene and how it sparked everlasting political, social and cultural changes. For the first time, the greatest singer-songwriters, authors and performers from Greenwich Village reflect on how they collectively became the voice of a generation. Through poignant interviews, rare archival footage and new live performances, Greenwich Village: Music That Defined A Generation tells a story about community, courage and most importantly - music.
Gregory Porter's Popular Voices
Episode Two: Crooners
Soul and jazz star Gregory Porter explores the soft, intimate art of crooning. Born with the arrival of the microphone in the 1930s, crooning was initially about men seducing women and thrived through signature stars like Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra.
But far from disappearing with the advent of rock 'n' roll, the art of crooning gained a new existential edge and was transformed by the likes of Roy Orbison, David Bowie and even Lana Del Rey into a haunting and abiding strain of contemporary pop.
Episode Three: Truth Tellers
Gregory examines how early 20th-century blues growlers like Bessie Smith paved the way for the rhyme and flow of hip hop, how truth became a quest of rock 'n' roll's greatest poets from Woody Guthrie to Gil Scott-Heron, from Lou Reed to Suzanne Vega, and why great popular voices including Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Kurt Cobain don't have to be technically perfect to resonate so deeply and stir our souls. With Dave Grohl, Suzanne Vega and KRS-One.Handmade by Royal Appointment: Steinway Y
Travelling between the factory in Hamburg, where Steinway pianos are still made largely by hand, and Steinway Hall in London, where a team of technicians maintain and restore the pianos, this film offers a portrait of the craftsmen behind the famous instrument.
From the stoic German factory workers bending the frames and polishing the veneers to longstanding British restorer Jeff about to retire from the company, the film lifts the lid on the dedication and skills required to make and maintain a prestige piano.
Holders of a royal warrant since the days of Queen Victoria, Steinway supplies pianos to the royal household as well as many leading performers, and the film also follows renowned pianist Lang Lang preparing for a concert at the Royal Albert Hall.
The Harp Y
Harpist Catrin Finch takes a musical journey to discover the ancient and fascinating history of the harp in Wales and the world, with interviews and performances from internationally-renowned guests including Alan Stivell, Carlos Orosco, Alemu
Harry Nilsson The Missing Beatle
From the moment they heard him sing, the Beatles dubbed Harry Nilsson their favourite American musician. He was one of the most talented singer songwriters of his generation - the man with the bewitching voice, best remembered for his stunning recording of Everyone's Talking, the theme tune to Midnight Cowboy.
But Harry Nilsson was also his own worst enemy, a man whose drink and drugs lifestyle was as notorious as his three and a half octave vocal range was legendary. This film paints a vivid portrait of the man known to many as The Missing Beatle. With contributions from Dustin Hoffman, Yoko Ono, Robin Williams, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Brian Wilson, The Smothers Brothers and many others.
The Heart of Country: How Nashville Became Music City USA
This historical biography of the city that is the glittering hub of country music reveals the dynamic relationship between commerce and art, music and the market, that has defined Nashville since 1925. It explores the conflicts and demons that have confronted Nashville's artists and music industry down the years, such as the creative pressures of the 'Nashville Sound', the devastating impact of Elvis and then Bob Dylan, the rise and fall of the urban cowboys and the struggle of several Nashville legends to confront their inner demons.
The story unfolds through the testimony of musicians, producers, broadcasters and rare archive of the country legends. These include Dolly Parton, Charley Pride, Willie Nelson, Ricky Skaggs, Steve Earle, Kris Kristofferson and several hit-making contemporary stars - Kasey Musgraves, Brad Paisley and Jason Aldean. This cast reveal the unique power of country music to hold up a mirror to its fans and create a music that has - for decades - touched the hearts of the South and of working people. Kristofferson calls it the 'white man's soul music'.
Also featured are extensive musical performances by Nashville's greatest, from Johnny Cash to Loretta Lynn and George Jones to Garth Brooks. Several of Nashville's younger stars describe their ongoing journey from their hometowns in the South to the streets of this city, from the first studio demos and the sawdust of the Broadway bars to the stadiums and promo videos that now define country stardom.rah Jones, Jonathan Ross and Terry Wogan.
Heartworn Highways
In 1976, producer Graham Leader and director James Szalapski documented the outlaw songwriter scene that extended from Austin and Nashville. Included were then relative unknowns Steve Earle (ten years before he released his first album), Rodney Crowell and John Hiatt, plus their musical mentors Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt, who delivers a memorable scene in his trailer-home, drunk with a BB gun. Born was Heartworn Highways, a cult classic documentary among fans of the genre. The film was not released theatrically until 1981. The documentary covers singer-songwriters whose songs are more traditional to early folk and country music instead of following in the tradition of the previous generation. The movie features the first known recordings of Grammy award winners Steve Earle and Rodney Crowell.
Heavy Metal Britannia Y
Nigel Planer narrates a documentary which traces the origins and development of British heavy metal from its humble beginnings in the industrialised Midlands to its proud international triumph.
In the late 1960s a number of British bands were forging a new kind of sound. Known as hard rock, it was loud, tough, energetic and sometimes dark in outlook. They didn't know it, but Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and, most significantly, Black Sabbath were defining what first became heavy rock and then eventually heavy metal.
Inspired by blues rock, progressive rock, classical music and high energy American rock, they synthesised the sound that would inspire bands like Judas Priest to take metal even further during the 70s.
The Highwaymen: Friends Till The End Y
Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson liberated American pop and country music from record label-and-producer control to create a new musical landscape where the artists controlled their songwriting, recording and performing. Each had achieved considerable success prior to 1985, at which time they began to strategize about working together to revitalize the country music scene and satisfy their own restless creativity. American Masters – The Highwaymen: Friends Till the End examines how their towering individual personas and mutual friendships meshed to form the group’s collective artistry, their success buttressed by the love and support they gave to each other.
Hilary Hahn: A Portrait N
Join Grammy Award-winning violinist Hilary Hahn on tour, featuring performances with some of the world's most renowned orchestras. In addition to the remarkable concert footage, this illuminating portrait captures backstage moments, a recording session at Abbey Road Studios and insightful interviews with the artist. Performances include works by Mozart, Bach, Paganini, Vaughan Williams and Erich Korngold.
Hits Hype Hustle An Insider's Guide to the Music Business
In this series, from the makers of the acclaimed Music Moguls: Masters Of Pop, three music industry insiders reveal how the business really works.
Having spent over 25 years in the business, super-agent Emma Banks has worked with some of the world’s most famous artists, including Katy Perry, Kanye West and Red Hot Chili Peppers. She’s seen first-hand the fine line between success and failure, following the careers of hundreds of acts - from geniuses who never quite made it to megastars who conquered the world.
The secret to success and stardom is an elusive formula of luck, timing and of course talent. But as Emma explores in this film, it’s also about the team behind the talent - the record execs, label bosses and A&R gurus who find, develop and make a star.
From Motown’s musical finishing school to Damon Dash’s dogged promotion of Jay Z, and from the missed potential of 60s group The Zombies to Blur, steering their career away from one-hit wonders towards chart domination, this film gives a behind-the-scenes insight into the peaks and pitfalls of turning new acts into chart success.
Contributors include Motown’s Martha Reeves and Mickey Stevenson (pictured), Blur’s Alex James, Monie Love, record-producing legend Clive Davis, Jane's Addiction's Perry Farrell and Labelle’s Nona Hendryx. And cameras follow Emma as she works with new Grime star Lady Leshurr to take her career to the next level.
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History
Presented by Oscar winner Shirley Jones, this documentary looks at the history of Hollywood musicals, beginning with Busby Berkeley's black and white extravaganzas through the classic MGM spectaculars to present day movies such as 'Chicago' and 'Dreamgirls'.
Horowitz Plays Mozart Y
Like ''The Last Romantic,'' the new work is a product of a Maysles documentary team, in this case Albert Maysles, Susan Froemke and Charlotte Zwerin. Their ''direct cinema'' technique - no script, hand-held camera - doesn't add much to an event that is taken up largely by a pianist at the piano. You can see the flying fingers and accompanying fiddling and the flourishes of the conductor almost any week on public television.
Music lovers may be annoyed by the breaks between movements of the Concerto No. 23 in A, with the Orchestra of La Scala led by Carlo Maria Giulini. But this is a recording session (actually two sessions, though you wouldn't know that from this example of cinema verite), and it is diverting to learn that the great man is capable of racing the orchestra. As the diplomatic recording producer puts it, ''Mr. Horowitz rushes a little ahead.''
You get the feeling, as the star cracks small jokes (he asks his page turner, ''You know what you're doing here?'') and uses pauses in the piano part to wave his arms conductorlike, that he is not unaware of the camera. Here, as in the earlier documentaries, he seems to fancy himself as a sit-down comic.
Between movements, he receives the press. ''Always the same question,'' says his wife, Wanda Toscanini Horowitz, when he is asked what he thinks of the newer pianists. She advises him to take the Fifth Amendment. He accepts her advice on that one, but when he is asked his opinions of American orchestras, he plunges in with a preference for the Cleveland Orchestra over the Chicago Symphony (''not so good'') and writes off the New York Philharmonic as ''terrible.'' The lately redone Carnegie Hall, he says, is ''spoiled.'' For him, ''There's too much resonance.'' This mildly pleasant movie could use more resonance.
How Music Works, With Howard Goodall Y
Why do some rhythms get our toes tapping, while others make us feel mellow? Howard Goodall strips music down to its essential parts to find out how it works. Episode 1 - Melody explores the basic elements of melody and asks why a good tune can affect us so powerfully, from the moment we are born. Episode 2 - Rhythm looks at the common rhythmic patterns that have been used by musicians from all cultures, from Brahms to rappers. Episode 3 - Harmony looks at how western harmony works and how in the present day it has combined with other forms of music to create 'world' and 'fusion' styles. Episode 4 - Bass looks at the abiding fascination musicians and composers have had with bass.
How the Brits Rocked America: Go West Y
A three-parter about British pop acts that have flourished Stateside. In recent decades, UK bands’ trips across the Atlantic have been dogged by indifference – not so in the 1960s, which is where this series begins. Graham Nash of the Hollies, Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits, Eric Burdon of the Animals and, if you please, Paul McCartney are all interviewed, recalling the British Invasion.
How To Make a Number One Record
Great pop records are the soundtrack to our lives, and that is why number one hits hold a totemic place in our culture. This film goes in search of what it takes to get a number one hit single, uncovering how people have done it, and the effect it had on their lives. As the exploration moves through the decades, the goal is to trace the various routes that lead to the top of the singles chart and discover the role played by art, science, chance and manipulation in reaching the pinnacle of pop.
Howard Goodall's Story of Music: The Age of Discovery Y
Today music is available everywhere, at the press of a button, but a thousand years ago it was an eery whisper in a desert of silence. However music has always been a crucial part of human existence. Archaeological evidence shows us that music - although we have absolutely no idea what it sounded like - was just as important a component of life in the Upper Paleolithic Age as it is today.
Howard Goodall charts the development of the oldest music that has come down to us from the ancient world intact, the 'Gregorian' chant. It started with a handful of monks singing the same tune in unison, without rhythm, without harmony. Over several centuries, with developments coming at a snail's pace, medieval musicians painstakingly put together the basics of what we now call harmony and added rhythm. These are the building blocks of the music the whole planet enjoys today.
The arrival of a workable form of musical notation, around 1000 AD, gave music another shot in the arm. Now harmony could become ever more sophisticated. Not one, or two, but many voices. In Europe, at this point in history, music was something rarely heard outside church. Then, thanks in part to the development of more sophisticated musical instruments, folk music went from strength to strength. By 1600, secular music rivaled sacred music as the dominant form.
By the time Monteverdi wrote the first successful opera, in 1607, most of the kit of musical parts we still have today had been developed and honed - a process that took a thousand years. In Monteverdi's hands, using all the techniques then developed, music could express complex, conflicting, and even combustible political emotions.
Howard Goodall's Twentieth Century Greats: Lennon and McCartney Y
When people look back in 200 years' time at Western culture, whose music will have survived from the 20th century? Who will be our equivalent of Bach and Beethoven, Verdi and Wagner? There are big classical names from the last 100 years, including Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Shostakovich and Stockhausen, but, believes composer Howard Goodall, in dismantling the traditional keys and harmony, the building blocks of Western music, classical music lost touch with its audiences. 'The big story of 20th century music,' he says, 'is the way that classical and popular music collided with each other to create a new musical mainstream. In the 1960s, with classical music at its lowest ebb, the most important composers in the world were without doubt The Beatles.'
I Need That Record! The Death (or Possible Survival) of the Independent Record Store
A documentary feature examining why over 3000 independent record stores have closed across the U.S. in the past decade. Many sources all pose threats on the very well being of our favorite record stores. Will these stores die or will they survive?
I'm In a Rock and Roll Band
The Singer; The Guitarist; The Drummer; The Other One; The Band; Live
The series breaks this mythical beast down into its constituent parts: singer, guitarist, drummer as well as the shadowy 'other one', whose face we don't quite know but without whom the magic wouldn't happen. The evidence is examined closely in forensic studies of what makes these rock 'n' roll types tick, starting with the lead singer. Often he's the leader, sometimes the dictator, benign or otherwise. His voice is his instrument and out front there's nowhere to hide. He hires. He fires. And when it all goes wrong and the backlash begins, he will get the blame.
An eye-opening romp through great war stories from the rock 'n' roll frontline explores the myriad ways of tackling the daunting role of front person. From the seemingly fearless, like taboo-shattering Jim Morrison of The Doors, to the mesmerically fragile, like Joy Division's ill-starred Ian Curtis. From Mick Jagger, who drew up the blueprint of front man as athlete, lothario and chairman of the board to the swaggeringly cantankerous yet strangely static force of nature that is Liam Gallagher.
A starry cast list, including Iggy Pop, Roger Daltrey and Dave Grohl, considers how and why they do what they do on and off stage. Sting speculates where necessary confidence ends and arrogance begins, while Muse's Matt Bellamy wonders whether a tendency towards the diva-ish is an inevitable by-product of the pressures of being the band's focal point. Shaun Ryder of Happy Mondays recalls harsh lessons learnt from underestimating the tabloids, and Siouxsie Sioux revels in the moments when it all goes right.
I'm Not in Love: The Story of 10cc
In celebration of the 40th anniversary of smash hit I'm Not in Love, the original members of 10cc - Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme - reunite to tell their story. The documentary shares the secrets to some of their most successful records, from the writing and the recording to the tours and the tensions.
With contributions from an impressive array of music industry legends including 10cc's band manager Harvey Lisberg, lyricist Sir Tim Rice, broadcaster Paul Gambaccini, legendary producer Trevor Horn, Stewart Copeland (The Police), Graham Nash (The Hollies) and Dan Gillespie Sells (The Feeling), not only does this film highlight the diversity of these four brilliant musicians' songwriting talent, but it also delves into the influence they had, as well as the politics beneath their acrimonious split in 1976, at the height of their fame.
Imagine: Being a Concert Pianist Y
In July, 19-year-old pianist Benjamin Grosvenor made his debut at the Proms to great acclaim, wowing both audiences and critics with his performance of Liszt's Piano Concerto No 2 in A Major. The youngest ever soloist to perform in the First Night of the Proms, he returns to the Royal Albert Hall on August 6 to take on Britten's Piano Concerto.
Imagine: Being a Concert Pianist gets under the lid of this extreme form of musicianship. Celebrated pianists, including Yevgeny Kissin, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Chinese wunderkind Lang Lang, talk intimately about their lives, their work and their motivation. The film gives a frank and personal perspective on a profession for which the only real qualification is genius, richly illustrated with specially recorded rehearsal and performance.
Imagine: Dame Shirley Bassey Y
Alan Yentob gains an insight into the creative world of Dame Shirley Bassey. After a triumphant Glastonbury appearance and a major illness at the age of 72, Dame Shirley tentatively re-enters the ring to confront her life in song.
Some of the best contemporary songwriters, including Gary Barlow, the Pet Shop Boys, Manic Street Preachers, Rufus Wainwright, Richard Hawley and KT Tunstall, along with James Bond composer John Barry and lyricist Don Black, have interpreted her life through song for an album produced by David Arnold.
The songs frame and explore the myth of Shirley Bassey, the girl from Tiger Bay, and the voice and the desire are not found wanting. A backstory profiling Shirley, complete with archive of her greatest performances, tells the story of what makes her the living legend that she is today.
Imagine: John Lennon N
Imagine: John Lennon, with its wealth of stock Lennon footage and self-narration, proved to be a well-received film. Bridging his two musical phases together as a member of the Beatles and as a solo artist, Imagine: John Lennon is a career-spanning collection of Lennon's many musical highlights. In addition, there are a couple of heretofore unreleased recordings: an acoustic demo of "Real Love" taped in 1979 (an alternate recording of which would be finished by the Beatles for 1996's Anthology 2) and a rehearsal take of "Imagine" in mid-1971 before the final take was captured. The film was commissioned by Yoko Ono. None of the three former Beatles, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, or Ringo Starr, agreed to participate in the film.
Imagine: The Story of the Guitar Y
Alan Yentob embarks on a three-part personal journey to discover how the guitar became the world's favourite musical instrument. Beginning with the rise of the acoustic guitar, the series takes him from an ancient Middle Eastern ancestor of the lute, to the iconic guitars draped round the necks of Bill Hailey and Elvis Presley and beyond.
In The Shadow Of The Stars Y A
Winner of the Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature and lauded by the San Francisco Chronicle as "wonderfully funny yet equally heart-rending," IN THE SHADOW OF THE STARS is a hilarious and affectionate look at the path to stardom inside the competitive world of opera. Filmmakers Allie Light and Irving Saraf relegate the divas to the background and focus on a limelight-craving group of "choristers" -- the seldom-noticed singers who stand behind the soloists portraying peasants, soldiers and slaves.
In Their Own Words: Twentieth Century Composers
Radical Movements
Remarkable rare footage of Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Copland, Walton, Elisabeth Lutyens, Richard Strauss, Shostakovich, Messiaen and Tippett gives a first-hand account of the revolution that classical music underwent in the first half of the century. As we see Schoenberg play tennis, Strauss and Shostakovich play with their grandchildren and hear Messiaen tell the story of how he wrote his most significant work in a German PoW camp, we get a vivid picture of what it took to be a composer during the most turbulent time in modern history.
But Is It Music?
We discover how the crisis of writing music in a post-war world was met in very different ways by the likes of Britten, Bernstein, Cage, Boulez, Stockhausen, Maxwell Davies, the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Tavener, Reich, Adams and Glass. Tavener plays badminton whilst drunk, Cage defends his 4'33" of 'silence' and Delia Derbyshire, co-creator of the Doctor Who theme tune, reveals how British techno music has its roots in the bowels of the BBC.
The Irish Rock Story: The Tale of Two Cities
The story of how rock music helped to change Ireland. The 40-year-old story of Irish rock and pop music is grounded in the very different musical traditions of the two main cities of Ireland, Belfast and Dublin.
Isaac Stern: Life's Virtuoso N
Hailed as one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century, Isaac Stern is celebrated in this inspiring documentary that explores the virtuoso's musical genius, as well as his influential diplomatic and humanitarian endeavors. The film highlights Stern's successful effort to create a cultural exchange between the United States and Russia during the Cold War, along with his important role in preserving Carnegie Hall.
Jack Bruce: The Man Behind the Bass Y
The late Jack Bruce fronted the 1960's Supergroup Cream alongside Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker and has played with everyone from Marvin Gaye to Jimi Hendrix and from Lulu to Lou Reed. ArtWorks Scotland tells the story of his life, from childhood in Scotland to global superstardom. Six specially chosen tracks mark crucial moments in the life of Jack Bruce, all of which he re-recorded with the help of Scottish artists, including folk trio Lau, percussionist Jim Sutherland and keyboard player Andy May play some of Jack's favourite songs, featuring contributions from Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Flea of Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Adam Clayton of U2.
The story encompasses some of the biggest riffs and rifts in rock, taking in family tragedy, drugs and near death. A specially chosen set of six songs mark crucial moments in Jack's life, including Cream's Sunshine of Your Love.
Jazz: A Film By Ken Burns
Filmmaker Ken Burns tells the story of jazz — the quintessential American art form. The 10-part series follows the growth and development of jazz music from the gritty streets of New Orleans to the Lincoln Gardens on Chicago's south side, where Louis Armstrong first won fame, from Prohibition-era speakeasies to the wide-open clubs of Kansas City, from the elegant Roseland Ballroom in Times Square, where only whites were allowed to dance, to the more egalitarian Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, where people of all colors mingled.
Six years in the making, JAZZ features 75 interviews, more than 500 pieces of music, 2,400 still photographs and more than 2,000 archival film clips — many rare and never before seen. Third-person voices are provided by Samuel L. Jackson, Delroy Lindo, Derek Jacobi and Harry Connick Jr., among others.
The series originally premiered January 8, 2001.
Episodes:
"Gumbo" | Beginnings to 1917
"The Gift" | 1917 - 1924
"Our Language" | 1924 - 1929
"The True Welcome" | 1929 - 1934
"Swing: Pure Pleasure" | 1935 - 1937
"Swing: The Velocity of Celebration" | 1937 - 1939
"Dedicated to Chaos" | 1940 - 1945
"Risk" | 1945 - 1955
"The Adventure" | 1956 - 1960
"A Masterpiece by Midnight" | 1960 to the Present
The Jazz Baroness
Produced for the BBC and directed by her great-grand niece Hannah Rothschild, The Jazz Baroness focuses on the life and influence of Pannonica de Koenigswarter (Nica for short), a wealthy child of the Rothschild financial empire who developed an unlikely relationship with pianist Thelonious Monk years before jazz music had reached any level of acceptance in well-regarded society.
The anti-black hostility of the 1950s coupled with the vast chasm between their socio-economic backgrounds -- he the child of sharecroppers with a history of mental illness and she the daughter of a German Jewish family that the British monarchy once asked for a loan -- inevitably made the very existence of their coupling somewhat of a spectacle. But The Jazz Baroness emphasizes how much common ground Monk and Nica found in love of music and how his (undiagnosed) illnesses and constant state of poverty fed her desire to be seen as a caretaker after having spent her childhood and young adulthood in a cage made of spun gold.
The film employs interviews with several musicians, writers and various scenesters of the New York jazz scene from the 1950s through the 70s including Quincy Jones, Thelonious Monk Junior, Clint Eastwood, Sonny Rollins and Dan Morgenstern. Helen Mirren narrates letters written to friends, giving some insight to Nica's inner life. There is also rare super-8 footage shot by band members of Monk and Nica chatting as well as live recordings of Nica introducing Monk's performances and Monk sweetly crooning to her from the stage.
Jazz Britannia Y
Terence Stamp narrates a series on the assimilation and development of jazz in Britain over the past 60 years. By the late 70s the audience for jazz music was at an all-time low, but the 80s saw a resurgence, with a generation of new artists taking up the mantle.
Jazz on a Summer's Day N
An incredible collection of classic live performances, JAZZ ON A SUMMER'S DAY captures Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk, Chuck Berry, Mahalia Jackson, and many others performing at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival.Set at the Newport jazz festival in 1958, this documentary mixes images of water and the town with performers and audience. The film progresses from day to night and from improvisational music to Gospel. It's a concert film that suggests peace and leisure, jazz at a particular time and place. Louis Armstrong, Gerry Mulligan, Thelonious Monk, Jack Teagarden, Eric Dolphy, Chuck Berry, Anita O'Day, George Shearing, Jimmy Giuffre, Jim Hall, Chico Hamilton, Sonny Stitt, Mahalia Jackson, Dinah Washington, Max Roach .
Jeff Buckley: Everybody Here Wants You Y
Jimmy Page, Brad Pitt and Chrissie Hynde are among the contributors to this one-off documentary that looks at the talented singer and songwriter Jeff Buckley who drowned five years ago aged 30. The film explores what shaped Jeff Buckley, what he might have become and his personal and musical legacy.
Jim Hall: A Life In Progress Y
The film’s contemporary segments center on the recording of Mr. Hall’s recent album, ‘By Arrangement,’ and because it involves some of Mr. Hall’s friends (including saxophonist Joe Lovano, the guitarist Pat Metheny, and saxophonist Greg Osby), it manages to lead some of jazz’s more important figures into excited assessments of Mr. Hall’s accomplishments. Outside the recording studio, Mr. Hall narrates his own life, with film footage of him playing with Jimmy Giuffre, Chico Hamilton, Sonny Rollins and other performers, as well as glimpses of Mr. Hall’s domestic life with his wife and daughter. As he talks, he’s measured in his self-assessment, and wryly funny; he’s a reliable guide to his own career, and the film lets him tell most of the story.
Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train A Comin' A
In just four years, Jimi Hendrix revolutionised the music scene with his transcendent sound and explosive stage presence. A peacock, poet and perfectionist, he was a true original, who restlessly pushed his musical gifts to their extremes.
imagine... tells the story of how this shy, former private in the 101st Airborne became the greatest rock guitarist of all time, using never-before-seen performance footage, home movies and family letters.
With contributions from the Hendrix family, Sir Paul McCartney and former band mates Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell, imagine... presents an in-depth look at Hendrix's life and career that was tragically cut short at just 27-years-old in 1970.
Jimi Hendrix: The Road to Woodstock
The definitive documentary record of one of Jimi Hendrix's most celebrated performances, now digitally remastered and featuring footage never seen on television before. It includes such signature songs as Purple Haze, Voodoo Child (Slight Return) and his rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, as well as interviews with Woodstock promoter Michael Lang and Hendrix band members Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cox, Larry Lee and Juma Sultan among others.
Joanna Lumley: Elvis and Me Y
Joanna Lumley embarks on a very personal journey for an intimate insight into Elvis Presley, the man behind the myth, for this unique one-hour documentary. The programme sees Joanna travel to Graceland and meet some of Elvis’s closest surviving friends and family, including ex-wife Priscilla Presley, for an honest portrait of what ‘The King’ was really like.
One of the first records Joanna ever bought was “Hound Dog” and ever since that day she has loved Elvis. This year Elvis would have turned 80 and it is one of Joanna’s biggest regrets that she never got the opportunity to meet the man.
Joanna says: “The thing about being a fan of Elvis is that you just love everything about him. I loved the way he looked, the way he sang, the way he dressed, the photographs of him, the way he performed on stage…and I loved his smile and his sense of humour. I love the fact that he never really grinned huge cheesy grins, he had a special Elvis grin, and I borrowed that for Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous…a little tribute to Elvis.”
Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten N
As the front man of the Clash from 1977 onwards, Joe Strummer changed people's lives forever. Four years after his death, his influence reaches out around the world, more strongly now than ever before. In "The Future Is Unwritten", from British film director Julien Temple, Joe Strummer is revealed not just as a legend or musician, but as a true communicator of our times. Drawing on both a shared punk history and the close personal friendship which developed over the last years of Joe's life, Julien Temple's film is a celebration of Joe Strummer - before, during and after the Clash.
Johannes Brahms Y
Brahms wrote his first but unpublished violin sonata in 1853, when he was 19 years old. He wrote it for a tour of North Germany with the Exarch Hungarian violinist. It was to turn out to be the most significant year of his early life with echoes that will ring on for the rest of his days. In addition to his own sonata, the programm for the tour included Beethoven's C minor sonata Opus 30, the Vieuxtemps concerto in E and Ernst Elegie. Brahms played the entire programm from memory. He did not even take the piano part of his own first sonata with him with the unhappy result that the manuscript is lost and the world has been deprived of a significant early work by Brahms.
John Coltrane: The World According To Coltrane Y
John Coltrane is easily one of the key innovators, visionaries, and virtuosos of American Jazz. Coltrane's spiritually influenced and challenging music not only turned the jazz world upside down in the 1960s, but directly impacted all modern music for decades to follow. It is this relationship between music and spirituality that is the core of John Coltrane: The World According to John Coltrane. Produced with his wife's cooperation, The World According to John Coltrane is truly a heartfelt documentary on his work and influence on the music community. The bulk of the 60-minute documentary focuses on Coltrane's eastern spirituality/musical direction in the 1960s as told through the voices of friends, fellow musicians, and admirers. Perhaps the most impressive aspects of this documentary are its live footage clips. Listening to Coltrane is extremely powerful, but watching him pour his heart and soul into his sax is absolutely awe-inspiring.
John Denver: Country Boy
This definitive documentary explores the private life and public legacy of John Denver. Exclusive accounts from those closest to him reveal the man behind the music in an intimate profile to mark the anniversary of his 70th birthday. Featuring pivotal people in Denver's life, from his former managers to his son, brother, and former wives.
John Lennon: Plastic Ono Band A N
Series looking at the creation of classic albums documents the making of John Lennon's 1970 first post-Beatles solo album. Regarded as a classic, it is a fierce, raw, emotionally painful yet beautiful album. It contains some of the most personal and cathartic songs John ever wrote including Mother, Love, Working Class Hero , Isolation and God.
Drawing from his painful and difficult early life, the songs address the basic issues of death, isolation, anger, religion, class, fear and love. Most of them were written while John and Yoko were undergoing primal therapy with Dr Arthur Janov at his centre in California to deal with the root causes of their pain and neuroses.
John Ogdon: Living With Genius Y
Profile of Britain's greatest ever classical pianist and of one of the most successful musical partnerships of the last 50 years, that of John Ogdon and his wife Brenda Lucas Ogdon. For the first time, Brenda and her children Richard and Annabel tell the personal story of John Ogdon - the husband, father and genius.
This is a story of their lives together, one that covers their rollercoaster ride from extraordinary and deserved success to tragic adversity and despair. Featuring unique archive and contemporary performance as well as candid interviews with those who knew him best, this incredible tale is a moving account of their professional partnership.
A fascinating reflection on the power of the art form itself, gained from a lifetime of living, breathing, teaching and performing.
John Williams at the BBC Y
Here’s a one hour BBC special of fifty years of John Williams including interviews with Williams and others such as Julian Bream. What a treat. Here’s the BBC blurb: “Fifty years of performances from guitarist John Williams that takes in classical masterworks, the prog rock of Sky and comedy with Eric Sykes, as well as duets with Julian Bream.”
John Williams: The Seville Concert Documentary Y A
From his upbringing in Australia to his family's move to London so he could begin an internship with Segovia, it's an insightful look into Williams's life and musical philosophy. One of the highlights for me was Williams's trip to luthier Greg Smallman's isolated Australian home to pick up a newly handcrafted guitar. I never suspected that the maker of guitars that cost more than an in-ground swimming pool would reside hermit-like in a ramshackle dwelling in the wilderness. Also of interest were Williams's remarks about his childhood teacher Andrés Segovia. It takes more than one viewing to ferret out his politely convoluted criticism of the famous guitar maestro. He is clearly uncomfortable putting down his old mentor, but is at loggerheads with Segovia's "my way or the highway" approach to guitar teaching and repertoire. In all respects, the documentary is a well-rounded and edifying glimpse into Williams's career and personality.
Jonas Kaufmann: Tenor For The Ages
The German tenor Jonas Kaufmann is one of the hottest properties in the opera world. He captivates audiences with the power, emotion and beauty of his singing, the intelligence of his acting, his matinee-idol delivery, and his extraordinary range - from the heroic stage roles in Wagner to the intimate songs of Schubert on the concert platform.
For this documentary for the BBC's Opera Season, the film-maker John Bridcut has been given unique and often surprising access to Kaufmann across the last two years, observing him in rehearsal, backstage during performances, and in his off-duty moments. It is by far the most intimate and extensive portrait yet made of Kaufmann, now at the peak of his career. He was filmed behind the scenes at the Last Night of the Proms, when he was the first German to sing Rule, Britannia. His schedule was later interrupted for five months because of a vocal injury, but recently he made a triumphant return, notably in the production of Verdi's late opera, Otello, at Covent Garden.
Kaufmann is filmed working with the Royal Opera's music director, Sir Antonio Pappano, and the stage director, Keith Warner - and is involved in every aspect of the preparations. He talks freely about his earlier cancellations, about what keeps him going during a run of performances, and about the problems of being a star.
Jools Holland: My Life In Music
In this documentary film, Jools Holland takes us on a journey of his life that has made him the doyen of the music scene.
Growing up in the East End, joining the hit band Squeeze and landing the job of presenting the iconic TV show The Tube, all contributed to him becoming BBC Two's music man.
Including special behind-the-scenes access to the critically acclaimed programme Later... with Jools Holland and to Jools's own recording studio in Greenwich, designed by the man himself.
The Joy of Disco Y
Documentary about how a much-derided music actually changed the world. Between 1969 and 1979 disco soundtracked gay liberation, foregrounded female desire in the age of feminism and led to the birth of modern club culture as we know it today, before taking the world by storm. With contributions from Nile Rodgers, Robin Gibb, Kathy Sledge and Ian Schrager.
The Joy of the Guitar Riff
The guitar riff is the DNA of rock 'n' roll, a double helix of repetitive simplicity and fiendish complexity on which its history has been built. From Chuck Berry through to the White Stripes, this documentary traces the ebb and flow of the guitar riff over the last 60 years of popular music. With riffs and stories from an all-star cast including Brian May, Dave Davies, Hank Marvin, Joan Jett, Nile Rodgers, Tony Iommi, Robert Fripp, Johnny Marr, Nancy Wilson, Kevin Shields, Ryan Jarman, Tom Morello and many more. Narrated by Lauren Laverne.
Just One Falsetto
Alan Yentob has a lesson in falsetto from classical counter tenor Iestyn Davies. Alan Yentob delves into the world of falsetto singing, the high-pitched vocal range sung by men that comes closer to the female voice. From the Beach Boys to Queen and Jeff Buckley, falsetto singing has a long and distinguished presence in all types of music, one that continues to fascinate and enthral audiences. With contributors including Frankie Valli, Brian May, Philip Bailey from Earth, Wind and Fire and Harrow School Chapel Choir, imagine... asks: Why men are compelled to sing in such a voice?
Karajan, Or Beauty As I See It Y
Profile of Herbert von Karajan, one of the most renowned conductors of the 20th century and leader of the Berlin Philharmonic for 35 years. One of the most powerful figures in classical music, he was the last of the great conductor dictators and the first successful large-scale music entrepreneur, a man in many ways ahead of his time.
The documentary goes behind Karajan's regal facade by using personal recollections and interviews, together with filmed rehearsals and concerts of the maestro at work. The result is a multi-faceted, multilayered portrait of a charismatic and enigmatic man.
The Kate Bush Story: Running Up That Hill Y
This documentary explores Kate Bush's career and music, from January 1978's Wuthering Heights to her 2011 album 50 Words for Snow, through the testimony of some of her key collaborators and those she has inspired.
Contributors include the guitarist who discovered her (Pink Floyd's David Gilmour), the choreographer who taught her to dance (Lindsay Kemp) and the musician who she said 'opened her doors' (Peter Gabriel), as well as her engineer and ex-partner (Del Palmer) and several other collaborators (Elton John, Stephen Fry and Nigel Kennedy).
Also exploring their abiding fascination with Kate are fans (John Lydon, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui) and musicians who have been influenced by her (St Vincent's Annie Clark, Natasha Khan (aka Bat for Lashes), Tori Amos, Outkast's Big Boi, Guy Garvey and Tricky), as well as writers and comedians who admire her (Jo Brand, Steve Coogan and Neil Gaiman).
Keeping Score: Gustav Mahler Origins and Legacies
From the sounds outside his bedroom window—a kind of sonic goulash of military marches, ethnic dance bands, church bells, ritual prayer, and nature itself—Gustav Mahler fashioned symphonies of cosmic scale, great beauty, and jarring emotional twists and turns. And he did it all in the brief moments he could spare from his day job as one of Europe’s preeminent conductors. Join Michael Tilson Thomas as he returns to the provincial Austro-Hungarian city of Mahler’s childhood, traces his musical roots, his rise as a young conductor, and, with the help of the San Francisco Symphony, escorts us through the stunning creation and shocking premiere of Mahler’s First Symphony.
Keeping Score: Shostakovich Symphony Number Five Y
In 1937 Russia, at the height of Stalin’s purges, the Communist Party strongly denounced Dmitri Shostakovich’s most recent works. Fearing for his life, the young composer wrote a symphony ending with a rousing march. But to many, the triumph rang hollow. Even today, people wonder just what Shostakovich was trying to say. Was the symphony meant to celebrate Stalin’s regime? Or did it contain hidden messages protesting the very system it seemed to support?
Keith Jarrett: The Art of Improvisation Y
"There's never been a time when improvisation was given the respect it deserves. By virtue of the holistic quality of it, it takes everything to do it. It takes real time, no editing possible. It takes your nervous system to be on alert for every possible thing in a way that cannot be said for any other kind of music." -- Keith Jarrett
This wonderful documentary is all about improvisation, and particularly the kind of improvisation the superb jazz pianist Keith Jarrett does. It was made with the full cooperation of Jarrett and there are many minutes of conversation with him as well as with such collaborators as Manfred Eicher, Jack de Johnette, Gary Peacock, his brother Scott, his wife Roseanne, Chick Corea, Gary Burton and many more. Interspersed are many performance clips going back to the very beginning of his career (and including some scenes from his childhood) right up to the present. His ordeal with chronic fatigue syndrome in the mid-1990s is touched upon (but, not surprisingly, given Jarrett's reticence about personal matters, not dwelt upon). There is a ten-minute uninterrupted clip from a concert by his Standards Trio (Jarrett, de Johnette, Peacock). There are also clips of the Köln Concert, concerts with Jan Garbarek (particularly gorgeous), with Miles Davis, and many others. Jarrett comes across as a hugely intelligent and deeply thoughtful man who is nonetheless humble in the face of his talent.
Keith Richards: Life Y
To mark the publication of Keith Richards' autobiography, Life, this BBC2 Culture Show special looks at the life of the man with five strings and nine lives. In a candid interview he chats to Andrew Graham-Dixon about his childhood in Dartford, his passion for music and the decade that catapulted the Rolling Stones from back-room blues boys to one of the greatest rock 'n' roll bands in the world.
Keith Richards: The Origin of the Species Y
A Julien Temple-authored documentary essay film about Keith Richards's postwar childhood and adolescence in Dartford and London. Exploring the cultural undercurrents and transformative thinking which occurred in England between 1945 and 1962 and made possible the worldwide explosion of British rock music during the 60s, in which Keith played such a crucial role.
Killing Me Softly: The Roberta Flack Story
Roberta Flack's Grammy award-winning song The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face was America's biggest selling single of 1972. The following year her gentle, pure voice charmed middle America once again when Killing Me Softly with His Song reached the top of the charts and ran off with another Grammy for single of the year. In the early 70s Roberta Flack was one of the most successful pop stars in the world.
But Flack was no overnight sensation. She didn't have a hit single till she was 35 years of age. Nor was her success a traditional African-American rags-to-riches story. She came from the black middle class that had been born out of the self-contained hub of segregated America. She studied classical music at Howard University, America's top black university, and probably would have pursued a classical career had that door been open to her in 50s America. Instead, she taught music in Washington's public school system for 10 years while she struggled for her break.
In the race conscious times, she also had her detractors. While she was singing duets of black consciousness with soul singer Donnie Hathaway, she was married to her white bass player. Also, they said she sounded too white; the gospel-infused voices of Aretha Franklin and James Brown, which came out of the dominant Baptist church, were what real soul singers sounded like. What those critics didn't understand was that there are many musical traditions within black America and Roberta Flack came from the more restrained Methodist one where they sang hymns rather than gospel.
This is the story of the emergence of different kind of soul singer set against the turbulent backdrop of America's Civil Rights movement. Contributors include: Roberta Flack; Dionne Warwick; Johnny Mathis; Cissy Houston; Imani Perry - Princeton University, professor of African American Studies; Greg Tate - musician and critic; Fredera Hadley - musicologist; and John Akomfrah - filmmaker and critic.
Kraftwerk: Pop Art
Documentary telling the amazing story of how a group of reclusive Rhineland experimentalists called Kraftwerk became one of the most influential pop groups of all time. It is a celebration of the band featuring exclusive live tracks filmed at their Tate Modern shows in London in February 2013, interwoven with expert analysis, archive footage of the group going back to 1970, newsreel of the era and newly shot cinematic evocations of their obsessions. With contributions from techno pioneer Derrick May, Can founder Holger Czukay, DJ and remixer Francois Kevorkian, graphic design guru Neville Brody, writer Paul Morley, band photographer Peter Boettcher, Tate Modern curator Caroline Wood and others.
Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck
Hailed as one of the most innovative and intimate documentaries of all time, experience Kurt Cobain like never before in the only fully authorized portrait of the famed music icon. Directed by acclaimed film maker Brett Morgen, who expertly blends Cobain's personal archive of art, music, neverbeforeseen movies, animation and revelatory interviews from his family and closest friends.
Ladies and Gentlemen . . . Mr. Leonard Cohen A N
Before he gained fame as a singer-songwriter, Leonard Cohen was a hit poet and novelist in Montreal, as this jazzy 1965 documentary illustrates. The artist is shown at the top of his literary game as he thrills a packed house during a reading. The informal portrait follows Cohen around for a few days, observing him as a poet and burgeoning musician. Also included are four experimental music videos based on Cohen songs.
Lady Day, the Many Faces of Billie Holiday Y A
Billie Holiday is recognized as one of the greatest blues and jazz vocalists of all time. This program tells her story. Holiday's song, "Strange Fruit," a reference to the lynching of black Americans in the South, was voted the most important piece of music of the 20th century. The singer experienced firsthand the indignities of racism in her native land. She found solace in the alcohol and drugs which eventually killed her. Her music continues to thrill audiences.
The Language of the New Music Y
They are without question among the principal architects of the imagination of our time and yet both are still widely regarded as difficult or impossible to comprehend: a film about the work and ideas of Schoenberg and Wittgenstein, who changed the course of European thought.
At the close of the 19th century, Vienna presented to the world a picture of ordered elegance and dignified gaiety, but beneath the surface the corruption of the late Hapsburg Empire produced widespread and deep-seated confusion and so set the stage for some of the profoundest meditations on the nature of human experience that the 20th century ever produced.
Vienna was the scene of the intellectual and artistic struggles of many of the seminal minds of our time; among them, Karl Kraus, Robert Musil, Georg Trakl, Otto Wagner and Adolf Loos, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Oscar Kokoshka, Sigmund Freud, Gustav Mahler, Arnold Schoenberg and Ludwig Wittgenstein.
Schoenberg – the composer – and Wittgenstein – author of the Tractatus Logico Philosophicus – never met, although they were close contemporaries and had common friends in Viennese intellectual society. Why put them together? Because their work springs from the same soil and shares a common ethical purpose; so much so that the development of their ideas runs parallel throughout their lives in an extraordinary and very illuminating way.Just One Falsetto
Alan Yentob has a lesson in falsetto from classical counter tenor Iestyn Davies. Alan Yentob delves into the world of falsetto singing, the high-pitched vocal range sung by men that comes closer to the female voice. From the Beach Boys to Queen and Jeff Buckley, falsetto singing has a long and distinguished presence in all types of music, one that continues to fascinate and enthral audiences. With contributors including Frankie Valli, Brian May, Philip Bailey from Earth, Wind and Fire and Harrow School Chapel Choir, imagine... asks: Why men are compelled to sing in such a voice?
Karajan, Or Beauty As I See It Y
Profile of Herbert von Karajan, one of the most renowned conductors of the 20th century and leader of the Berlin Philharmonic for 35 years. One of the most powerful figures in classical music, he was the last of the great conductor dictators and the first successful large-scale music entrepreneur, a man in many ways ahead of his time.
The documentary goes behind Karajan's regal facade by using personal recollections and interviews, together with filmed rehearsals and concerts of the maestro at work. The result is a multi-faceted, multilayered portrait of a charismatic and enigmatic man.
The Kate Bush Story: Running Up That Hill Y
This documentary explores Kate Bush's career and music, from January 1978's Wuthering Heights to her 2011 album 50 Words for Snow, through the testimony of some of her key collaborators and those she has inspired.
Contributors include the guitarist who discovered her (Pink Floyd's David Gilmour), the choreographer who taught her to dance (Lindsay Kemp) and the musician who she said 'opened her doors' (Peter Gabriel), as well as her engineer and ex-partner (Del Palmer) and several other collaborators (Elton John, Stephen Fry and Nigel Kennedy).
Also exploring their abiding fascination with Kate are fans (John Lydon, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui) and musicians who have been influenced by her (St Vincent's Annie Clark, Natasha Khan (aka Bat for Lashes), Tori Amos, Outkast's Big Boi, Guy Garvey and Tricky), as well as writers and comedians who admire her (Jo Brand, Steve Coogan and Neil Gaiman).
Keep On Keepin' On N L
. . . depicts the remarkable story of 93-year-old jazz legend Clark Terry. A living monument to the Golden Era of Jazz, having played in both the Duke Ellington and Count Basie bands. He broke racial barriers on American television and mentored the likes of Miles Davis and Quincy Jones, but his most unlikely friendship is with Justin Kauflin, a 23-year old blind piano prodigy. Justin, fighting a debilitating case of stage fright, is invited to compete in a prestigious competition, while Clark’s health takes a serious turn. The two face the toughest challenges of their lives. The result is an intimate portrait of two remarkable men–a student striving against all odds and a teacher who continues to inspire through the power of music.
Keeping Score: Gustav Mahler Origins and Legacies
From the sounds outside his bedroom window—a kind of sonic goulash of military marches, ethnic dance bands, church bells, ritual prayer, and nature itself—Gustav Mahler fashioned symphonies of cosmic scale, great beauty, and jarring emotional twists and turns. And he did it all in the brief moments he could spare from his day job as one of Europe’s preeminent conductors. Join Michael Tilson Thomas as he returns to the provincial Austro-Hungarian city of Mahler’s childhood, traces his musical roots, his rise as a young conductor, and, with the help of the San Francisco Symphony, escorts us through the stunning creation and shocking premiere of Mahler’s First Symphony.
Keeping Score: Shostakovich Symphony Number Five Y
In 1937 Russia, at the height of Stalin’s purges, the Communist Party strongly denounced Dmitri Shostakovich’s most recent works. Fearing for his life, the young composer wrote a symphony ending with a rousing march. But to many, the triumph rang hollow. Even today, people wonder just what Shostakovich was trying to say. Was the symphony meant to celebrate Stalin’s regime? Or did it contain hidden messages protesting the very system it seemed to support?
Keith Jarrett: The Art of Improvisation Y
"There's never been a time when improvisation was given the respect it deserves. By virtue of the holistic quality of it, it takes everything to do it. It takes real time, no editing possible. It takes your nervous system to be on alert for every possible thing in a way that cannot be said for any other kind of music." -- Keith Jarrett
This wonderful documentary is all about improvisation, and particularly the kind of improvisation the superb jazz pianist Keith Jarrett does. It was made with the full cooperation of Jarrett and there are many minutes of conversation with him as well as with such collaborators as Manfred Eicher, Jack de Johnette, Gary Peacock, his brother Scott, his wife Roseanne, Chick Corea, Gary Burton and many more. Interspersed are many performance clips going back to the very beginning of his career (and including some scenes from his childhood) right up to the present. His ordeal with chronic fatigue syndrome in the mid-1990s is touched upon (but, not surprisingly, given Jarrett's reticence about personal matters, not dwelt upon). There is a ten-minute uninterrupted clip from a concert by his Standards Trio (Jarrett, de Johnette, Peacock). There are also clips of the Köln Concert, concerts with Jan Garbarek (particularly gorgeous), with Miles Davis, and many others. Jarrett comes across as a hugely intelligent and deeply thoughtful man who is nonetheless humble in the face of his talent.
Keith Richards: Life Y
To mark the publication of Keith Richards' autobiography, Life, this BBC2 Culture Show special looks at the life of the man with five strings and nine lives. In a candid interview he chats to Andrew Graham-Dixon about his childhood in Dartford, his passion for music and the decade that catapulted the Rolling Stones from back-room blues boys to one of the greatest rock 'n' roll bands in the world.
Keith Richards: The Origin of the Species Y
A Julien Temple-authored documentary essay film about Keith Richards's postwar childhood and adolescence in Dartford and London. Exploring the cultural undercurrents and transformative thinking which occurred in England between 1945 and 1962 and made possible the worldwide explosion of British rock music during the 60s, in which Keith played such a crucial role.
Keppel Road: The Life and Music of the Bee Gees A
Originally produced for the South Bank Show in the UK and Bravo in the U.S. this definitive film profiles the Brothers Gibb with detailed insight into the Bee Gees careers with interviews filmed in the UK and U.S. and an extraordinary sequence as the Barry, Robin and Maurice 'busk' on a street corner in Manchester as they did when children.
Killing Me Softly: The Roberta Flack Story
Roberta Flack's Grammy award-winning song The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face was America's biggest selling single of 1972. The following year her gentle, pure voice charmed middle America once again when Killing Me Softly with His Song reached the top of the charts and ran off with another Grammy for single of the year. In the early 70s Roberta Flack was one of the most successful pop stars in the world.
But Flack was no overnight sensation. She didn't have a hit single till she was 35 years of age. Nor was her success a traditional African-American rags-to-riches story. She came from the black middle class that had been born out of the self-contained hub of segregated America. She studied classical music at Howard University, America's top black university, and probably would have pursued a classical career had that door been open to her in 50s America. Instead, she taught music in Washington's public school system for 10 years while she struggled for her break.
In the race conscious times, she also had her detractors. While she was singing duets of black consciousness with soul singer Donnie Hathaway, she was married to her white bass player. Also, they said she sounded too white; the gospel-infused voices of Aretha Franklin and James Brown, which came out of the dominant Baptist church, were what real soul singers sounded like. What those critics didn't understand was that there are many musical traditions within black America and Roberta Flack came from the more restrained Methodist one where they sang hymns rather than gospel.
This is the story of the emergence of different kind of soul singer set against the turbulent backdrop of America's Civil Rights movement. Contributors include: Roberta Flack; Dionne Warwick; Johnny Mathis; Cissy Houston; Imani Perry - Princeton University, professor of African American Studies; Greg Tate - musician and critic; Fredera Hadley - musicologist; and John Akomfrah - filmmaker and critic.
Kings of Rock and Roll
A journey back to the 1950s for a look at the wildest pop music of all time in a film that tells the stories of Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly, giants from an era when pop music really was mad, bad and dangerous to know.
The programme features the artists themselves, alongside people like Bill Haley's original Comets, the Crickets, Buddy Holly's widow Maria Elena, Jerry Lee Lewis's former wife Myra Gail and his sister, Chuck Berry's son and many more, including June Juanico, Elvis's first serious girlfriend.
Other contributors include Tom Jones, Jamie Callum, Paul McCartney, Cliff Richard, Joe Brown, Marty Wilde, Green Day, Minnie Driver, Jack White of The White Stripes, The Mavericks, Jools Holland, Hank Marvin, Fontella Bass, John Waters and more.
Elvis's pelvis was just the start. Who had to change the lyrics to their biggest hit because the originals were too obscene? Who married their 13-year-old cousin? Who used lard to get their hair just right? And what happened on the day the music died?
Kraftwerk: Pop Art
Documentary telling the amazing story of how a group of reclusive Rhineland experimentalists called Kraftwerk became one of the most influential pop groups of all time. It is a celebration of the band featuring exclusive live tracks filmed at their Tate Modern shows in London in February 2013, interwoven with expert analysis, archive footage of the group going back to 1970, newsreel of the era and newly shot cinematic evocations of their obsessions. With contributions from techno pioneer Derrick May, Can founder Holger Czukay, DJ and remixer Francois Kevorkian, graphic design guru Neville Brody, writer Paul Morley, band photographer Peter Boettcher, Tate Modern curator Caroline Wood and others.
Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck
Hailed as one of the most innovative and intimate documentaries of all time, experience Kurt Cobain like never before in the only fully authorized portrait of the famed music icon. Directed by acclaimed film maker Brett Morgen, who expertly blends Cobain's personal archive of art, music, neverbeforeseen movies, animation and revelatory interviews from his family and closest friends.
Ladies and Gentlemen . . . Mr. Leonard Cohen A N
Before he gained fame as a singer-songwriter, Leonard Cohen was a hit poet and novelist in Montreal, as this jazzy 1965 documentary illustrates. The artist is shown at the top of his literary game as he thrills a packed house during a reading. The informal portrait follows Cohen around for a few days, observing him as a poet and burgeoning musician. Also included are four experimental music videos based on Cohen songs.
Lady Day, the Many Faces of Billie Holiday Y A
Billie Holiday is recognized as one of the greatest blues and jazz vocalists of all time. This program tells her story. Holiday's song, "Strange Fruit," a reference to the lynching of black Americans in the South, was voted the most important piece of music of the 20th century. The singer experienced firsthand the indignities of racism in her native land. She found solace in the alcohol and drugs which eventually killed her. Her music continues to thrill audiences.
The Language of the New Music Y
They are without question among the principal architects of the imagination of our time and yet both are still widely regarded as difficult or impossible to comprehend: a film about the work and ideas of Schoenberg and Wittgenstein, who changed the course of European thought.
At the close of the 19th century, Vienna presented to the world a picture of ordered elegance and dignified gaiety, but beneath the surface the corruption of the late Hapsburg Empire produced widespread and deep-seated confusion and so set the stage for some of the profoundest meditations on the nature of human experience that the 20th century ever produced.
Vienna was the scene of the intellectual and artistic struggles of many of the seminal minds of our time; among them, Karl Kraus, Robert Musil, Georg Trakl, Otto Wagner and Adolf Loos, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Oscar Kokoshka, Sigmund Freud, Gustav Mahler, Arnold Schoenberg and Ludwig Wittgenstein.
Schoenberg – the composer – and Wittgenstein – author of the Tractatus Logico Philosophicus – never met, although they were close contemporaries and had common friends in Viennese intellectual society. Why put them together? Because their work springs from the same soil and shares a common ethical purpose; so much so that the development of their ideas runs parallel throughout their lives in an extraordinary and very illuminating way.
Latin Music USA Y
East Side Story
The massive success of Santana's innovative Latin-blues at the Woodstock Festival leads back in time to the first Cuban immigrants arriving, with their Afro-Cuban music, into the States. Using feature film clips, rare archive and location filming, the programme reveals how Afro-Cuban music has impacted - since early last century - on jazz, pop rhythms and dance styles.
From Cuban rumba to New York mambo, Latin music enthralled 1950s America, challenging racial attitudes and changing the stereotypes projected in movies like West Side Story. It influenced Hollywood, TV sitcoms and 60s rock 'n' roll, as the Beatles and many American R&B bands absorbed Latin rhythms into the wider worlds of rock music, fashion and culture.
Featuring Carlos Santana, Cachao, Tito Puente, Dizzy Gillespie and the greatest names in Afro-Cuban music
The Salsa Revolution
Filmed in Cuba, Puerto Rico and New York City, it reveals the untold story of salsa music, which burst onto the New York scene in the late 1960s. It first evolved in the clubs of Havana, Cuba and soon became the vibrant sound of the New York barrios, where Puerto Ricans and Cubans settled amid poverty and discrimination.
Yet out of adversity came a thrilling and innovative dance music that became the voice and spirit of the Latin people in the 70s. From rebellious Latin Boogaloo to the shadowy empire of Fania Records, the story unfolds through the intimate memories of the Fania Family - the greatest salsa musicians of their generation and the purveyors of a music that lives on today.
Featuring Ruben Blades, Willie Colon, Eddie Palmieri, Johnny Pacheco and the Fania All-Stars
Borderlands
The third in a four-part series revealing the deep musical and social impact of Latin music in the USA follows the historic waves of immigration across the often violent borderlands between the USA and Mexico, and reveals the dynamic role that Mexican-American music has played as it accompanied 'the largest migration in the history of the world'.
It starts on the streets of East Los Angeles, where 1950s rock legend Ritchie Valens 'crossed the tracks' to inspire other Mexican-American musicians like Los Lobos, Carlos Santana and Linda Ronstadt. But it is in the troubled borderlands, stretching 2,000 miles from Texas to California, that that music has most vividly depicted the myths and legends of an immigrant people who have demanded, and achieved, their place in American society.
Featuring Los Lobos, Santana, Linda Ronstadt, Freddie Fender, Selena, Flaco Jimenez and more.
The Latin Explosion
The last in a four-part series revealing the deep musical and social impact of Latin music in the USA looks at how Latin pop was born in Miami, created by Cuban immigrants fleeing Fidel Castro, and how it has impacted on the worlds of music, business, fashion and media across the Americas and the world.
In the 1980s, Gloria Estefan and husband Emilio moulded a crossover pop sound which exploded out of Miami into every city in the States. From TV shows like Miami Vice to the movie Scarface and the corporate influences that embrace Shakira, Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez, Latin pop reflects a new-found power and confidence for a community that has found its place in mainstream USA.
Featuring Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, Shakira, Gloria Estefan and the stars of Reggaeton.
Led Zeppelin: Up Close and Personal Y
Features rare documentary footage of the band on tour in Australia during 1972 and incorporates archival material from television and radio to tell the story of one of Rock's most respected outfits. Including insights from the band's publicist BP Fallon and bodyguard Michael Francis, Up Close and Personal delivers the details behind Led Zeppelin's rumoured on-tour antics and sensational reputation. Featuring detailed excerpts from journalist Steven Rosen's exclusive interview with the band aboard their famous Starship airliner during the 1977 US Tour, this independent program is a captivating analysis of a world-class act.
Legends of the Canyon: Classic Artists N
Rock 'n' roll photographer Henry Diltz narrates this nostalgic look at the roots of a specific strain of rock born in the cradle of Laurel Canyon, spawning iconic acts like the Mamas and the Papas, Joni Mitchell, and Crosby, Stills and Nash. Highlights include rare footage of classic bands in action as well as still images snapped by Diltz himself, capturing a forgotten time and place -- and the legends who lived there.
Lennon: The New York Years
Documentary telling the story of John Lennon's move to America. In September 1971, two years after the Beatles split up, John Lennon, dispirited and disillusioned with life in England, escaped across the Atlantic to New York City. He was tired of the constant scrutiny and criticism at home, and hated the venomous press hounding him and Yoko Ono. He dreamt of starting a peaceful new life in a city he'd come to love. Instead what followed was more like a rollercoaster ride: a tempestuous period in his relationship, a battle against the US immigration authorities, and a famous wild spell: the 'lost weekend'. Michael Epstein's fascinating film, featuring previously unseen archive footage and unprecedentedly candid interviews with key figures including Yoko Ono, charts this little-known period of Lennon's life - the years leading up to his untimely death.
Leonard Bernstein: Reaching For the Note
A presence on Broadway, in Hollywood, at Carnegie Hall and the New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein was a major force in twentieth century music. His exuberant and dramatic style caught the heart of America, bringing classical music to thousands of people from diverse backgrounds. More than any American conductor before him, Bernstein expanded the audience of classical music while maintaining a deep artistic integrity.
Leonard Bernstein: Teachers and Teaching Y
Maestro Leonard Bernstein speaks of the symbiotic relationship between teachers and students. Includes interviews with Krystian Zimerman, Seiji Ozawa, Michael Tilson Thomas and Lukas Foss.
Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man A N
A host of popular artists -- including Beth Orton, Nick Cave, Rufus Wainright and the U2 boys -- come together for a memorable evening of music at the Sydney Opera House, paying tribute to legendary songwriter Leonard Cohen. Producing a piece that's part concert film and part documentary, filmmaker Lian Lunson combines footage from the show with archival material and intimate interviews, resulting in a fascinating portrait of a gifted tunesmith.
Les Paul: Chasing Sound A N
The remarkable true-life story of electric guitar legend and rock 'n' roll icon Les Paul unfolds in this feature-length documentary that originally aired as part of PBS's "American Masters" series. Chronicling Paul's rise from poverty to eventual rock royalty, the program features interviews from many of his big-name admirers, including B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Tony Bennett, Jeff Beck, Merle Haggard and Steve Miller.
Let Them Talk: A Celebration of New Orleans Blues Y
Versatile British actor Hugh Laurie, an American favorite for his role in the hit TV series HOUSE, showcases his musical side in an atmospheric special filmed in New Orleans.
Defying simple categorization, Laurie finds his greatest satisfaction and inspiration from the mixture of blues and jazz that grew out of New Orleans at the beginning of the last century. “Let Them Talk” is his personal journey into the heart and soul of that music.
Including documentary and interview segments during Laurie’s travels around the city, the program features his performances with blues legends Allen Toussaint and Irma Thomas, as well as a fellow countryman similarly inspired by this uniquely American music, Sir Tom Jones.
Let's Get Lost N
A group of Baker fans, ranging from ex-associates to ex-wives and children, talk about the man. Weber’s film traces the man’s career from the 1950s, playing with jazz greats like Charlie Parker, Gerry Mulligan, and Russ Freeman, to the 1980s, when his heroin addiction and domestic indifference kept him in Europe. By juxtaposing these two decades, Weber presents a sharp contrast between the younger, handsome Baker — the statuesque idol who resembled a mix of James Dean and Jack Kerouac — to what he became, “a seamy looking drugstore cowboy-cum-derelict”, as J. Hoberman put it in his Village Voice review.
Let’s Get Lost begins near the end of Baker’s life, on the beaches of Santa Monica, and ends at the Cannes Film Festival. Weber uses these moments in the present as bookends to the historic footage contained in the bulk of the film. The documentation ranges from vintage photographs by William Claxton in 1953 to appearances on The Steve Allen Show and kitschy, low budget Italian films Baker did for quick money.
Lisbon: The City is an Orchestra Y
Lisbon - The City is an Orchestra (Lisboa em Si), had a very special goal: to explore the musical possibilities of a riverside city. On the 21st of June, 2013, Lisbon was the stage for an unique concert that gathered thousands of people, in a gigantic sound and social experience. The result was a seven minute musical composition, using horns from 22 ships, 6 fire department vehicles, 2 trains, 106 church bells from 19 churches and 6 electric tram bells. One hundred musicians performed live an original score, radio coordinated and scattered all over the historical riverside area of Lisbon. This Documentary tells a story of Lisbon for Lisbon... from its daily and urban sounds to an unrepeatable musical journey that belongs in the city’s musical history.
It gives us, not only the details of all the preparation for the concert from 2011 to 21st June 2013, but also a privileged perspective of the concert in it´s totality. From the research of a city’s sound heritage, its musical potentialities and the search for it’s “natural tuning” to the mobilization of hundreds of volunteers, the coordination with different institutions with varied cultures. Ultimately it´s a unique insight to the city’s “backstage”, which in this case is front scene of this documentary. Listen and see Lisbon as you´ve never done before.
Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones Y
This isn't a once-over-lightly PR job, but a movie about the peaks and valleys of a man's life. Director Ellen Weissbrod and producer Courtney Sale Ross have looked unblinkingly at the sad as well as the happy times, and some of the most poignant moments in the movie come as Jolie Jones, Quincy's oldest daughter, talks quietly about her father.
There are many other witnesses as well. People who never talk for documentaries talk for this one: Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, the shy Michael Jackson (whose interview takes place partly in darkness).
Because the filmmakers wanted to avoid the usual captions and subtitles of documentaries, each subject is asked to identify himself, and this leads to some humor, as when Ray Charles smiles that it's been a long time since anybody had to ask who he was.
Living Famously: Keith Moon Y
Changing the face of rock drumming, Keith Moon exploded (quite literally) into the drumming world, finally bringing drumming to the forefront of the band. Like his style or not, his crazy anticks paved the way for modern rock drumming.
Long Strange Trip
The tale of the Grateful Dead is inspiring, complicated, and downright messy. A tribe of contrarians, they made art out of open-ended chaos and inadvertently achieved success on their own terms. Never-before-seen footage and interviews offer this unprecedented and unvarnished look at the life of the Dead.
Loretta Lynn: Still a Mountain Girl
Inducted into more music Halls of Fame than any female recording artist to date, Loretta Lynn (b. April 14, 1932) has earned four Grammy Awards, Kennedy Center Honors and a Presidential Medal of Freedom, and sold more than 45 million records worldwide. Still going strong after more than 50 years, “The Queen of Country Music” is now the subject of the new documentary American Masters – Loretta Lynn: Still a Mountain Girl, premiering Friday, March 4 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local schedule) during Women’s History Month as part of the 30th anniversary season of THIRTEEN’s American Masters series. The world premiere broadcast is the same day as the release of Lynn’s first new studio album in over 10 years, Full Circle (Legacy Recordings).
With unprecedented access to Lynn, her family and archives, Still a Mountain Girl features never-before-seen home movies, performances and photos, as well as insightful interviews with her friends and fellow musicians, including Jack White (producer of Lynn’s Grammy-winning album Van Lear Rose), Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Reba McEntire, Miranda Lambert and Bill Anderson.
The documentary also features never-before-seen footage of Lynn in the studio with producer John Carter Cash, as she records Full Circle and other new songs at the Cash Cabin Studio in Hendersonville, Tenn. Filming with Lynn, her family and business team also took place at her ranch and other locations in Hurricane Mills, TN, the community she formed as a re-creation of her Appalachia birthplace, Butcher Hollow, KY, where she was raised in poverty. Other interviews include Sissy Spacek, who starred as Lynn in the Oscar-winning biographical film of her life, Coal Miner’s Daughter (based on Lynn’s 1976 autobiography), and its director Michael Apted.
Lost Highway: The Story of Country Music Y
The series traces the history of country music from its simple beginnings in the Appalachian Mountains to a multi-billion dollar industry. The first part, "Down From the Mountain," focuses on the early recordings of the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers and the development of bluegrass. "The Road to Nashville" shows the influence of Hank Williams and the smooth "Nashville Sound" created by producers Owen Bradley and Chet Atkins to counter rock 'n' roll.
The third segment, "Beyond Nashville," examines the alternative strains of country that evolved in Bakersfield, Calif., and Austin, Texas, with Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson and others. The final installment, "Sweethearts of the Rodeo," tracks the rise of the female country stars from Patsy Cline to Shania Twain.
Lou Reed Remembered
Film tribute to Lou Reed, who died in October, which looks at the extraordinarily transgressive life and career of one of rock 'n' roll's true originals. With the help of friends, fellow musicians, critics and those who have been inspired not only by his music but also by his famously contrary approach to almost everything, the documentary looks at how Reed not only helped to shape a generation but also helped to create a truly alternative, independent rock scene, while also providing New York with its most provocative and potent soundtrack.
Louis Prima: The Wildest
If there is any doubt that Louis Prima was the ultimate Energizer bunny of '40s and '50s pop music, "Louis Prima: The Wildest" lays it to rest for good.
The latest romping music documentary by Don McGlynn opens today, and it's not only another superb film by one of the great jazz documentarians, it's also outrageously fun. There are plenty of people who may never have heard of Prima. But if they see this film, they'll be blown away, as will die-hard fans of the New Orleans Italian American trumpeter-singer who became one of the great showmen of American jazz. Although some aficionados consider Prima's casino showroom days to be a low point in his career, he helped define the Las Vegas lounge act -- and at times parodied it.
The film is affectionate -- with testimonials and remembrances from friends and family, including his former wife, singer Keely Smith, without whom some fans can't picture him. Prima's exceptional talent is praised, as is how he encouraged the audience to join in the fun. He didn't just perform, he gave. If you've only heard Prima sing in Disney's animated "The Jungle Book," that's just scratching the surface.
Lucy Worsley's Nights at the Opera
For centuries in western culture, opera has been the greatest show on earth. Historian Lucy Worsley explores how history and opera go hand in hand. She visits the great European cities where some of the most famous operas were written, tells the stories of the colourful characters who composed them and shows how they reflected the turbulent times they were composed in and the lives, hopes and fears of the people who lived in them.
Whilst Lucy visits the cities and European opera houses, Antonio Pappano, music director of London's Royal Opera, helps us understand some of those operas' greatest musical moments.
In the first episode, Lucy investigates four cities and four operas embedded in the cauldron of European politics between the 17th and 19th centuries. She visits Venice, where Claudio Monteverdi invented modern opera with The Coronation of Poppea, the first work which featured real historical characters that the audience could identify with. It is also one of the steamiest and sexiest operas ever written.
Then to Vienna, where Mozart's subversive masterpiece The Marriage of Figaro held a mirror up to a society where the Enlightenment was beginning to break down the old feudal order, and Beethoven wrote Fidelio, an opera that embraced the French Revolutionary radical ideals of liberty, equality and brotherhood. Finally, Lucy travels to Milan, where Verdi's Slaves' Chorus in his opera Nabucco captured the hopes and dreams of the Italian people as they moved towards independence and a united nation.
Maestro or Mephisto: The Real Georg Solti
Georg Solti was one of the most charismatic and controversial conductors of the twentieth century, one who dominated classical music for nearly fifty years through a winning, if not always endearing, combination of ambition, technique, sheer bloody-mindedness and genius. This film marks the centenary of his birth and re-examines the Solti legend and legacy, using rare archive footage and contemporary interviews with some of the biggest names in classical music.
The Making of Elton John: Madman Across the Water Y
Documentary exploring Elton John's childhood, apprenticeship in the British music business, sudden stardom in the US at the dawn of the 70s and his musical heyday. Plus the backstory to the album reuniting him with Leon Russell, his American mentor. Features extensive exclusive interviews with Elton, plus colleagues and collaborators including Bernie Taupin, Leon Russell and others.
The Making of the West Side Story Soundtrack Recording Y A
An award winning look at the making of the recording of West Side Story, as Leonard Bernstein had originally wanted it to be. Performances from Kiri Te Kanawa, Tatiana Troyanos, Jose Carreras, and the Kurt Ollmann Chorus and Orchestra.
Making the Monkees
In 1967, four unknown actors in a low budget, teen-oriented TV show became the biggest pop music act in the world. In America, they outsold Elvis and The Beatles combined. They were The Monkees, and they weren't a band in any true sense - at least at first. They were a money-making machine driven by ego and ambition, a machine that would ultimately crash and burn in a storm of greed, hurt feelings, and legal wrangling. This is the inside story of pop music's first manufactured band.
Maria Callas: Life and Art A Y
Long before the media's obsession with celebrity scaled its current heights, Maria Callas commanded headlines and column inches equal to any of the jet-setting elite of her time. In those terms alone, and much as opera purists might flinch at the idea, she was the Madonna of her day. But that is only one reason why her legend extends well beyond her place in the pantheon of great sopranos and so long after her death in 1977.
An excellent companion to Tony Palmer's 1987 documentary La Divina, Maria Callas: Life and Art provides a well-rounded picture of an extraordinary talent who defended her art with the courage of a tigress, but whose turbulent private life gave her little except restless grief. It is crammed with concert footage and archive interviews. She was, as contributor Franco Zeffirelli says, a genius of hair-raising stature and one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. But she was also a rather fragile human being. The tension between the two makes the telling of her story utterly compelling. The DVD includes chronologies of Callas's life and the many roles she played during her career.
Marley N
Bob Marley's musical (and cultural) shadow is so large that the man clearly needed an authoritative documentary portrait--and Marley steps in with all the right stuff to fill the role. Working with official rights to the music and access to Marley's family and friends, Oscar-winning documentarian Kevin Macdonald (One Day in September) creates a thorough account that hits the major points, not stinting on some of the less admirable aspects of Marley's life (including his brood of children fathered with women other than his patient wife, Rita, whose presence indicates just how much she puts Marley's legacy above his personal infidelities). Especially interesting is the sketch of Bob Marley's youth, as a mixed-race--and thus socially ostracized--kid from the village of Nine Mile who began to put together a reggae sound with a group of like-minded musicians in Jamaica in the late '50s and early '60s. That period comes to life, and the account of Marley's ascent, while familiar from such sagas, has its share of offbeat incidents. His death, at age 36 in 1981, does not dominate the movie, but Macdonald does a good job of getting that story laid out. In the meantime, the music and the concert footage are more than enough to justify the movie's existence, and Macdonald makes time to include thoughts about politics, ganja smoking, and Rastafarianism, too. If it's not the final word on Marley, it's an excellent start.
Marvin Gaye: What's Going On
Brilliant but ultimately self-destructive Motown star Marvin Gaye challenged and changed the face of black music, embodying its evolution from roots in gospel, jazz, and rhythm and blues to sophisticated pop and sexually and politically charged soul. This profile includes performance footage and insights from Mary Wilson, Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight, and Mos Def.
Masters of American Music: Satchmo Y
Satchmo. There are few people in this country, and around the world, who will not recognize the name. Louis Armstrong embodied 20th century American culture. No other performer of his era had such a profound effect as a singer as well as an instrumentalist. With over a dozen of his classic film performances, numerous television and concert performance as well as never before seen home movies and nightclub footage from 1935, this is the most comprehensive look at this American icon.
Mavis!
Her family group, the Staple Singers, inspired millions and helped propel the civil rights movement with their music. After 60 years of performing, legendary singer Mavis Staples' message of love and equality is needed now more than ever.
Maxim Vengerov With the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra Y
A documentary giving a fascinating insight into violin legend Maxim Vengerov's appearance with the Oxford Philharmonic on 10 April 2013 at the Sheldonian Theatre, where he performed a double-bill of Britten's and Dvorák's Violin Concertos.
The film features interviews with Maxim Vengerov, OPO's music director Marios Papadopoulos and the Orchestra's players, as well as astonishing rehearsal and concert footage.
Michael Grade's Stars of the Musical Theatre
Michael Grade saw Annie Get Your Gun as a small boy in the 1950s and ever since he has been hooked on musicals - and their stars. He and his family have represented some of the world's greatest musical performers and he knows and understands talent. But one question has always fascinated him - is it the musical which creates the star or the star who makes the musical?
In search of answers, Michael interviews stars and directors on both sides of the Atlantic, including Michael Ball, Elaine Paige, Dominic West, Imelda Staunton, Joel Grey, Chita Rivera, Hal Prince and Trevor Nunn.
In what way are the qualities of a musical star unique? Michael explores the alchemy of the musical by looking at performances from the 1940s onwards in key shows like Oklahoma!, My Fair Lady, West Side Story, Evita and Les Miserables - examining the union of musicals that brilliantly reflect their time with performers who can interpret their magic.
Michael Jackson's Journey From Motown To Off The Wall
A look at a chapter of his career that is rarely covered, MICHAEL JACKSON's Journey from Motown to Off the Wall chronicles the star's rise to fame through to the release of his seminal album Off the Wall.
Viewers travel with Michael as he gets his start at Motown, strikes a new path with CBS Records and forges a relationship with legendary record producer Quincy Jones.
Director Spike Lee assembles a wealth of archival footage, including material from Michael's personal collection, plus interviews with contemporary talents and family members to create an insightful portrait of how an earnest, passionate, hard-working boy would become the 'King of Pop'.
Miles Davis: Kind of Blue Y
Kind of Blue is a studio album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released on August 17, 1959, by Columbia Records. Recording sessions for the album took place at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City on March 2 and April 22, 1959. The sessions featured Davis's ensemble sextet, with pianist Bill Evans, drummer Jimmy Cobb, bassist Paul Chambers, and saxophonists John Coltrane and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley. After the entry of Evans into his sextet, Davis followed up on the modal experimentations of Milestones (1958) by basing Kind of Blue entirely on modality, in contrast to his earlier work with the hard bop style of jazz.
Moog: The Man Behind the Synthesizer Y
To the uninitiated, Moog was the dog in the 80s cartoon series, Willo' the Wisp, but to those in the know, Dr Robert Moog was the maverick inventor and cult icon behind the eponymous synthesizer. This fascinating documentary explores Bob Moog's story in his own words. The advent of the synthesizer revolutionised music. An entirely new analogue instrument, it had electronic components but was made user-friendly by incorporating a traditional keyboard. Its influence was huge: Moog synthesizers were used by everyone from popular musicians like The Beatles and Stevie Wonder to jazz pioneers such as Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea. In this documentary, Bob Moog shares his ideas about creativity, design, interactivity, spirituality and of course, the invention that rocked the world. Contributors, Bob Moog, Keith Emerson, Mix Master Mike, DJ Logic and Rick Wakeman
The Most Dangerous Band in the World: The Story of Guns N' Roses
It was 1985. Guns N' Roses were soon to be known as the last mammoth rock entity to come out of LA after selling over 100 million albums. Jon Brewer brings alive never-before-seen video footage of Guns N' Roses in their earliest days as a fledgling band, filmed and meticulously archived over the years by their close friend. They became known as 'the most dangerous band in the world' and retained the title for reasons this film portrays, via interviews with band members and those who were there on, and off, tour. Venture down seedy Sunset Strip to the Whiskey, the Rainbow and the Roxy, all known as 'the Jungle'.
Mr. Blue Sky: The Story of Jeff Lynne and ELO
Documentary which gets to the heart of who Jeff Lynne is and how he has had such a tremendous musical influence on our world. The story is told by the British artist himself and such distinguished collaborators and friends of Jeff as Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Tom Petty, Joe Walsh, Olivia and Dhani Harrison, Barbara Orbison and Eric Idle.
The film reveals that Lynne is a true man of music, for whom the recording studio is his greatest instrument. With access to Lynne in his studio above LA, this is an intimate account of a great British pop classicist who has ploughed a unique furrow since starting out on the Birmingham Beat scene in the early 60s, moving from the Idle Race to the multimillion-selling ELO in the 70s and then, with Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison and George Harrison, as a key member of the Traveling Wilburys.
Monteverdi In Manuta: The Genius of the Vespers
Simon Russell Beale travels to Italy to explore the story of the notorious Duke of Mantua and his long-suffering court composer Claudio Monteverdi during the turbulent times of the late Italian Renaissance. Out of the volatile relationship between the duke and the composer came Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610, a major turning point in western music. The Sixteen, led by Harry Christophers, explore some of the radical and beautiful choral music in this dramatic composition.
Motor City's Burning: Detroit From Motown to the Stooges Y
Documentary looking at how Detroit became home to a musical revolution that captured the sound of a nation in upheaval.
In the early 60s, Motown transcended Detroit's inner city to take black music to a white audience, whilst in the late 60s suburban kids like the MC5 and the Stooges descended into the black inner city to create revolutionary rock expressing the rage of young white America.
Mozart's London Odyssey
Lucy Worsley traces the forgotten and fascinating story of the young Mozart's adventures in Georgian London. Arriving in 1764 as an eight-year-old boy, London held the promise of unrivalled musical opportunity. But in telling the telling the tale of Mozart's strange and unexpected encounters, Lucy reveals how life wasn't easy for the little boy in a big bustling city.
With the demands of a royal performance, the humiliation of playing keyboard tricks in a London pub, a near fatal illness and finding himself heckled on the streets, it was a lot for a child to take. But London would prove pivotal, for it was here that the young Mozart made his musical breakthrough, blossoming from a precocious performer into a powerful new composer.
Lucy reveals that it was on British soil that Mozart composed his first ever symphony and, with the help of a bespoke performance, she explores how Mozart's experiences in London inspired his colossal achievement. But what should have earned him rapturous applause and the highest acclaim ended in suspicion, intrigue and accusations of fraud.
Muscle Shoals A N
This tuneful documentary chronicles the musical legacy of Muscle Shoals, Ala., home of Fame Studios, where top musicians have flocked for decades. Keith Richards, Bono and other stars recount their experiences recording at the renowned facility.
Music From the Inside Out: The Philadelphia Orchestra N A
A cinematic exploration of music through the stories and artistry of the musicians of The Philadelphia Orchestra. The film follows these musicians as they explore what music means in their lives, both inside and outside the concert hall. The resulting stories—of passion, struggle, perseverance and transcendence—serve to illuminate the role of music in all of our lives.
The Music Instinct: Science and Song Y
A ground-breaking exploration into how and why the human organism and the whole ebb and flow of the cosmos is moved by the undeniable effect of music. This follows visionary researchers and accomplished musicians to the crossroads of science and culture in search of answers to music s deep mysteries. This is a comprehensive look at how the brain reacts in performance, just listening, atonal music, the sensory reactions from person to person, instrument, voices to others,Music Moguls: Masters of Pop Y
Three-part series revealing the secret history of pop and rock from the men and women who pull the strings behind the scenes.
Money Makers
Programme one tells the story of the maverick managers who controlled the careers of megastar artists, from Colonel Parker (Elvis) right the way up to Scooter Braun (Justin Bieber). Along the way are rollicking tales of industry legends like Led Zeppelin's Peter Grant, and Don Arden, who managed the Small Faces, Black Sabbath and ELO.
Melody Makers
Part two of this enlightening series exploring the music business from behind the scenes looks at the music producers. These are the men and women who have created the signature sounds that have defined keyperiods in rock and pop history. Highlights include Trevor Horn on inventing the 'Sound of the Eighties', Lamont Dozier on Motown, and a TV first with legendary producer Tony Visconti taking us through David Bowie's seminal song Heroes.
Myth Makers
Part three of this illuminating series exploring the music business from behind the scenes takes a look at PR, the unseen force behind all the biggest musical acts in the world. With unique revelations, unseen footage and unrivalled access, it tells the story of the rise of PR within the music industry through the eyes of the people who lived it. Highlights include the PR campaigns behind superstars Jimi Hendrix, Taylor Swift and David Bowie.
Musical Minds Y
Can the power of music make the brain come alive? Throughout his career Dr. Oliver Sacks, neurologist and acclaimed author, has encountered myriad patients who are struggling to cope with debilitating medical conditions, including autism and Tourette's syndrome. While their ailments vary, many have one thing in common: an appreciation for the therapeutic effects of music. NOVA follows four individuals—two of whom are Sacks's case studies—and even peers into Sacks's own brain to investigate music's strange and surprising power over the human mind.
Neil Young: Don't Be Denied Y
From his early transcontinental American quest for recognition, through the first flush of success with Buffalo Springfield, to the bi-polar opposites of mega-stardom with Crosby, Stills and Nash and the soulful rock of Crazy Horse, Young's career has enjoyed many guises.
Perhaps his most famous period was as a 1970s solo artist making albums that became benchmarks. After The Goldrush, recorded in his Topanga Canyon home, and Harvest, part-recorded on his northern Californian ranch, saw Young explore the confessional side of song-writing. But never one to rest on his laurels, he would continually change direction.
In the mid-seventies, two of Young's closest friends died as a result of heroin abuse. What followed was music's answer to cinema verite, with Tonight's The Night a spine-chilling wake for his dead friends.
As New Wave arrived, Young was keen to explore new ideas. A collaboration with Devo on what became his art-house epic, Human Highway, saw the genesis of Rust Never Sleeps, a requiem for the seventies.
In the eighties, Young explored different genres, from electronica to country, and in recent times he has returned to Crazy Horse and Crosby, Stills and Nash, but only when it has suited him.
The film ends with Young still refusing to be denied, on tour in the USA with CSNY, playing anti-Bush songs to a Republican audience in the South
New Orleans: A Living Museum of Music Y
An intimate look at the traditions associated with New Orleans music and the preservation of those traditions through the work of local musicians and educators who mentor young talent.
Nile Rogers: The Hitmaker Remastered Y
This 2013 documentary has been brought up to date to tell the story of his work with Daft Punk and how his band Chic has been introduced to a brand new audience.
As the co-founder, songwriter, producer and guitarist of Chic he helped define the sound of the 70s, as disco took the world by storm. But the music that had made Chic would also break them, thanks to the 'Disco Sucks' backlash. What could have been the end for Nile Rodgers would actually be a new beginning as a producer, helping create some of the biggest hits of the '80s for the likes of Diana Ross, David Bowie, Madonna and Duran Duran.
The ever-charismatic Rogers contributes an engaging and often frank interview to tell the tale of how, born to beatnik, heroin-addict parents in New York, he picked up a guitar as a teenager and embarked on a journey to learn his craft as a musician, before becoming one of disco's most successful artists.
In the '70s and '80s he lived the party lifestyle thanks to his success with Chic and as one of the music industry's hottest producers. Drugs and alcohol would become part of everyday life for Nile, contributing in part to the break-up of Chic in the early '80s. The band would reform in the mid '90s, but their return was quickly marked by tragedy with the death of Nile's long-time friend and musical partner Bernard Edwards in 1996.
The film recounts a captivating and moving story of a man who has been making hit music for nearly four decades and has found himself back in the limelight once again.
Northern Soul: Living For the Weekend Y
The northern soul phenomenon was the most exciting underground British club movement of the 1970s. At its high point, thousands of disenchanted white working class youths across the north of England danced to obscure, mid-60s Motown-inspired sounds until the sun rose. A dynamic culture of fashions, dance moves, vinyl obsession and much more grew up around this - all fuelled by the love of rare black American soul music with an express-train beat.
Through vivid first-hand accounts and rare archive footage, this film charts northern soul's dramatic rise, fall and rebirth. It reveals the scene's roots in the mod culture of the 1960s and how key clubs like Manchester's Twisted Wheel and Sheffield's Mojo helped create the prototype that would blossom in the next decade.
By the early 1970s a new generation of youngsters in the north were transforming the old ballrooms and dancehalls of their parents' generation into citadels of the northern soul experience, creating a genuine alternative to mainstream British pop culture. This was decades before the internet, when people had to travel great distances to enjoy the music they felt so passionate about.
Set against a rich cultural and social backdrop, the film shows how the euphoria and release that northern soul gave these clubbers provided an escape from the bleak reality of their daily lives during the turbulent 1970s. After thriving in almost total isolation from the rest of the UK, northern soul was commercialised and broke nationwide in the second half of the 70s. But just as this happened, the once-healthy rivalry between the clubs in the north fell apart amidst bitter in-fighting over the direction the scene should go.
Oh You Pretty Things - The Story of Music and Fashion
Just how did Britain become the place where the best music goes with the most eye-catching styles? Lauren Laverne narrates a series about the love affair between our music and fashion, looking at how musicians and designers came up with the coolest and craziest looks and how we emulated our idols.
British pop and rock is our great gift to the world, at the heart of the irrepressible creative brilliance of Britain. But it has never just been about the music. Across the decades we have unleashed a uniquely British talent for fusing the best sounds with stunning style and fashion to dazzling effect.
The series begins in the golden years of the 1960s. Mod legends The Small Faces became the best-dressed band in England, Cilla Black and fashion label BIBA were a perfect fit, while The Beatles and The Stones embraced the foppish hair and frilly shirts of psychedelia. Through rude boys and rockers, the relationship between music and fashion blossomed, becoming intimately entwined in the sound and vision of Roxy Music.
But this isn't just a story of brillant musicians and maverick designers, it's a story that touches us all because, at some point in our lives, we've all delved into the great dressing-up box and joined the pageant that is British music and fashion.
Oil City Confidential Y N
The story of Dr Feelgood, four men in cheap suits who crashed out of Canvey Island in the early '70s, sandpapered the face of rock'n'roll, leaving all that came before a burnt-out ruin - four estuarine John-the-Baptists to Johnny Rotten's anti-Christ. Taking London by storm, they sped through Europe and conquered the UK with No 1 chart success, before imploding just as punk was born and America beckoned with open arms. Contributions from members of The Clash, Blondie and The Sex Pistols join Dr Feelgood with collaborators Jools Holland and Alison Moyet to tell the story of Canvey, '70s England and the greatest local band in the world.
On The Road With Duke Ellington Y
Filmed in 1967 and first shown in 1974, filmmaker Robert Drew's hour-long documentary is less a biography of Duke Ellington, the man now widely regarded as the 20th century's most important composer, than a brief slice of his remarkable life. "Every night I give a house party," Ellington says of his days on the road, "and I'm the guest of honor." Yet while there's plenty of performance footage of the maestro and his musicians (most of it, unfortunately, a bit on the grainy side, with audio that's less than stellar), we also see him in the studio, at work at his piano, doing business, eating his daily breakfast of steak, potatoes, and hot water, attending the funeral of musical partner Billy Strayhorn, and considerably more. What emerges is a reasonably intimate portrait of a smart, debonair (but oh-so-hip) man whose life was simply consumed with music--much to the benefit of us all.
Once Upon a Time in New York: The Birth of Hip Hop, Punk and Disco Y
How the squalid streets of 70's New York gave birth to music that would go on to conquer the world - punk, disco and hip hop.
In the 1970s the Big Apple was rotten to the core, yet out of the grime, grit and low rent space emerged new music unlike anything that had gone before.
Inspired by the Velvet Underground, a new wave of 'punk' rock emerged in lower Manhattan including The New York Dolls, The Ramones and the Patti Smith Group. Meanwhile, downtown loft parties held by gay New Yorkers heralded the birth of disco, which would eventually spawn the ultimate club for the privileged few: Studio 54. The swanky mid-town discos were out of bounds to black New York so in the Bronx DJs such as Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa created their own parties, heralding the birth of hip hop.
Orchestra of Exiles N A
In the early 1930's Hitler began firing Jewish musicians across Europe. Overcoming extraordinary obstacles, violinist Bronislaw Huberman moved these great musicians to Palestine and formed a symphony that would become the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. With courage, resourcefulness and an entourage of allies including Arturo Toscanini and Albert Einstein, Huberman saved nearly 1000 Jews - and guaranteed the survival of Europe s musical heritage.
Featuring commentary by musical greats including Itzhak Perlman, Zubin Mehta and Joshua Bell, Orchestra of Exiles is a timeless tale of a brilliant young man coming of age, and the suspenseful chronicle of how his efforts impacted cultural history.
Orion: The Man Who Would Be King A
Documentary telling the wonderfully weird story of Jimmy Ellis - an unknown singer plucked from obscurity and thrust into the spotlight, as part of a crazy scheme that had him masquerade as Elvis back from the grave.
With an outlandish fictional identity, the backing of the legendary birthplace of rock 'n' roll Sun Records, and a voice that seemed to be the very twin of Presley's, the scheme - concocted in the months after Presley's death - exploded into a cult success and the 'Elvis is alive' myth was launched.
Jimmy - as the masked and rhinestoned Orion - gained the success he'd always craved, the women he'd always desired and the adoration of screaming masses, but it wasn't enough.
The film explores the manipulative schemes of the music industry, the allure of fantasy and the search for identity. It offers a dizzying analysis of the madness of the Orion myth alongside a movingly sympathetic account of Ellis's unsung talent.
Ottorino Respighi: A Dream Of Italy Y
"I am only a composer, always a composer. I could never have been anything else. I believe in the continuity of the Italian musical tradition and the undying spirit of Italian song. But I believe that European music as a whole is about to undergo a radical crisis from which it will emerge transformed and renewed. I believe in the search for a new common language of European music and that in this quest, Italy can lead the way as she did four hundred years ago.
Just as the plastic rythms of the Greeks, dissolved into the ecstatic song of Gregorian chant, and at the end of the 16th century, the new monotic music appeared suddenly in Florence. So I see with a certain security that music is about to return to its original and immortal element: song." Those words were written by Ottorino Respighi in 1925 and they capture precisly the spirit of his musical quest. But they also contain within them the artistic dilemma of his entire creative life: An artist who dreamed of Italy and its glorious past is sought in the turmoil of the 20th century to restore to Europe the strength and coherence of the Italian musical tradition which he saw as the European birthright.
Paganini's Daemon: A Most Enduring Legend Y
Niccolo Paganini created the most elaborate and enduring legend of all instrumental soloists in the entire history of Western classical music but, as so often with legends, the excitement and the chatter obscured the true figure of both the man and the artist.
In this film, Christopher Nupen looks at the legend and the strange man who created it all with his dazzling combination of technical brilliance, supreme showmanship, Italian melody and unbridled manipulative skill - a man whose extraordinary personality unsettled even the most sophisticated and educated minds and provoked wildly contradictory opinions.
This film presents Paganini's music and combines it with extracts from Paganini's letters and quotations from both his admirers and his many detractors. While being hailed as the greatest performing musician of his time, he was denounced again and again by knowledgeable critics as a charlatan in league with the devil and an avaricious man with scant respect for those who responded, so enthusiastically, to his unforgettable gift and contributed so readily to his vast personal fortune. Paganini exploited all of it and used the legends to make himself not only the most talked about performer of his time, but also the wealthiest by a long, long way. In time this provoked envy and resentment and, finally, a pitiable isolation.
Patti Smith: Under Review Y
This exhaustive look at musician Patti Smith provides fresh insights into the artist's three-decade spanning career. The documentary offers the opinions of journalists and music experts, interviews, and never-before-seen material.
This film is the first full length documentary about Patti Smith and the astonishing music she has been making for three decades.With rare and previously unseen performance footage, interviews with Patti and with those who know her best, location shoots and lengthy contributions from friends, colleagues and esteemed experts, this program is not just the only such documentary ever produced about Smith, it will surely remain the standard work on its subject Patti Smith
Paul McCartney: Chaos and Creation at Abbey Road Y
the intimate, one-hour special finds the legendary singer-songwriter back at Abbey Road's Studio 2, the cavernous room where Chaos and many of the Beatles' most famous records were made. Performing solo before a small group of fans and friends, McCartney offers songs and reminiscences about the Beatles' years, selections from his recent Grammy-nominated Album of the Year, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, and a fascinating look at how various musical effects were achieved in both the early Beatles albums and on Chaos.
Paul Williams: Still Alive A N
He won Grammys® and an Academy Award®; wrote many #1 songs; starred in a Brian DePalma movie; put out his own hit records and albums; was a guest on The Tonight Show fifty times; and is the president of ASCAP... and you might not have heard of him. In the 1970's, Paul Williams was the singer / actor / songwriter that emotional, alienated teenage boys all over the world wanted to be, a sex symbol before MTV, when sex symbols could be 5"2 and sing songs about loneliness with the Muppets.
Pavarotti: The Last Tenor N A
World-renowned tenor Luciano Pavarotti says farewell to some of the finest opera houses on the planet in this moving piece commissioned by the BBC, capturing the singer at a pivotal point in his career.
People's History of Pop: 1976-1985 Tribal Gatherings Y
Pauline Black, lead singer of Two Tone band The Selecter, looks at the years 1976-1985, when she first picked up a guitar and when music got involved in passionate protest and the high street filled with colourful factions of music lovers.
After a lot of big hair and big rock stars, punks brought pop back down to earth and, out of that, music lovers shattered into an array of pop tribes who posed with passion.
We hear from a man who loved listening to pop hits on Radio 1 and who recorded his own 'Record for the Day' in his incredible picture diary every day. And one former student at a college in Surrey tells how a ball at his graduation was saved by a favourite rock star when the headline act pulled out - neighbour Elton John popped over and played an intimate set on the college's grand piano.
We speak to fans whose lives were changed forever by punk, and the members of an Asian punk band who were inspired by the music to shout for what they believed in at Rock Against Racism gigs and marches. Mods, a Numanoid and a fan of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal explain why they chose their tribes, while Two Tone was the music that tried to unite the kids and just get them dancing. The reverend of Kerry parish shares her unstoppable love of Duran Duran, much to the regret of her punk fiancé. And pop fans were brought together by the experience of Live Aid, when music changed the world outside of us.
Unearthed pop treasures include a tambourine punched through by Sid Vicious, played by a Sex Pistols fan as he sang with the band on the Great Rock n Roll Swindle album. A former music promoter shares some rare items from the Sex Pistols' ill-fated Anarchy in the UK tour, and the son of artist Ray Lowry shows Pauline the drawings his dad did of The Clash's summer American tour in 1979, when Ray was taken as their 'war artist'. We feature some precious material that gives us an insight into the thinking of The Clash's lead singer, Joe Strummer.
People's History of Pop: The Birth of the Fan Y
Twiggy celebrates the 60s, meeting skiffle musicians, fans of the Shadows, Liverpudlians who frequented the Cavern Club at the height of Merseybeat, Beatles devotees, Ready Steady Go! dancers, mods, lovers of ska, bluebeat and Millie Small, and fans of the Rolling Stones.
Unearthed pop treasures include a recording of John Lennon's first ever recorded performance with his band the Quarrymen.
People's History of Pop: The Love Affair Y
Writer, journalist and broadcaster Danny Baker looks at the years of his youth - 1966 to 1976 - a time when music fans really let rip.
From the psychedelia of the Beatles' Sgt Pepper to the birth of the large-scale music festival, this is when hair, sounds and ideas got wilder and looser as a whole new generation of fans got really serious about British pop music and the world around them.
There is testimony from hippies who found love and happiness at the 1970 Isle of Wight festival, from a teenager growing up in Birmingham who discovered a new sound called 'heavy metal', and from fans sent wild with excitement after David Bowie and Marc Bolan were beamed down and glam rock was born.
A shy young man tells how he found expression through progressive rock, a fan relives her weekend escapes to Wigan Casino and a new scene called northern soul, and a young man discovers a new hero as reggae becomes mainstream.
Unearthed pop treasures include a rare item of clothing worn by Marc Bolan and given to a young fan as a gift after he knocked on Marc's door. A former teacher and pupil of Peckham Manor School are reunited, more than forty years after they witnessed an unknown Bob Marley perform in their sports hall, and rare photos of the event are shown. Plus, some rare and special material from the biggest star of the 70s himself - David Bowie.
Perfect Pianists at the BBC
David Owen Norris takes us on a journey through 60 years of BBC archive to showcase some of the greatest names in the history of the piano. From the groundbreaking BBC studio recitals of Benno Moiseiwitsch, Solomon and Myra Hess in the 1950s, through the legendary concerts of Vladimir Horowitz and Arthur Rubinstein, to more recent performances, including Alfred Brendel, Mitsuko Uchida and Stephen Hough, David celebrates some of the greatest players in a pianistic tradition which goes back to Franz Liszt in the 19th century. Filmed at the Cobbe Collection, Hatchlands Park.Pete Seeger: The Power of Song N
Pete Seeger helped introduce America to its own musical heritage, devoting his life to using the power of song as a force for social change. With his deeply-held beliefs, Seeger went from the top of the pop charts to the top of the blacklist and was banned from American commercial television for more than 17 years. This first and only authorized biography of Seeger premiered on PBS in 2008.
Petula Clark: Blue Lady Y
A revealing look at the long and remarkable career of Petula Clark, best known for her classic 1960s hit Downtown. This documentary traces her many reinventions - from child star to 50s film star, through to her later starring roles in the West End and Broadway. Arguing that there's more to her than just another 60s beat girl, the film reveals a restlessly creative artist with a tenacious capacity for reinvention, including lost masterpieces such as her unpublished country album Blue Lady.
Petula Clark: The Story of French Song
"I want to make people cry even when they don't understand my words." - Edith Piaf
This unique film explores the story of the lyric-driven French chanson and looks at some of the greatest artists and examples of the form. Award-winning singer and musician Petula Clark, who shot to stardom in France in the late 1950s for her nuanced singing and lyrical exploration, is our guide.
We meet singers and artists who propelled chanson into the limelight, including Charles Aznavour (a protégé of Edith Piaf), Juliette Greco (whom Jean-Paul Sartre described as having 'a million poems in her voice'), Anna Karina (muse of Jean-Luc Godard and darling of the French Cinema's New Wave), actress and singer Jane Birkin, who had a global hit (along with Serge Gainsbourg) with the controversial Je t'aime (Moi non plus), and Marc Almond, who has received great acclaim with his recordings of Jacques Brel songs.
In exploring the famous chanson tradition and the prodigious singers who made the songs their own, we continue the story into contemporary French composition, looking at new lyrical forms exemplified by current artists such as Stromae, Zaz, Têtes Raides and Etienne Daho, who also give exclusive interviews.
The film shines a spotlight onto a musical form about which the British are largely unfamiliar, illuminating a history that is tender, funny, revealing and absorbing.
Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune N A
Bob Dylan used to poke fun at his fellow Greenwich folkie Phil Ochs for writing protest songs too specific to outlive their moment; but as Ken Bowser’s There but for Fortune explains, a strong connection to the times has its own value. Listening to those first few Ochs albums now is like reading an old newspaper, and getting dispatches from the front line of the emerging culture wars. Just as interesting are his later, rock-oriented records, which Bowser’s film describes well: as a noble attempt to come up with an entirely new sound that fused pop, classical, and traditional folk. Ochs packed a lot into a career cut short by suicide, and There but for Fortune picks up and follows his story’s many frayed threads.
Pinchas Zukerman: Here to Make Music
By the time Christopher Nupen made this documentary, Pinchas Zukerman was already considered one of the most exceptional new talents the world had seen in 25 years. Born with a gift from nature, polished by years of work and between the ages of 7 and 17, the best teaching that could possibly be found, he established himself as a leading violinist with an international career before he was 21.
A close friend of the movie director – who notably worked with him for the films The Trout, Mozart by Zukerman, the two Grand Duo recordings shot at the Royal College of Music with Itzhak Perlman – Pinchas Zukerman lets Christopher Nupen follow him in his personal routine, and in a very casual and friendly way shares his passion for music while a portrait of him is being drawn. This film not only discovers the immense sense of fun Zukerman is capable of, but is also richly documented with archive materials and investigations in the youthful years of the violinist.
Pink Floyd: Behind the Wall Y
Selling over 200 million records worldwide, Pink Floyd has produced some of the most celebrated music in Rock history. Roger Waters, Syd Barrett, David Gilmour, Richard Wright and Nick Mason were at the frontier of the progressive rock movement; wielding a unique and revolutionary sound that pushed the boundaries of musical expression, mixing the newest techniques and technology with classic guitar riffs, powerful solos and haunting vocals.
The Pink Floyd Story: Which One's Pink?
Over 40 years after Britain's foremost 'underground' band released their debut album Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Pink Floyd remain one of the biggest brand names and best-loved bands in the world.
This film features extended archive, some of it rarely or never seen before, alongside original interviews with four members of Pink Floyd - David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Nick Mason and the late Richard Wright - and traces the journey of a band that has only ever had five members, three of whom have led the band at different stages of its evolution.
Tracing the band's history from psychedelic 60s London to their reunion appearance at Live 8 in 2005, this is the story of a succession of musical and commercial peaks separated by a succession of struggles around the creative leadership of the band. Their story was given added poignancy by the 2006 death of their estranged frontman, Syd Barrett.
Pink Floyd spearheaded the concept album, never sold themselves as personalities and expanded rock way beyond its three minute pop song beginnings. Pink Floyd has made the four members very rich and has consumed their creative lives, but it hasn't always made them friends. When first meeting their American record company, one of the executives apocryphally asked, "Which one's Pink?". This film traces the reverberations of that question throughout the band's history.
Play It Loud: The Story of the Marshall Amp
One iconic black box has probably more than anything else come to define the sound of rock - the Marshall amplifier. It has been, quite literally, behind some of the greatest names in modern music.
It all started in 1962 when drum shop owner Jim Marshall discovered the distinctive growl that gave the electric guitar an exciting new voice. Music got a whole lot louder as young musicians like Clapton, Townshend and Hendrix adopted the revolutionary 'Marshall Sound'. The electric guitar now spoke for a new generation and the genre of rock was born.
Soon Marshall stacks and walls were an essential backdrop of rock 'n' roll. The excesses of rock machismo were gloriously lampooned in the 1984 movie This is Spinal Tap. In an extraordinary piece of reverse irony, it was this comic exposure that rescued the company from financial meltdown.
With contributions from rock legends like Pete Townshend, Lemmy and Slash, plus an interview with the 'Father of Loud' Jim Marshall, this documentary cruises down the rock ages with all the dials set to 'eleven'.
Playing Elizabeth's Tune: Catholic Composer and Protestant Queen Y
Charles Hazlewood explores the life and music of William Byrd, Catholic Composer for a Protestant Queen, and the troubled times that produced some of the most intimate and passionate sacred music ever written.
Prince: The Man Behind the Music Y
Do we actually know the person behind the music?This Documentary movie, explores how Prince – showman, artist, enigma – revolutionised the notion of black music within the Nineteen Eighties with worldwide hits resembling 1999, Kiss, Raspberry Beret and Alphabet Road. He turned a worldwide sensation with the discharge of the Oscar-profitable, semi-autobiographical film Purple Rain in 1984, embarking on an unimaginable journey of musical self-discovery that continued proper as much as his passing in April 2016, aged fifty seven. This documentary primarily focuses on Prince’s artistic and business output through the 1980’s, with anecdotes offered by a number of of the important thing collaborators of the period, some nice perception is offered into the inside workings of the 1980’s Purple Reign.
Produced by George Martin
Produced By George Martin is a feature length profile of Sir George Martin, Britain's most celebrated record producer. The film talks about his childhood, his war experience and his early days as a music student. In the early fifties he joined EMI/Parlophone and started working on orchestral music, comedy records and music for children. Then in 1962 he signed The Beatles. Together George Martin and The Beatles revolutionized pop music and recording techniques forging probably the greatest producer / artist collaboration there will ever be. The film is in an intimate portrait of George Martin at home and at work. It features numerous classic clips of the artists he has produced and new interviews with many of them including Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Michael Palin, Jeff Beck, Rolf Harris, Cilla Black, Millicent Martin and Bernard Cribbins.
Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer
Sundance award-winning documentary which tells the compelling story of how a group of young, feminist punk rockers known as Pussy Riot captured the world's attention by protesting against Putin's Russia. Through first-hand interviews with band members, their families and the defence team, and exclusive footage of the trial, it highlights the forces that transformed these women from playful political activists to modern-day icons.
In early 2012, members of the collective donned their colourful trademark balaclavas and participated in a 40-second 'punk prayer protest' on the altar of Moscow's cathedral. Once arrested, Nadia, Masha and Katia were accused of religious hatred in a trial that triggered protests and arrests in Russia and caused uproar around the world. The film reveals the personal motives and courage of the women behind the balaclavas and exposes the state of Russian justice through the court's final verdict.
Queen: Days of Our Lives
In 1971, four college students got together to form a rock band.
Since then, that certain band called Queen have released 26 albums and sold over 300 million records worldwide. The popularity of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon is stronger than ever 40 years on.
But it was no bed of roses. No pleasure cruise. Queen had their share of kicks in the face, but they came through and this is how they did it, set against the backdrop of brilliant music and stunning live performances from every corner of the globe.
In this film, for the first time, it is the band that tells their story. Featuring brand new interviews with the band and unseen archive footage (including their recently unearthed, first ever TV performance), it is a compelling story told with intelligence, wit, plenty of humor and painful honesty.
Queen: A Night at the Opera Y
Series looking at the creation of some classic rock albums. A Night At The Opera, the fourth Queen album released in late 1975, is a mix of hard rock, pop, opera, music hall camp and traditional folk, utilising multi layered guitars, crunching riffs, vocals harmonies, piano flourishes, a harp, a ukulele and no synthesisers.
Queen: The Story Behind Bohemian Rhapsody Y
This is a new documentary focusing entirely on the track, exploring the recording, the video, its success and its meaning. It features brand new interviews with Brian and Roger, and takes them back to Monmouth Studios in Wales where the track was recorded. It also features some rare excerpts from the 24-track tapes, although many of these feature interviews over the top, or are mixed with other versions.
Queens of Disco Y
Graham Norton profiles the leading ladies of the disco era, including Gloria Gaynor, Donna Summer, Grace Jones, Chaka Khan, Madonna and 'honorary disco queen' Sylvester. Includes contributions from the queens themselves, plus Antonio 'Huggy Bear' Fargas, choreographer Arlene Phillips, songwriters Ashford and Simpson, disco artists Verdine White from Earth, Wind and Fire, Bonnie Pointer of the Pointer Sisters and Nile Rodgers of Chic.
The Paris Double-Blind Violin Experiment Y
In September of 2012, a historic test took place in Paris, France, involving some of the worlds finest violins and violinists; a double blind comparison of old vs new violins in concert hall settings. This is a 28 minute version of a longer documentary about the proceedings.
Reginald D. Hunter's Songs of the South
In 1997 Reginald D Hunter swapped Georgia for London, in this three-part music documentary series Reg returns to his homeland to explore its rich musical heritage and sample the new South, a world he left behind with mixed feelings. Reg’s adventure is tempered by original and thought-provoking ruminations on the southern issues of race, pride and identity. A beautiful, original and hot evocation of the cradle of American music.
Requiem
From plainsong to Penderecki, this film for Remembrance Sunday shows how music has shaped the requiem over 500 years. John Bridcut explores the significance and history of one of the oldest musical forms and discusses its enduring appeal with some of its greatest exponents.
The great requiems of Mozart, Berlioz, Verdi and Fauré have been rooted in the Latin requiem mass of the Roman Catholic Church. But now, thanks to Brahms and Britten, the requiem has spread into other Christian traditions, producing some of the finest classical music ever written.
This feature-length documentary has specially-shot musical performances by the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales (conducted by Edward Gardner), with sopranos Elin Manahan Thomas and Annemarie Kremer, and bass-baritone Neal Davies. It also features the choir Tenebrae, conducted by Nigel Short. Contributors include the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, the conductors Sir Colin Davis and Jane Glover, and the bass-baritone Bryn Terfel.
Resonate: A Guitar Story Y
90-minute feature documentary featuring four of the world’s leading roots/blues/jazz/traditional guitarists. Included in the documentary is an extensive behind-the-scenes look at the manufacturing process at National Reso-Phonic Guitar, a process that originated in the 1920s, before the advent of guitar amplification, as well as intimate performances, guitar performance tips and oral history from Doug MacLeod, Mike Dowling, Catfish Keith, Bob Brozman and National Reso-Phonic Guitar President, Don Young.
Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story N
Respect Yourself is an authoritative film about one of the great stories in rock and roll. The story is about Stax Records whose hits include Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay, Soul Man, If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don't Wanna Be Right), Knock On Wood and Respect.
A white brother and sister establish a recording studio in a black Memphis neighbourhood in the 1960s and their open-door policy created an interracial house band - Booker T. and the MGs - who made hits for whomever came through those doors.
Those Stax stars included Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, The Dramatics, Albert King, Luther Ingram, Rufus Thomas and Jesse Jackson. The legacy has never been stronger and Stax songs have been recorded by scores of artists-- Aretha Franklin, Neil Young, Wu Tang Clan, Michael Bolton and almost every artist wanting to express their soul.
Respect Yourself includes never before seen footage, including home movies by the Stax artists, outtakes from WattStax, lost performances by Otis Redding, Booker T. and the MGs, Isaac Hayes and others.
Interviews include all the key players plus Jesse Jackson, Elvis Costello, Bono, Chuck D, Peter Townsend, Dan Aykroyd, Justin Timberlake.
Restrung Y
He had always considered making guitars a passion, not an occupation. In 2007, Randall Wyn Fullmer, an ordinary guy with a cat, decided to turn his life-long hobby into a full-out obsession.
To launch his adventure he did what anyone else would do — he quit his high paying dream job at Disney, leaving behind a successful 20 year career of creating major motion pictures such as "Chicken Little" and "The Emperor's New Groove". It seemed to make so much sense at the time! With Disney in the rear-view, he launched his self-proclaimed "Mad Plan", crafting small-batch bass guitars full time.
From a beginner's electrifying success to near break-down, this is a beautiful, honest and inspirational portrait of a passionate craftsperson who walked headlong into a foolhardy dream ... a true tale of a life unwound and restrung.
Revolution and Romance: Musical Masters of the 19th Century Y
Suzy Klein, writer and presenter of this three-episode series, is a trained musician and a ubiquitous presence in cultural programmes across a wide spectrum. This opening film, "We Can Be Heroes", was an engagingly populist piece about a complicated subject as she enthusiastically described a major cultural shift in the way musicians and composers engaged with patrons and audiences across Europe.
The catalyst was a combination of the industrial and political revolutions that began to transform European society and culture 200 years ago. In the course of this initial journey we visited Vienna, Paris, Leipzig, and Weimar, among others, hearing Klein's argument for the universality of music, across boundaries and languages. The Brno Philharmonic (pictured below) performed the orchestral extracts.
Composers and musicians, Klein argued, became not only the celebrities of the age, but even influential politically. New industrial techniques could mass-produce instruments, and as we were to see, the most celebrated musician and composer of the day Franz Lizst, whose immensely physical attack on his pianos actually damaged them, probably inspired substantial improvements in the capabilities of the instrument. His concerts caused the female members of his audience to swoon with delight (though one rather cynical interviewee wondered whether it was the tight corsetry so fashionable at the time), and even his cigar butts and used wine glasses were swooped upon by besotted ladies. It was Liszt who pioneered the notion of a whole evening devoted only to piano music; in 1840 he performed 1,000 concerts across Europe, and amassed a fortune.
Rhythm, Country and Blues Y
A documentary about the relationship between country music and the blues in the context of racial relationships in the south. It is a tale of two cities -- Memphis and Nashville. Best Documentary, Monitor AwardsRhythms of India
Musician and composer Soumik Datta presents a musical travelogue around India. From a spectacular religious festival in Kerala to folk musicians in the deserts of Rajasthan, intimate performances on the banks of the Ganges to encounters with Delhi's hip hop superstars, Soumik takes us on an entertaining journey celebrating India’s remarkable musical diversity. Meeting and performing with folk, classical and pop musicians, he travels from the biggest cities to the most remote communities, exploring how music helps us understand India’s past and its rapidly changing present.
Soumik begins his journey in Kolkata, the city of his birth and the place where he learned to play the traditional Indian classical instrument, the sarod. Travelling from north to south, Soumik discovers how the ancient music of palaces and temples, India’s classical music, reveals two very different cultures and traditions - and tells a story of the role conquest and empire played in shaping the nation.
Rick Wakeman on Vivaldi's Four Seasons
Rock keyboardist Rick Wakeman reappraises Antonio Vivaldi‘s “The Four Seasons” – one of the most popular piece of classical music of all time but often denounced as muzak for the middle classes. Wakeman thinks the critics are wrong though, and believes that the Four Seasons was so far ahead of its time that it was actually the first ever concept album, making Vivaldi the world’s first rock superstar. But why did a piece written by a sickly 18th-century priest disappear into obscurity for more than 200 years after his death? Rick travels to Venice, a city with a reputation in the 18th century for debauchery. There he uncovers a tale of an almost rock ‘n’ roll-like scandal contributing to Vivaldi’s downfall.
The Rise And Fall Of The Clash N
The only up-close and personal film about the juggernaut band The Clash and their meteoric trajectory through rock ‘n roll history, The Rise and Fall of The Clash features previously unseen footage of the band at work and at play, as well as interviews with the individual band members and with those who knew them well. This is not a film that pulls any punches, but neither does it overlook the life-changing effect that The Clash brought to so many. The Rise and Fall of The Clash paints the fascinating inside story of rivalries, treachery, betrayal and the internal band dynamics and managerial interference that ultimately led “the biggest band in the world” to self-destruct.
Roger Waters: The Wall
Roger Waters, co-founder and principal songwriter of Pink Floyd, fuses the epic and the personal in Roger Waters The Wall, a concert film that goes well beyond the stage. Based on the groundbreaking concept album, Roger Waters The Wall could be called a concept film: it's a state-of-the-art show that dazzles the senses, combined with an intensely personal road trip that deals with the loss Roger has felt throughout his life due to war. On stage and now on film, Waters has channeled his convictions into his art and his music. With Roger Waters The Wall, Waters – together with his fellow musicians and his creative collaborators – brings audiences an exultant ride of a rock and roll concert, and delivers an unforgettable, deeply emotional experience.
The Roundhouse: The People's Palace
On October 15th 1966, the Roundhouse in north London hosted its first gig - the launch of radical newspaper International Times. The audience included Paul McCartney and Marianne Faithfull, along with 3,000 others trying desperately to get in. The result was a glorious shambles. Since then, virtually every big name in rock and alternative theatre has played there. Today it's as vibrant as ever, continuing to attract big names and full houses and running an array of outreach and youth programmes enabling young people to express themselves in the arts. Arena tells the tragicomic rollercoaster story of a unique venue.illusions. And finally, it depicts his famous flights to his sudden death on the banks of the Seine. We hear his friend Stéphane Grappelli's loving words, Jean Sablon's unusual anecdotes, Boris Vian's regrets, Henri Salvador's fantasy.
Rock 'n' Roll America: Be My Baby Y
In the years bookended by Buddy Holly's death in early 1959 and the Beatles landing at JFK in spring 1964, rock 'n' roll calmed down, went uptown and got spun into teen pop in a number of America's biggest cities. Philadelphia produced 'teen idols' like Fabian who were beamed around the country by the daily TV show Bandstand. Young Jewish songwriters in New York's Brill Building drove girl groups on the east coast who gave a female voice to teenage romance. Rock 'n' roll even fuelled the Motown sound in Detroit and soundtracked the sunshiny west coast dream from guitar instrumental groups like the Ventures to LA's emerging Beach Boys.
In the early 60s, rock 'n' roll was birthing increasingly polished pop sounds across the States, but American teens seemed to have settled back into sensible young adulthood. Enter the long-haired boys from Liverpool, Newcastle and London.
Rock 'n' Roll America: Sweet Little Sixteen Y
In Cold War mid-1950s America, as the new suburbia was spreading fast in a country driven by racial segregation, rock 'n' roll took the country by surprise. Out of the Deep South came a rhythm-driven fusion of blues, boogie woogie and vocal harmony played by young black pioneers like Fats Domino and Little Richard that seduced young white teens and, pre-civil rights, got black and white kids reeling and rocking together.
This fledgling sound was nurtured by small independent labels and travelled up from the Mississippi corridor spawning new artists. In Memphis, Elvis began his career as a local singer with a country twang who rocked up a blues song and sounded so black he confused his white listeners. And in St Louis, black blues guitarist Chuck Berry took a country song and turned it into his first rock 'n' roll hit, Maybellene.
Movies had a big role to play thanks to 'social problem' films exploring the teenager as misfit and delinquent - The Wild One showed teens a rebellious image and a look, and Blackboard Jungle gave them a soundtrack, with the film's theme tune Rock Around the Clock becoming the first rock 'n' roll Number 1 in 1955.
Featuring Jerry Lee Lewis, Don Everly, Little Richard, Tom Jones, Wanda Jackson, Pat Boone, the Spaniels, PF Sloan, Joe Boyd, Jerry Phillips, Marshall Chess, JM Van Eaton (Jerry Lee Lewis's drummer), Charles Connor (Little Richard's drummer) and Dick Richards (Bill Haley's drummer).
Rock 'n' Roll America: Whole Lotta Shakin' Y
As rock 'n' roll took off with teens in 1955 it quickly increased record sales by 300 per cent in America. Big business and the burgeoning world of TV moved in. Elvis made a big-money move to major label RCA instigated by Colonel Tom Parker, an illegal immigrant from Holland who had made his name at country fairs with a set of dancing chickens. Elvis made his national TV debut with Heartbreak Hotel and followed it with a gyrating version of Hound Dog that shocked America. PTAs, church groups and local councils were outraged. Rock 'n' roll was banned by the mayor of Jersey City and removed from jukeboxes in Alabama. Now Ed Sullivan would only shoot Elvis from the waist up.
The conservative media needed a cleaned-up version and the young, married-with-kids Christian singer Pat Boone shot up the chart, rivalling Elvis for sales. Not that this stopped rock 'n' roll. Jerry Lee Lewis again scandalised the nation with his gyrating finger in Whole Lotta Shakin' and the Everlys shocked with Wake Up Little Susie, both 45s being banned in parts of America.
It took bespectacled geek Buddy Holly to calm things down as a suburban down-home boy who, with his school friends the Crickets, turned plain looks into chart success. But by the end of 1958 the music was in real trouble. Elvis was conscripted into the army, Jerry Lee was thrown out of Britain and into obscurity for marrying his 13-year-old cousin and Little Richard went into the church.
Rock 'n' Roll Guns For Hire: The Story of the Sidemen
Film shining a spotlight on the untold story of The Sidemen, the musicians behind some of the greatest artists of all time. The Sidemen are the forgotten 'guns for hire' that changed musical history. Featuring interviews with Mick Jagger, Billy Joel and Keith Richards, this film takes viewers from the 1960s to today, via global stars such as Prince, David Bowie, The Rolling Stones and Beyoncé.
The Rodgers and Hart Story: Thou Swell, Thou Witty Y
Before writing musicals with Oscar Hammerstein II, composer Richard Rodgers collaborated with lyricist Lorenz Hart for nearly 25 years on hit shows like Pal Joey, Babes in Arms and On Your Toes, producing classic songs such as My Funny Valentine and The Lady is a Tramp.
Jonathan Pryce narrates a profile which features rare archive footage and more recent performances by Broadway singers to reflect the way the songs were first heard in the 1920s and 1930s.
Before writing musicals with Oscar Hammerstein II, composer Richard Rodgers collaborated with lyricist Lorenz Hart for nearly 25 years on hit shows like Pal Joey, Babes in Arms and On Your Toes, producing classic songs such as My Funny Valentine and The Lady is a Tramp.
Jonathan Pryce narrates a profile which features rare archive footage and more recent performances by Broadway singers to reflect the way the songs were first heard in the 1920s and 1930s.
Roll Over Beethoven: The Chess Records Saga Y
Chicago's Chess Records was one of the greatest labels of the post-war era, ranking alongside other mighty independents like Atlantic, Stax and Sun. From 1950 till its demise at the end of the 60s, Chess released a myriad of electric blues, rock 'n' roll and soul classics that helped change the landscape of black and white popular music.
Chess was the label that gave the world such sonic adventurers as Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Howlin' Wolf and Etta James. In this documentary to mark the label's 60th anniversary, the likes of Jimmy Page, Mick Hucknall, Public Enemy's Chuck D, Paul Jones and Little Steven, as well as those attached to the label such as founder's son Marshall Chess, pay tribute to its extraordinary music and influence.
The film reveals how two Polish immigrants, Leonard and Phil Chess, forged friendships with black musicians in late 1940s Chicago, shrewdly building a speciality blues label into a huge independent worth millions by the end of the 1960s. Full of vivid period detail, it places the Chess story within a wider social and historical context - as well as being about some of the greatest music ever recorded, it is, inevitably, about race in America during these tumultuous times.
Rollermania: Britain's Biggest Ever Boy Band Y
In 1975, the Bay City Rollers were on the brink of global superstardom. The most successful chart act in the UK with a unique look and sound were about to become the biggest thing since the Beatles. Featuring interviews with Les McKeown and other members of the classic Bay City Roller line-up, and using previously unseen footage shot by members of the band and its entourage, this is the tale of five lads from Edinburgh who became the world's first international teen idols and turned the whole world tartan.
The Rolling Stones: Crossfire Hurricane
Crossfire Hurricane, directed by Brett Morgen, is released as part of the ongoing 50th anniversary celebrations of The Rolling Stones. This superb new film tells the story of the Stones' unparalleled journey from blues obsessed teenagers in the early sixties to their undisputed status as rock royalty. All of The Rolling Stones have been newly interviewed and their words form the narrative arc that links together archive footage of performances, news coverage and interviews, much of it previously unseen. Taking its title from a lyric in Jumpin' Jack Flash, Crossfire Hurricane gives the viewer an intimate insight into exactly what it's like to be part of The Rolling Stones as they overcome denunciation, drugs, dissensions and death to become the definitive survivors. Over a year in the making and produced with the full co-operation and involvement of The Rolling Stones, Crossfire Hurricane is and will remain the definitive story of the world's greatest rock 'n' roll band.
The Rolling Stones: Under Review 1967-1969 Y
A 90 minute documentary film reviewing the music and career of the band during, arguably, their most creative period. In the second half of the 1960s the sound of the Stones changed dramatically, while concurrently Jagger and Richards' songwriting hit an all time high. Includes rare musical performances, many never before available on DVD, and obscure footage, rare interviews and private photographs of and with the band.
Ronnie Scott: And All That Jazz
Documentary celebrating the founding of Ronnie Scott's Jazz club in 1959. Scott, a rising young saxophone player, opened a club where he and his friends could play the music they liked. Over the following years, the club had its ups and downs, reflecting the changes in attitudes to jazz and the social life of surrounding Soho.
Now Ronnie Scott's is known throughout the world as the hearbeat of British jazz. In this tribute, Omnibus talks to some of Ronnie's greatest admirers including Mel Brooks, the Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke MP and writer Alan Plater, and features rare archive footage of some of the club's historic performances by Zoot Sims, Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie and Ella Fitzgerald.
Roots, Reggae, Rebellion Y
In the 1970s, Jamaica came alive to the sounds of roots reggae. British rapper, poet and political commentator Akala tells the story of this golden period in the island's musical history, a time when a small group of musicians took songs of Rastafari, revolution and hope to the international stage.
Growing up in London, Akala's family immersed him in roots reggae from an early age so he has a very personal connection to the culture. It has informed his own songwriting, poetry and political worldview, but it's an upbringing that he now feels he's taken for granted.
In this documentary, Akala sets out to find out more about the music that has had such an impact on his life. He begins by exploring the music's origins in Jamaica where it offered hope to ordinary people at a time when poverty, political violence and turmoil were ravaging the island. Artists like Bob Marley, Big Youth and Burning Spear began to write about suffering and salvation through Rastafari in their songs. Akala unpicks how all of this evolved.
Rostropovich: The Genius of the Cello Y
No-one has done more for the cello than Mstislav Rostropovich, or Slava as he was widely known. As well as being arguably the greatest cellist of the twentieth century, he expanded and enriched the cello repertoire by the sheer force of his artistry and his personality and composers lined up to write works for him.
In this film by John Bridcut, friends, family and former pupils explore the unique talents of this great Russian artist, and listen to and watch him making music. Contributors include his widow Galina Vishnevskaya and their daughters Olga and Elena; the eminent conductors Seiji Ozawa and Gennadi Rozhdestvensky; and cellists who attended his famous classes in Moscow, including Natalya Gutman, Mischa Maisky, Moray Welsh, Elizabeth Wilson and Karine Georgian.
The film traces the development of Rostropovich's international career amid the political tensions of the final years of the Soviet Union.
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: The First 50 Years Y
An amazing documentary, which goes into detail of the first 50 years of the magnificent Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. It all started with their first performance on 15th September 1946 at the Gala Charity Concert at the Davis Theatre in Croydon. Sir Thomas Beecham's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is now regarded as "Britain's national orchestra" and is recognised worldwide. Featuring interviews from former and current members and a captivating story, all presented by Andrew Sachs.
Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage
A documentary about the Canadian rock band Rush relates the group's 40-year history and examines its continuing popularity. Using extensive archival footage, it follows the resilient rockers, lead guitarist Alex Lifeson and singer/bassist Geddy Lee, from when they started the band in the late 1960s through to the present. A diverse group of interviewees, such as musician Billy Corgan, actor Jack Black and "South Park" creator Matt Stone, shares what makes the band so special.
Sacred Music: Bach and the Lutheran Legacy Y
Simon Russell Beale explores the flowering of Western sacred music. With music performed by The Sixteen, conducted by Harry Christophers, Beale explores how Martin Luther, himself a composer, had a profound effect on the development of sacred music, re-defining the role of congregational singing and the use of the organ in services. Ultimately, these reforms would shape the world of JS Bach and inspire him to write some of the greatest sacred music.
Sacred Music: Faure and Poulenc
Simon Russell Beale travels through the urban and rural landscapes of France to explore the story behind Faure's Requiem, one of the best-loved pieces of sacred music ever written.
With Harry Christophers and The Sixteen, he goes on to discover how this work laid the foundations for a distinctively French style, a tradition continued by the compelling music of the outrageously fashionable Francis Poulenc, working in the heart of jazz-age Paris.
Sacred Music: The Gothic Revolution
Four-part documentary series in which actor and former chorister Simon Russell Beale explores the flowering of Western sacred music. He begins his journey at Notre Dame in Paris, where an enigmatic medieval music manuscript provides the key to the early development of polyphony - music of 'many voices'. Featuring music performed by members of the award-winning choir The Sixteen, conducted by Harry Christophers.
Sacred Music: Palestrina and the Popes
Sinon Russell Beale uncovers the links between the papal intrigues of Renaissance Rome and the music of the enigmatic Palestrina, whose work is considered by many to be unsurpassed in its spiritual perfection. The art and architecture of the Italian High Renaissance are accompanied by a performance from the award-winning choir The Sixteen, conducted by founder Harry Christophers.
Sacred Music: Searching Out the Sacred
Simon Russell Beale returns to the UK to explore how three very different musical approaches to Christian music have captured the spiritual imagination of the nation. The composers James MacMillan, Sir John Tavener and John Rutter give a special insight into the challenges and rewards of writing sacred music for the 21st century. Music is performed by Harry Christophers and The Sixteen.
Sacred Music: Tallis, Byrd and the Tudors
Beale takes us back to Tudor England, a country in turmoil as monarchs change the national religion and Roman Catholicism is driven underground. In telling the story of Thomas Tallis and William Byrd, two composers at the centre of England's own musical Renaissance, Beale visits parish churches, great cathedrals and a private home where Catholic music would have been performed in secret.
Saint John Coltrane: Y
On the 40th anniversary of his most famous record, A Love Supreme, Alan Yentob examines the legend of jazz saxophonist John Coltrane whose obsession with music is matched by an equally obsessive following all over the world.
Sammy Davis Jr.: The Kid in the Middle Y
Sammy Davis Jr was born to entertain. He was a human dynamo who made his debut at the age of five and by the time he was a teenager was wowing audiences across America. A gifted dancer, actor and singer, and a key member of the Rat Pack, Davis is best remembered for his unforgettable rendition of Mr Bojangles and his number one single The Candyman.
However, as a black man, making his way in the entertainment business saw him struggle to overcome racial prejudice, letter bombs and death threats. Davis fought back with his talent and in the 1960s marched alongside Dr Martin Luther King. Despite his reputation as a civil rights campaigner and one of the world's greatest entertainers, Davis remains an enigma. Those closest to him tell of a man never quite comfortable in his own skin, a workaholic and spendaholic who put his career before his family and who died leaving them millions of dollars in debt.
This documentary is Sammy Davis Jr's remarkable life story - his rise and his fall - told by those who knew him best. For the first time his family and friends including Paul Anka, Engelbert Humperdinck, Reverend Jesse Jackson and Ben Vereen share their memories - shedding new light on the legacy of one of the most gifted and loved performers in show business.
Schubert Piano Quintet D667: The Trout Y
On 30 August 1969, five young musicians came together to play Schubert's Trout Quintet in the new Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. Their names: Daniel Barenboim (piano), Itzhak Perlman (violin), Pinchas Zukerman (viola), Jacqueline du Pré (cello) and Zubin Mehta (double bass). The concert, and its preparations, were filmed and 'The Trout' became one of the best-loved and most successful classical music documentaries ever made. In this clip, watch the musicians prepare for the concert.
Score: A Film Music Documentary
Tracking the progress of modern-day film score development, this documentary illustrates how the first few notes on a piano keyboard end up in the most dramatic moments of a film's emotional climax. Turning the spotlight on the creative struggles that make up a major motion picture score, this documentary showcases the way the world's top soundsmiths solve musical challenges - from the creative to the technical.
The Search For Robert Johnson N A
The Search for Robert Johnson is a 1991 UK television documentary film about the legendary Delta blues musician Robert Johnson, hosted by John Hammond, and produced and directed by Chris Hunt. In it, Hammond travels through the American Deep South to pursue topics such as Johnson's birth date, place and parents, his early musical development, performances and travels, romances, his mythic "pact with the devil," his untimely murder in his late twenties, the discovery of possible offspring, and the uncertainty over where Johnson is buried. Throughout, Johnson's music is both foreground and background, from recordings of Johnson and as performed on camera by Hammond, David Honeyboy Edwards, and Johnny Shines.
The Secrets of the Violin Y
There is faking and haggling, lying and betrayal in THE SECRETS OF THE VIOLIN. It is all about a lot of money. Fans pay up to 20 million euros for one of such rare instruments of Antonio Stradivari (1644 – 1737) or Giuseppe Guarneri, also known as ‘del Gesu’ (1698 – 1744). Violins, violas and cellos are supposed to be the most beautiful instruments in the world – perfectly constructed, sought-after and very expensive. No wonder they attract the most glamorous personalities: kings, famous violinists, millionaires, Russian oligarchs, serious dealers in art but also many fraudsters and swindlers. Star violinist Daniel Hope knows this scene like no one else. Together with him, we enjoy an exciting endeavour, as we discover the world of the super-rich collectors and world-famous violinists as well as the secrets and the history of string-instruments.
Segovia at Los Olivos Y
A study of the maestro by Christoper Nupen made in the relaxed atmosphere of his new home in Andalusia last summer. Andres Segovia reflects on fifty years spent in winning acceptance for the guitar in the concert hall, and plays Granados: La mala de Goya; Bach: Sarabande and Gavotte; Torroba: Madronos and Fandangulllo; Llobet: La filla del Marxant; Tarrega: Recuerdos de la Alhambra; Castelnuovo-Tedesco: La Arulladoro Granados: Spanish dance in G
Sergei Rachmaninoff: The Harvest of Sorrow Y
Tony Palmer's documentary, shot in Russia, Switzerland and America, which profiles the great composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, features music conducted by Valery Gergiev and was made with the full participation of the composer's grandson, Alexander Rachmaninoff. Rachmaninoff's romantic, passionate music has been used in films such as Brief Encounter and Shine and includes some of the most famous melodies of the 20th century. The film features Rachmaninoff's letters and other reminiscences spoken by Sir John Gielgud.
Seven Ages of Rock
Episode One: The Birth of Rock
The rock revolution of the 1960's seen through the life and music of Jimi Hendrix. The first doomed icon of rock, Hendrix was the synthesis of everything that had gone before him and all that was to come. The Birth Of Rock also explores the influence of rhythm & blues on a generation of British musicians such as The Rolling Stones, Cream and The Who, and how the song-writing of Bob Dylan and studio developments of The Beatles transformed the possibilities and ambitions of rock.
Episode Two: White Light, White Heat
The story of how artistic and conceptual expression permeated rock. From the pop-art multi-media experiments of Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground to the sinister gentility of Peter Gabriel's Genesis, White Light, White Heat traces how rock became a vehicle for artistic ideas and theatrical performance. We follow Pink Floyd from their beginnings with the fated art school genius of Syd Barrett through to the global success of 'Dark Side of the Moon' to the ultimate rock theatre show, 'The Wall'. Along the way, the film explores the retro-futurism of Roxy Music and the protean world of David Bowie.
Episode Three: Blank Generation
A tale of two cities, London and New York and the birth of punk. Each city created a bastard child that marked the biggest and fundamental shift in popular music since Elvis walked into Sun Studios. Blank Generation unpicks the relationship between the bankrupt New York and the class and race-riven London of the mid-1970's and explores the music of The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Ramones, Television, Patti Smith, The Damned and Buzzcocks.
Episode Four: Never Say Die
The story of the longest surviving and certainly the loudest genre of rock, heavy metal. With no sign of disappearing, metal has been the most controversial and misunderstood of all rock genres. Emerging at the tail end of the hippy dream from the rust belt of industrial England, heavy metal would go on to secure the most loyal fan base of all. With Black Sabbath as the undisputed Godfathers, we follow their highs and lows, and, along the journey, meet Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Metallica.
Episode Five: We Are The Champions
We Are The Champions follows the development of some the biggest names in Rock, among them Queen, Bruce Springsteen, The Police and Dire Straits and shows how, through events such as Live Aid and the rise of MTV, rock achieved a global influence on culture and politics. The film concludes in the early 90s, as U2 effectively brought the era to a close by reinventing the big rock show so completely, that fifteen years later most major rock tours are still pale facsimiles.
Episode Six: Left of the Dial
The rise of alternative rock in the USA. From its early underground days where bands like Black Flag drew inspiration from the DIY ethos of punk, Left Of The Dial traces the history of the network of fans, clubs and fanzines that sustained the scene and launched the careers of bands like R.E.M., The Pixies and Hüsker Dü. The film takes a fresh look at the explosion of the Seattle scene, culminating in the success of Nirvana's 'Nevermind' and the tragic loss of Kurt Cobain, an artist whose triumph and tragedy continues to cast an inescapable shadow.
Episode Seven: What The World Is Waiting For
The story of British indie, beginning with The Smiths, the archetypal indie group. The film follows The Stone Roses as the heirs to the indie crown, Suede's dark sexuality and the media saturation of Brit-pop's Blur v Oasis. What The World Is Waiting For explores how indie ultimately lost its once cherished intimacy and integrity in front of 250,000 fans at Oasis's Knebworth spectacle in 1996 and how, by returning to its roots in clubs and bars (and even front rooms) with bands such as Franz Ferdinand, The Libertines and The Arctic Monkeys, indie became respectable again.
Seymour: An Introduction N
Seymour Bernstein started playing the piano as a little boy, and by the time he turned 15 he was teaching it to others. He enjoyed a long and illustrious career as a performer before he gave it up to devote himself to helping others develop their own gifts. While Ethan Hawke's gentle, meditative study is a warm and lucid portrait of Bernstein and his exceptional life and work, it's also a love letter to the study of music itself, and a film about the patience, concentration, and devotion that are fundamental to the practice of art. Seymour: An Introduction allows us to spend time with a generous human being who has found balance and harmony through his love of music.
Sgt. Pepper's Musical Revolution with Howard Goodall
50 years ago this week, on 1 June, 1967, an album was released that changed music history - The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. In this film, composer Howard Goodall explores just why this album is still seen as so innovative, so revolutionary and so influential. With the help of outtakes and studio conversations between the band, never heard before outside of Abbey Road, Howard gets under the bonnet of Sgt Pepper. He takes the music apart and reassembles it, to show us how it works - and makes surprising connections with the music of the last 1,000 years to do so.
Sgt Pepper came about as a result of a watershed in The Beatles' career. In August 1966, sick of the screaming mayhem of live shows, they'd taken what was then seen as the career-ending decision to stop touring altogether. Instead, beginning that December, they immersed themselves in Abbey Road with their creative partner, producer George Martin, for an unprecedented five months. What they produced didn't need to be recreated live on stage. The Beatles took full advantage of this freedom, turning the studio from a place where a band went to capture its live sound, as quickly as possible, into an audio laboratory, a creative launch pad. As Howard shows, they and George Martin and his team constructed the album sound by sound, layer by layer - a formula that became the norm for just about every rock act who followed.
In June 1967, after what amounted to a press blackout about what they'd been up to, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released. It was a sensation, immediately becoming the soundtrack to the Summer of Love - and one of the best-selling, most critically lauded albums of all time. It confirmed that a 'pop music' album could be an art form, not just a collection of three-minute singles. It's regularly been voted one of the most important and influential records ever released.
In this film, Howard Goodall shows that it is the sheer ambition of Sgt Pepper - in its conception, composition, arrangements and innovative recording techniques - that sets it apart.
Made with unprecedented access to The Beatles' pictorial archive, this is an in-depth exploration, in sound and vision, of one of the most important and far-reaching moments in recent music history.
Show Business: The Road to Broadway N
Go behind the scenes of four of the biggest shows of the 2003-04 theater season and find out what it takes to make it on Broadway -- from the auditions to opening night to the season-ending Tony Awards. This documentary highlights the ups and downs of various Broadway musicals, including the smash hit "Wicked." The stories behind these big productions are full of amazing struggles and successes that rival the splendor of the Broadway shows themselves
Sibelius: The Early Years/Maturity and Silence
This film follows an artistic journey that was not an easy one. Living through the great turning point in Western music, many of Sibelius' concerns were strikingly similar to those of Schoenberg and Stravinsky. Each followed a different path, however, and it is not surprising that their reputations should be caught up in the massive shifts of fashion that characterise the turmoil of twentieth century music.
Christopher Nupen offers an intimate look at what Sibelius himself felt that he was trying to achieve. To quote Nupen: "His music has lasted and I believe that it will continue to last, whatever fashion may do... his voice is inimitable, unmistakable and for me unforgettable. My first encounters with it opened up a whole new world that remains with me."
Simon Rattle: The Making of a Maestro Y
In the first television biography of the celebrated conductor Sir Simon Rattle for 15 years, this documentary provides unique insights into the working life of one of the world's most acclaimed musicians. To mark his 60th birthday, we follow Rattle through a demanding year of rehearsals and performances with five different orchestras, from the South Bank to Taiwan, as he talks candidly about his life and beliefs.
Through the lens of archive footage, we explore a remarkable journey spanning four decades, from his early days with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at the tender age of 22 to his current post as chief conductor and artistic director of the Berlin Philharmonic. We see how his dynamic leadership of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra made him a household name which is said to have inspired the rebuilding of a city, while he remains someone who still has his own doubts before every performance.
There are contributions from artists and friends who have worked closely with him, including violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, composer Thomas Ades, singers Roderick Williams and Mark Padmore, theatre director Peter Sellars and the managing director of the Barbican, Sir Nicholas Kenyon.
Sinatra: All Or Nothing At All
The definitive account of the life, music and career of Frank Sinatra, the greatest entertainer of the 20th century. Told in his own words through extensive archive interviews, along with commentary from those closest to him, the film weaves the music and images from Sinatra's life together with rarely seen footage of Sinatra's famous 1971 'Retirement Concert' in Los Angeles. The film's narrative is shaped by Sinatra's song choices for that concert, which director Alex Gibney interprets as the singer's personal guide through his own life. With the participation of the Frank Sinatra Estate, family members and archivists, 'Sinatra: All Or Nothing At All' is an intimate portrait of the singer, the actor and the man.
Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle N
This fascinating documentary captures Wagner's "Ring Cycle" from the union stagehands' point of view. These behind-the-scenes stars lead us through their own version of the spectacle, offering an insider's perspective on a strange and complex 19th-century operatic tradition. Follow the crew as they perform astonishing feats of stagecraft and trade offstage banter -- and then gather for a ritual poker game during their breaks.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe: The Godmother of Rock & Roll Y
Despite not being a household name today, Sister Rosetta Tharpe is one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. Her flamboyance, skill, and showmanship on the newly electrified guitar played a vital role in the conception of Rock & Roll as a genre of music. Featuring archival performances and using new interviews with fellow musicians, producers, friends, and colleagues, this film tells the story of a talented and determined woman that introduces spiritual passion of her gospel music background into Rock & Roll. Learn more about Sister Rosetta Tharpe, her life story, and lasting artistic legacy.
Sitka: A Piano Documentary Y
The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. has been presenting concerts alongside its paintings since 1941. Some of the world's leading pianists have played its Steinway Concert D 542016, but they started hearing something wrong with it: the soundboard. This half-hour documentary — named for the spruce wood that replaced it — tells the story of tearing the piano apart, and bringing it back to life. Along the way, we learn how a piano works, and witness the consummate art of restoration by PianoCraft. Rising international star Olivier Cavé puts it to the test, playing his specialty of Joseph Haydn, in this richly textured cinematic music documentary by independent filmmaker H. Paul Moon.
So You Want To Be a Conductor Y
In 1985, BBC-TV, in association with the American cable channel Arts & Entertainment Network (A&E), produced two documentaries about Tanglewood, the music venue in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts that serves as the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. They feature interviews with renowned composers and conductors Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Kurt Masur, Seiji Ozawa, Andre Previn, Gunther Schuller, Joseph Silverstein, and Leonard Slatkin. “So You Want To Be A Conductor?” and “A Place To Make Music” focus on the annual summer academy attended by emerging professional musicians, and chronicle Tanglewood’s origins and development. Written and directed by British composer and documentarian Herbert Chappell.
Songs From the Life of Leonard Cohen Y
"Songs From the Life of Leonard Cohen was also originally shown on TV--British TV, that is. More a biographical documentary than a concert, the 70-minute program combines live performances--some complete, many abridged--mainly from Cohen's 1988 show at Carnegie Hall, in support of his then-current album, I'm Your Man, with interviews with Cohen himself, his original musical patron Judy Collins and protege Jennifer Warnes. There's also fascinating film footage of Cohen as a young poet in the '60s, and, back again in 1988, revisiting old haunts such as New York's Chelsea Hotel, where he met Janis Joplin, and the Greek island of Hydra, where he wrote such classics as "Bird on a Wire" and met the love of his life and inspiration of his classic "So Long, Marianne."
Though he's had years of success in Europe, Cohen seems to be enjoying a rediscovery here, thanks to the all-star tribute album, I'm Your Fan, and Cohen's excellent new disc, The Future. So the belated domestic availability of this BBC production turns out to be a well-timed primer for new Cohen fans. And the program will certainly fascinate longtime devotees".
Sonita: Brides for Sale
This absorbing Storyville tells the inspirational story of a teenage girl pursuing her dreams against the odds. Sonita dreams of being a rap star performing for adoring fans, but as an 18-year-old illegal Afghan immigrant living in the poor suburbs of Tehran, opportunities are hard to come by.
Undeterred, Sonita pursues her dream, and with her friend Ahmad finds a recording company prepared to risk an unauthorised rap song that includes an illegal female solo, only to have their plans thwarted by Sonita's family. One of her brothers wants to get married, so Sonita must return to Afghanistan and be sold into marriage herself. The bride price she fetches will pay for her brother's wife.
Feisty, defiant and spirited Sonita continues the fight to live life her own way and overcome the many obstacles in her path, experiences which are powerfully and unflinchingly captured in her music.
Sonny Rollins: Beyond the Notes
2011 was the 82nd year in the extraordinary life of arguably the greatest saxophone player in the world, Sonny Rollins. Four decades ago, as a young filmmaker and aspiring musician, Dick Fontaine followed Rollins up onto the Williamsburg Bridge in Manhattan during one of his legendary escapes from the perils of 'the jazz life'.
Today, still resisting stereotype and compromise, and revered by a new generation of young musicians, Rollins continues his single-minded search for meaning in his music and his life. Dick Fontaine's film is built around the explosive energy of Sonny's 80th Birthday Concert, where legendary figures Roy Haynes, Jim Hall and Ornette Coleman join him to celebrate his journey so far, his music and its future for a new generation.
Soul Train: The Hippest Trip in America Y
Few television series were as innovative and influential as Soul Train. Set first in Chicago, and later in Los Angeles, the Soul Train dance party reached national significance and became one of the longest running syndicated shows in television history. In commemoration, Soul Train: The Hippest Trip In America is a 2010 documentary celebrating the show's many contributions to pop culture, music, dance and fashion. From 1970-2006 the series offered a window into the history of Black music, and its charismatic host, Don Cornelius was The Man responsible for a new era in Black expression. A trained journalist, Don created a media empire that provided an outlet for record labels and advertisers to reach a new generation of music fans. As the epitome of cool, many of his expressions entered the popular American lexicon: "A groove that will make you move real smooth," "Wishing you Peace, Love and Soul!" The documentary will feature performances and great moments from the show, as well as behind-the-scene stories and memories from the cast and crew. In addition, popular musicians, comics and actors of yesterday and today will comment on growing up with the show and will share their stories of how Soul Train affected their own lives
The Sound and the Fury: A Century of Music
The first episode looks at the shift in the language and sound of music from the beautiful melodies and harmonies of the giants of classical music such as Mozart, Haydn and Brahms into the fragmented, abstract, discordant sound of the most radical composers of the new century - Schoenberg, Webern, Stravinsky and beyond.
It examines how this new music, which can perplex and upset even the most contemporary of audiences, was a response to the huge upheaval in the world at the start of the 20th century - with its developments in technology, science, modern art and the tumult of the First World War.
Featuring specially-shot performances of some of the key works of the period, performed by the London Sinfonietta, members of the Aurora Orchestra and the American composer and pianist Timothy Andres, the story of this radical episode in music history is brought to life through the contributions of some of the biggest names in modern classical music, among them Steve Reich, John Adams, Michael Tilson Thomas, Pierre Boulez, George Benjamin and Alex Ross, music critic of the New Yorker.
From the atonal experiments of Vienna to the jazz-infused sounds coming from New York in the 1920s, the film travels the world to place this music in context and to uncover the incredible personalities and lives of the composers whose single-minded visions changed the course of classical music for ever.
Sound of Cinema: The Music That Made the Movies Y
In a series celebrating the art of the cinema soundtrack, Neil Brand explores the work of the great movie composers and demonstrates their techniques. Neil begins by looking at how the classic orchestral filmscore emerged and why it's still going strong today.
Neil traces how in the 1930s, European-born composers such as Max Steiner and Erich Wolfgang Korngold brought their Viennese training to play in stirring, romantic scores for Hollywood masterpieces like King Kong and The Adventures of Robin Hood. But it took a home-grown American talent, Bernard Herrmann, to bring a darker, more modern sound to some of cinema's finest films, with his scores for Citizen Kane, Psycho and Taxi Driver.
Among those Neil meets are leading film-makers and composers who discuss their work, including Martin Scorsese and Hans Zimmer, composer of blockbusters like Gladiator and Inception.
Sound of Song: The Recording Revolution
Songs are the soundtrack of our lives and it takes a kind of genius to create a true pop masterpiece. But, as Neil Brand argues, there is more to consider in the story of what makes a great song. Neil looks at every moment in the life cycle of a song - how they are written, performed, recorded and the changing ways we have listened to them. He reveals how it is the wonderful alchemy of all of these elements that makes songs so special to us.
To open the series, Neil investigates how songs were recorded for the first time, the listening revolution in the home that followed and the birth of a new style of singing that came with the arrival of the microphone - crooning. He also looks at the songwriting genius of Irving Berlin and the interpretative power of singers Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong and Bing Crosby.
Soundbreaking: Stories From The Cutting Edge Of Recorded Music
SOUNDBREAKING was the last project produced by legendary music producer Sir George Martin who passed away on March 8. The series combines unprecedented access to some of the most celebrated music artists, producers and innovators with rare archival studio footage and an extensive musical soundtrack, to deliver one of the most wide-ranging series on the art of music recording
South Bank Show Revisited: Stephen Sondheim Y
The documentary includes clips from West Side Story and the current Broadway production of A Little Night Music, starring Catherine Zeta Jones and Angela Lansbury.
Melvyn Bragg talk sto Sondheim about his childhood, his parents’ divorce and how Oscar Hammerstein became like a surrogate father to him. It was when Hammerstein took him to the opening of Carousel that he realised he wanted to write his own songs.
Archive footage from his earlier appearances on The South Bank Show is shown as this will be the third time that Sondheim has been featured. He first appeared in 1980 when working on Sweeney Todd, and in 1984 when he oversaw a master class with musical theatre students.
Speaking In Strings N A
Described as "possessed, "frightening," and "brilliant," Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg has either enraged or enraptured critics while earning herself the nickname "the bad girl of the violin." Academy Award® nominee Speaking In Strings explores the controversial and fascinating life of this funny, fearless, irreverent, and world-renowned musician. A deeply private look at the woman behind all the accolades and controversy.
Squeeze: Take Me I'm Yours Y
Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford, the men behind Squeeze have been called everything from 'the new Lennon and McCartney' to the 'Godfathers of Brit Pop'. Now thirty five years after their first record release, Squeeze Take Me I'm Yours reappraises the song-writing genius of Difford and Tilbrook, and shows why Squeeze hold a special place in British Popular music. 'Take Me I'm Yours' is the story of Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, two working class kids from South East London, who in 1974 formed 'Squeeze', with the dream of one day appearing on Top of The Pops. In 1978 they achieved that dream when the single Take Me I'm Yours, gave the band the first of a string of top twenty hits. The period 1978-1982 saw the group release a run of classic singles, timeless gems such as, Cool For Cats, Up the Junction, Labelled with Love, Tempted and Pulling Mussels from a Shell to name but a few. Although the line up of Squeeze would go through various changes of personal (another founder member Jools Holland would leave during 1980 and then later re-join the group in 85) it is Difford and Tilbrook's songs that have remained the constant throughout the lifetime of the band. Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook tell us the how the came to write and record many of their greatest songs. Although their relationship at times has often been tenuous at best, the mutual admiration for each other's talent has produced some of the best songs of the past forty years.
Steve Winwood: English Soul Y
Stephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician whose genres include rock, blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, pop rock, and jazz. Though primarily a vocalist and keyboardist, Winwood also plays bass guitar, drums, guitar, mandolin, violin, and other strings.
Winwood was a key member of The Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, Blind Faith and Go. He also had a successful solo career with hits including "While You See a Chance", "Valerie", "Back in the High Life Again" and two US Billboard Hot 100 number ones: "Higher Love" and "Roll with It". He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Traffic in 2004.
In 2005, Winwood was honoured as a BMI Icon at the annual BMI London Awards for his "enduring influence on generations of music makers." In 2008, Rolling Stone ranked Winwood #33 in its 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. Winwood has won two Grammy Awards. He was nominated twice for the Brit Award for Best British Male Artist: 1988 and 1989.
Still Ringing After All These Years Y
The sound of bells ringing is deeply rooted in British culture. Bells provide the grand soundtrack to our historic moments, call out for our celebrations and toll sadly in empathy with our grief. No important event seems complete without their colourful ringing.
But how did bells become so rooted in our culture and entwined with our national identity?
Richard Taylor travels the country to unravel the 1,500 years of history that have made bells such a key British sound. He meets the people who work with bells and those who understand their significance in our past and present. The story he tells is an extraordinary one.
Richard explores the magical qualities of bells and how they came to be synonymous with Christian worship. He discovers how they diversified to impact on every aspect of medieval life - and how some of the practices which originated then still hold sway in our modern lives. He gets to the bottom of what bell ringing is and how this 'sport' came to represent the sound of England, and he reveals how bells embodied the hopes of the nation in her darkest hours.
We have heard the sound of bells so many times that we can take them for granted - it is time to prick up our ears and listen to their incredible story.
The Story of Funk Y
In the 1970s, America was one nation under a groove as an irresistible new style of music took hold of the country - funk. The music burst out of the black community at a time of self-discovery, struggle and social change. Funk reflected all of that. It has produced some of the most famous, eccentric and best-loved acts in the world - James Brown, Sly & the Family Stone, George Clinton's Funkadelic and Parliament, Kool & the Gang and Earth, Wind & Fire.
The Story of Gospel Music: The Power in the Voice Y
The documentary guides the viewer down the fascinating path of Gospel music, using some wonderful historical footage combined with insightful commentary and analysis from not only noted academics and historians, but also from artist themselves, ranging from John P. Kee to Dr. Bobby Jones to Rev. Milton Biggham to Thomas Dorsey himself.
Written and guided by Gospel historian Horace Clarence Boyer, (author of 1995's How Sweet the Sound: The Golden Age of Gospel), the film chronicles the rise of Gospel, begining with the roots of the genre in the slave trade, moving to "discovery" by mainstream audiences, thanks to extensive touring of The Fisk Jubilee Singers and the popularity of "race records" in the early part of the 1900's.
From there, using deftly assembled interview segments and archival footage, the story unfolds with fascinating tales of The Clara Ward Singers, James Cleveland, The Caravans, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and of course, Mahalia Jackson. Plus several more.
One of the fascinating, albeit brief, segments brings in black and white footage of The Edwin Hawkins Singers performing "Oh Happy Day" on television in Britain. And then there's The Clark Sisters and Tramaine Hawkins, plus some rivetting audio and visuals of New York's ARC (Addiction Rehabilitation Center) Choir.
Exploring the influences on the genre, as well as its very reason for existence (the good news of Jesus Christ), as well as the significant impact that it has had on popular culture, this is must-viewing for anyone wishing to gain insight into the history of Gospel.
Ninety minutes later, the film ends with the boisterous sounds and energetic motions of New York's Danny Eason and the Abundant Life Youth Crusade Choir.
The Story of Music Hall
Michael Grade traces the raucous history of the music hall in a revelatory journey that takes him from venues such as Wilton's Music Hall in London to Glasgow's once-famous Britannia. Talking to enthusiasts and performers, Lord Grade discovers the origins of this uniquely British form of entertainment and revisits some of the great acts and impresarios, from Charles Morton and George Leybourne to Bessie Bellwood and Marie Lloyd.
Featuring Jo Brand and Alexei Sayle, with performances from Barry Cryer and many more, Grade hears about dudes, swells, mashers and serio-comics and hears how, in many a house, no turn was left unstoned.
Stravinsky's Journeys Y
Journey with us from the glamour of Paris to the sun-kissed hills of Hollywood and discover how Igor Stravinsky was able to transform his art throughout his extraordinary life. One the greatest icons of the 20th century, Stravinsky's legacy continues to inspire creatives today and we met London-based artists to find out how his work has influenced theirs. Featuring high-quality BBC archive footage of Stravinsky conducting the New Philharmonia Orchestra in 1965, this film is a chance to immerse yourself in Stravinsky’s incredible journey.
Sweet Home Alabama: The Southern Rock Saga Y
An epic 1970s tale about a group of rebel rock bands who rose up from one of the most unpopular, marginalised parts of the USA - the Deep South - and conquered the world.
The Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd and others that followed did this entirely on their own terms, blending the music of the region - blues, country, rock and roll - with a gung-ho attitude that set the South, and then America, on fire.
Their diverse styles, from juke joint boogie and country-rock honks to cosmic blues blasts, had a huge cultural and political impact, even helping to elect Jimmy Carter as president in 1976.
Their extraordinary adventure is brought to life through vivid period archive and contributions from the survivors of those crazy times, including Gregg Allman, REM's Mike Mills, Doug Gray, Al Kooper, Bonnie Bramlett, Charlie Daniels and other key figures in the movement.
Stuart Sutcliffe: The Lost Beatle Y
Stuart Sutcliffe: The Lost Beatle explores the mystique surrounding the Beatles' original bassist, who left the band to follow a different muse and died from a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 22. Told via interviews with an impressive array of Sutcliffe's family and friends--and through uniquely descriptive quotes from his letters--this hour-long documentary reveals a lot of intimate detail about Sutcliffe's transition from promising art-school student in Liverpool (and best friend of John Lennon) to reluctant musician (pressed into service by Lennon) to determined painter within the German avant-garde scene. A lot of Stu's story, as Beatles fans know, is set in Hamburg, during and after the days the group was a house band in the city's red-light district. Familiar tales of friction between Sutcliffe and Paul McCartney abound. But these are offset by a tremendous amount of fresh insight and detail offered by such important Beatles-saga figures as rocker Tony Sheridan, Klaus Voormann and--most crucially--Astrid Kirchherr, the photographer who influenced the Beatles' look and who became Sutcliffe's lover until his death.
The Symphony: Genesis and Genius Y
Simon Russell Beale presents a radical reappraisal of the place of the symphony in the modern world and explores the surprising way in which it has shaped our history and identity. The first episode begins amidst the turmoil of the French Revolution with the arrival in England of Joseph Haydn, dubbed the 'Father of the Symphony'. It continues with Mozart, the genius who wrote his first symphony at the age of eight, and Beethoven, the revolutionary who created the idea of the artist as hero and whose Eroica Symphony changed music for ever.
The Symphony of Sorrowful Songs Y
A timely showing of the landmark and multi-award winning film by Tony Palmer celebrating the Polish composer Gorecki, who died recently.
Palmer's film 'The Symphony of Sorrowful Songs' with soprano Dawn Upshaw and the London Sinfonietta conducted by David Zinman, captured imaginations with its overwhelming power and harrowingly simple lyrics.
Talking Heads: The South Bank Show Y
Like many UK arts documentaries, The South Bank Show seldom repeated its films so you had to watch them when they were broadcast or you might never see them at all. This Talking Heads feature from 1979 is one that I missed, a great portrait of the band shortly after the release of their third album, Fear Of Music. Shots of the group performing songs from the first three albums are intercut with interviews and montages of American TV. You also get to see a very young-looking David Byrne writing (or attempting to write) some lyrics. The most revelatory aspect of the film now is the discussion of the ordinariness of both the band and their lyrics. In 1979 being resolutely mundane had become a radical position.
Tchaikovsky's Women/Tchaikovsky's Fate Y
"When Manfred Grater of WDR Television in Cologne (the best head of any television music department that the world has seen so far) challenged us to try and make a film about the music of Tchaikovsky, without dressing up an actor and asking him to pretend to be the composer, he brought me back to the genius of a great artist with the passion of a convert. After working at it for more than a year, we realised that there was too much to be contained in a single television film and we ended up making two.
The first - this one - looks at the destinies of the women both in his private life and in his music. It looks also at the influence of each on the other. The second, " Fate", follows Tchaikovsky's relationship with Nadezhda von Meck and his increasing preoccupation with the idea of fate as a controlling influence in his own life and as a motivating force in the later symphonies. These anxieties, allied to an early foreboding that he would eventually, "...smash himself into pieces", were to bring his end, at the age of 53, more tragically than even Tchaikovsky could have foreseen.
Thelonious Monk: Straight No Chaser Y
This exemplary documentary about seminal jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk reaps the benefits of multiple blessings, including the skilled editorial hand of director Charlotte Zwerin and the patronage of executive producer (and erstwhile jazz pianist) Clint Eastwood. Most vital is the use of extensive 1968 footage, shot by Michael and Christian Blackwood, documenting the sometimes moody, sometimes puckish Monk in the studio, on tour, and off stage, which on its own would make this essential jazz viewing.
There's Only One Elvis Y
A celebration of the rock 'n' roll phenomenon who died 25 years ago. Tracing Elvis Presley's career from the day he first gyrated out of Memphis in 1956, to his untimely death in 1977, this film paints a portrait of a contradictory personality who topped the charts no less than 18 times, before a voracious appetite for burgers helped send the King of rock 'n' roll to an early grave, aged just 42. With contributions from Bob Geldof , Cliff Richard and Cilia Black
They Came To Play N
Director Alex Rotaru profiles the devoted musicians entered in the 2007 International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs in Fort Worth, Texas, where any nonprofessional pianist over the age of 35 can fulfill their dreams by shining onstage. Some are classically trained, others are self-taught, but all have "real jobs" -- ranging from dentist to physicist to pro tennis player -- and are avid artists with a lifelong passion for music.
The Three Pickers Y
For one historic evening, American music legends Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson and Ricky Skaggs joined forces as The Three Pickers, to film a concert for Public Television. The music they made before a North Carolina audience is as relaxed as a front porch picking session, informed by the skill and good humor of three master musicians who contributed so much to the creation and evolution of bluegrass music. With special guest Alison Krauss. Includes bonus documentary.
Tina Turner: The Girl From Nutbush Y
If you were writing a definitive history of popular music, Tina Turner would be on the front cover. This music documentary traces the amazing life of Rock'n'Roll's first lady, from her humble beginnings in the Tennessee cotton fields to the world's biggest concert arenas. This is not just a "Rockumentary" though, it is an inspirational, emotional and honest film laced with some great music, and contributions from the family and friends of Anna Mae Bullock... alias Tina Turner...
An extended version of the profile of Tina Turner, screened on BBC1, February, 1992. The programme includes archive footage of Tina's early days on stage plus rare TV clips featuring such milestones as 'River Deep, Mountain High', 'Fool In Love' and 'Let's Stay Together'. Guests include Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Elton John, Bryan Adams, Mark Knopfler, Cher and Keith Richards.
To Bop or Not to Be: A Jazz Life Y
Shot in and around the Bay Area in 1965 and originally broadcast on NET (the precursor to PBS), Love You Madly portrays Ellington in his autumn years, as he prepares for his benchmark Concert of Sacred Music and plays with his band at the Monterey Jazz Festival, at San Francisco's Basin Street West and recording sessions. We see him playing piano with and conducting his band through selections from his hallowed songbook--which ultimately was the purest expression of his mtier.
Duke also ruminates on the composing process that produced “Sophisticated Lady" and “Take the A Train" as well as his extended piece “Black, Brown and Beige." Peers like Earl “Fatha" Hines and Dizzy Gillespie each attest to Ellington's greatness in the film. The interviews are conducted by Ralph J. Gleason, a world renowned jazz critic and lifelong devotee of Ellington, who would go on to co-found Rolling Stone magazine, and champion the likes of the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane.In 1990, a documentary about trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie was released that featured not a word of voice-over narration. Instead, To Bop or Not to Be: A Jazz Life, by Norwegian director Jan Horne, simply featured musician interviews in English, concert performances and archival footage. My guess is this approach was favored so the filmmakers wouldn't have to translate or provide subtitles for non-Norwegian viewers. The result is a surprising film without guardrails for Norwegian television that showcased the exceptionalism of Gillespie—his musicianship, his humor and his modernist invention called bebop.
Tom Dowd and the Language of Music N A
Historical footage, photographs and musical tracks showcase how producer and recording engineer Tom Dowd altered the course of contemporary music. The film features appearances by Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Aretha Franklin and other legends.
Tom Jones's 1950;s: The Decade That Made Me Y
In this personal journey through his formative years in south Wales in the 1950s, Tom Jones takes us on a trip through the decade of his childhood and adolescence, the years that shaped his ambition, his talent and his tastes and that witnessed an explosion of popular culture and the sweeping aside of the old order.
Television, the movies, the radio and - most importantly - the music of the first rock 'n' roll years give us a unique insight into both the country and the decade that would shape Tom's talent and, in the 60s, make him a star. Tom Jones's 1950s in Pontypridd are told first hand by the man himself as he travels back to his birthplace.
Tom's take on the decade is amplified and explored by a Greek chorus of contributors who share their account of their 50s. Joan Bakewell, Katherine Whitehorn and Michele Hanson share their experiences both as women and from differing class backgrounds, historians Alwyn Turner, Martin Johnes, Francis Beckett and Tony Russell draw the social and political landscape of a rapidly changing decade, while musicians Bruce Welch, Clem Cattini, Marty Wilde and Tom McGuinness talk of how that decade began their musical journeys and changed their lives forever, all illustrated by a rich seam of archive that captures a decade we mostly saw in black and white. The result is a rich mix of humour, confession and reflection - all brought to life by Tom Jones himself, our guide through the lives and times of a young generation struggling to find its own voice.
Tone of Ole Bull Y
Norwegian violinists Ragnhild Hemsing and Eldbjørg Hemsing search for the sound of Ole Bull, Norway's most famous violinist. As he died 200 years ago, no one knows what his playing sounded like. The sisters search for that sound.
Tones, Drones, and Arpeggios: The Magic of Minimalism
In this episode Charles Hazlewood tracks down the pioneers of minimalism, which began on America's west coast in the 1950s. Describing them as 'prophets without honour', Charles explores La Monte Young's groundbreaking experiments with musical form that included notes held for exceptionally long periods of time, and drones inspired by Eastern classical music and Hindustani singer Pandit Pran Nath.
He drives out into the Californian countryside to the ranch of Terry Riley and discusses the musician's revolutionary experiments with tape recording looping and phasing, along with early synthesizer sound. The episode includes excerpts from key early minimalist pieces, including Riley's now famous In C, performed by Charles Hazlewood's All Stars Collective and detailed workshopping by Hazlewood where pieces are deconstructed musically.
The key attributes of minimalism, its reliance on repetition, its mesmerizing transcendent qualities and innovative use of technology are also discussed with broadcaster and writer Tom Service; Gillian Moore, Director of Music at the Southbank Centre; composers Morton Subotnick, Max Richter and Bryce Dessner, and musicians Jarvis Cocker and Adrian Utley.
Top of the Pops: The True Story Y
Jamie Theakston presents the history of Britain's best-loved music show, spanning four decades of great music and including archive footage of classic performances and backstage antics. As well as interviews with former presenters, such as Jimmy Savile and John Peel, there are also contributions from artists who have appeared on the show, including Pan's People, Robin Gibb, Noddy Holder, Blondie, Holly Johnson, Suggs, Noel Gallagher, Kylie Minogue and Robbie Williams.
Troubadours: The Rise of the Singer-Songwriter A
Morgan Neville's full-length documentary is James Taylor and Carole King's first-hand account of the genesis and blossoming of the 1970s singer-songwriter culture in LA, focusing on the backgrounds and emerging collaboration between Taylor, King and the Troubadour, the famed West Hollywood club that nurtured a community of gifted young artists and singer-songwriters.
Taylor and King first performed together at the Troubadour in November 1970, and the film explores their coming together and the growth of a new, personal voice in songwriting pioneered by a small group of fledgling artists around the club. Contributors include Taylor, King, David Crosby, Roger McGuinn, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Kris Kristofferson, JD Souther, Peter Asher, Cheech & Chong, Steve Martin and Elton John.
The Truth About Christmas Carols
There could be nothing more sweet and sentimental than the sound of traditional carols performed by a velvet-voiced choir at Christmas. Or so you would think. Composer Howard Goodall uncovers the surprising and often secret history of the Christmas carol.
Far from being accepted as part of the celebrations of Jesus's birth, over the centuries carols have been banned by both church and state. The carols we sing seem set in stone and yet they can have up to 400 regional variations. Individual carols have caused controversy - While Shepherds Watched had to be cleaned up by the Victorians for being too crude and there's a suspicion that O Come All Ye Faithful was a call to 18th century Jacobites to rebel.
The documentary celebrates the enduring power of the carol with a variety of performances from folk singer Bella Hardy to the choir of Truro Cathedral.
Tubular Bells: The Mike Oldfield Story Y
n 1973, an album was released that against all odds and expectations went to the top of the UK charts. The fact the album launched a record label that became one of the most recognisable brand names in the world (Virgin), formed the soundtrack to one of the biggest movies of the decade (The Exorcist), became the biggest selling instrumental album of all time, would eventually go on to sell over 16 million copies and was performed almost single-handedly by a 19-year-old makes the story all the more incredible. That album was Tubular Bells, and the young and painfully shy musician was Mike Oldfield.
This documentary features contributions from Sir Richard Branson, Danny Boyle, Mike's family and the original engineers of the Tubular Bells album among others. The spine of the film is an extended interview with Mike himself, where he takes us through the events that led to him writing Tubular Bells - growing up with a mother with severe mental health problems; the refuge he sought in music as a child, with talent that led to him playing in folk clubs aged 12 and signing with his sister's folk group at only 15; his frightening experience of taking LSD at 16; and finally arriving at the Manor Recording Studios as a young session musician where he gave a demo tape to a recording engineer who passed it along to young entrepreneur Richard Branson.
After the album's huge success, Mike retreated to a Hereford hilltop, shunned public life and became a recluse until he took part in a controversial therapy which changed his life.
In 2012 Mike captured the public's imagination once again when he was asked to perform at the London Olympic Opening Ceremony, where Tubular Bells was the soundtrack to 20 minutes of the one-hour ceremony.
Filmed on location at his home recording studio in Nassau, Mike also plays the multiple instruments of Tubular Bells and shows how the groundbreaking piece of music was put together.
Tunes for Tyrants
In the first episode, Suzy Klein takes us back to the volatile years following the Russian Revolution and WW1. Very different times call for very different culture, and music became a fertile laboratory for new ideas, experiment and subversion. This was a time when people believed that music wasn’t just a mirror to society - it was a tool to change it.
Suzy begins in the gender-bending cabaret clubs of 1920s Berlin, where the heady mix of songs, sex and satire smashed the boundaries of taste and decency. But she discovers how, for all its decadent fun, the cabarets also gave voice to Germany’s anger at military defeat and offered daringly progressive visions of the future.
As she tells the stories of some of cabaret’s biggest stars - such as the pioneering singer and cross-dressing lesbian Claire Waldoff, who was said to have had an affair with Marlene Dietrich - Suzy herself gets stuck in and joins in singing The Lavender Song, written in 1920, and arguably the very first gay anthem.
In Moscow, Suzy uncovers how music was caught up in revolutionary fervour. Avant-garde composers wanted to create a completely new soundtrack to the Soviet utopia, and the results were extraordinary and sometimes very funny: from a proposal to destroy all Russia’s pianos (because they were bourgeois) to Arseny Avraamov’s Symphony Of Sirens (comprised of the noises of the city) and early experiments with electronic instruments.
Music, we find out, was a weapon in the increasingly radical political debate across Europe. Suzy reveals the dark politics behind the much-loved song Mack The Knife (from Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s Threepenny Opera) and shows how the song is a lot more sinister than the big band swing versions we are familiar with today.
She probes how satirical composers tried to puncture the rapid rise of the Nazis, by parodying their anti-Semitism with comic songs like It’s All The Fault Of The Jews, which makes for uncomfortable listening today. And she tells the story of the Horst Wessel Song, still banned in Germany today, which helped bring Hitler to power.
In this golden age for music, jazz, popular songs, experimental symphonies and the classics all provoke intriguing questions. What kind of culture do we want? Is music for the elite or for the people? Was this a new age of liberal freedom to be relished? Or were we hurtling towards the apocalypse?
With music’s incredible power to bypass our brains and get straight to our hearts, Suzy argues, it can at once invoke the very best in us, and inflame the very worst. Music lovers beware!
U2: From the Sky Down N
Davis Guggenheim's documentary reflects on the making of U2's groundbreaking 1991 album "Achtung Baby," featuring interviews with the band and their collaborators as well as concert and studio footage.
U2: Rattle and Hum N
Veteran music video director Phil Joanou joins U2 on the band's U.S. Joshua Tree tour, filming the rock icons as they jam with blues master B.B. King, sing with a gospel choir and record at Sun Records.
The Unanswered Question: Leonard Bernstein at Harvard Y
Always absorbing and frequently brilliant, Leonard Bernstein's The Unanswered Question is a very lucid and convincing discussion of music's history and forms, with particular emphasis on modern music. It addresses the average intelligent listener who is not musically trained but wants to know what makes music work--what is meant, for example, by "tonal" and "atonal." It requires some concentration, but Bernstein, a superb teacher, keeps technical jargon to a minimum, illustrates what he means with musical examples and graphics, and repeats key points.
Delivered in 1973, the talks were transcribed for a book, but in it Bernstein insists "The pages that follow were written not to be read, but listened to," really an endorsement of the video edition. The talks are, in fact, performances. Television was always kind to Bernstein; he had magnetism and knew how to use it. To illustrate various points in his analyses, he plays the piano frequently, sings occasionally, and conducts significant works of key composers: Mozart, Beethoven, Berlioz, Wagner, Ravel, Debussy, Ives, Mahler, and Stravinsky.
Bernstein traces the development of music from its origins to the 20th-century struggle between tonality (championed notably by Stravinsky) and atonalism (represented mainly by Schoenberg). The last two talks, devoted to these composers, are particularly enlightening, but all six are outstanding. He argues persuasively that humans are born with an ability to grasp musical forms, and that rules of musical syntax are rooted in nature--in mathematically measurable relations between tones and overtones.
These talks are a key document. They coincide chronologically, as cause and/or symptom, with the movement of America's leading composers back from Schoenbergian forms toward a tonal orientation. Bernstein predicts and promotes this movement, which is still in progress. He is clearly an advocate of tonality, but he discusses atonal music with sympathy and understanding.
The Union: Leon Russell & Elton John Y
This candid portrait of two remarkable talents documents an extraordinary journey of the heart, as John and Russell create many of "The Union"'s signature songs. Following an initial feeling-out phase, the ice is broken when they watch a video of Mahalia Jackson singing "Didn't It Rain" at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. The two head to their respective pianos and start jamming, eventually coming up with the foundation for the song "Monkey Suit." They work on nine songs in three days–-and John's dream is well on its way to becoming reality.
With celebrated producer T Bone Burnett on board to produce, Crowe observes as the two musicians develop, rehearse and record such heralded tracks as "If It Wasn't For Bad" (which received a 2011 Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals), "Gone to Shiloh," "Monkey Suit" and "In the Hands of Angels." Taupin, icons Neil Young and Brian Wilson, legendary organist Booker T. Jones, steel guitarist Robert Randolph and a ten-piece gospel choir are seen contributing to the album. Appearances by Stevie Nicks and Don Was also color the documentary, a chronicle not just of music-making, but of the reinvigoration of Russell's career.
At the start of recording, Russell undergoes a five-hour emergency operation to remove brain fluid, but he eventually returns to the studio and completes the ambitious 14-song album. John makes sure that it is a true collaborative effort, sharing vocals as well as writing and performing credits with Russell. As the album is mixed, the pair makes plans to promote it via TV, radio and print interviews, as well as in a special live performance at the Beacon Theatre in New York. On Oct. 19, 2010, in conjunction with the release of "The Union"--which went to #1on Amazon, entered the Billboard 200 at #3 and was named #3 on Rolling Stone’s Greatest 30 Albums of 2010--Russell and John take the stage at the Beacon for a memorable joint concert.
Valery Gergiev: Portrait of a Maestro Y
Documentary which follows legendary conductor Valery Gergiev's whirlwind schedule as he whips up great performances with the London Symphony Orchestra, at the Met and with his Russian forces at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg.
Vaudeville Y
A priceless document of archival footage and precious oral history, Vaudeville offers a comprehensive survey of American family entertainment in the decades before radio, movies, and television. From its origins in British comedy, Yiddish theater, and burlesque, vaudeville is explored in all of its immigrant diversity. Astonishing film clips are a constant marvel, featuring such vintage but still-entertaining crowd-pleasers as Fannie Brice, Bert Lahr, Chaz Chase ("Eater of Strange Things"), Little Tich and his oversized shoes, and Hadji Ali, the greatest of all "regurgitators." Anecdotes and history, with a focus on the inherent racism of minstrel shows, are shared by such luminaries as Rose Marie, Billy Barty, Gerald Marks, Bobby Short, the Nicholas Brothers, and many others (several interviewed shortly before they died). Their stories, along with Studs Terkel's fond reminiscence and Ben Vereen's informative narration, preserve a form of entertainment that has vanished forever, its spirit lingering in our habitual channel-surfing of television.
Vladimir Ashkenazy on the Path of Jean Sibelius A
This spring Vladimir Ashkenazy travelled to Finland to follow in the footsteps of Jean Sibelius.
Join the conductor as he journeys to the heart of Sibelius’ music and explores the country that inspired the world–renowned composer.
Vladimir Horowitz: The Last Romantic
This documentary, filmed in Vladimir Horowitz's townhouse on the Upper East Side of New York, gives an insight to the legendary pianist's universe.
In the intimate atmosphere of his own home, Horowitz interprets pieces from the composers who counted in his career, and discusses the works, their interpretation, and his passion for music.
After a few years rest and some at-home unofficial rehabilitation Horowitz was ready to begin performing again. Rejuvinated and very much in control, Horowitz plays Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Schubert, Schumann, Liszt, Rachmaninov... And provides this documentary with exquisite stories regarding his favorite composers!
This film was awarded with two Emmy Awards in the category "Outstanding Classical Program in the Performing Arts" and in the category "Outstanding Individual Achievement – Classical Music/Dance Programming Directing." It was also nominated for Emmy Award in the category: "Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety or Music Series or a Special."
Vox Pop: How Dartford Powered the British Beat Boom Y
Recounts the story of how in the 1950's the owner of a small music company in Dartford - which specialised in importing accordions -spotted that there was a rising interest in new-fangled electric guitars. But there was a post-war trade embargo on American amplifiers such as Fender and Gibson, so he made great sounding British amps to fill the gap in the market. New up-coming band The Beatles loved them and Vox became part of their sound and their stylish on-stage image.
The Rolling Stones, who also came from Dartford, loved their innovative guitars as well as the amps. Suddenly everyone wanted Vox equipment and the company hit the big time. The programme tells the compelling untold story of how Vox drew the attention of the pop world to Dartford; made a fortune and then lost it all by 1967.
Wagner's Dream A
Susan Froemke’s impressively well-organized new documentary, “Wagner’s Dream,” argues that stagecraft unimaginable in the 19th century has made what seemed impossible possible. The film’s few snatches of the final productions first staged during the Met’s 2010-11 season have a majestic flow that matches a score roiling with fire and thunder. The film focuses primarily on the creation of a 90,000-pound set nicknamed “the machine.” In its stately design, the production at times suggests the stage equivalent of Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
The War Symphonies: Shostakovich Against Stalin Y A
The power of art to defy and even transcend politics and oppression is the theme of Shostakovich Against Stalin: The War Symphonies, director Larry Weinstein's documentary about Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich and the six symphonies he composed while his homeland suffered under the brutal dictatorship of Josef Stalin. Born in 1906, Shostakovich gained considerable prominence after the unveiling of his first symphony in 1926, by which time Lenin was dead, the USSR had been founded, and Stalin had assumed power as General Secretary of the Communist Party. Thereafter, the composer was subject to the whims of the dictator. An early opera, "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk" (a depiction of "the justified murder of a tryant"), led to his being banned; his Symphony No. 7, the "Leningrad Symphony," composed as Hitler invaded Russia in 1941, was virtually appropriated by Stalin as great symbol of resistance (which it was--although Shostakovich intended it as a rebuke to all forms of socialism, including Stalin's), but the tables were turned again with Symphony No. 8, which was regarded as "counter-revolutionary." Through it all, the composer's work (generous extracts of which can be heard among the DVD bonus features) revealed how he really felt about life under Stalin, whose regime was responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of Russians.
Welcome To The Club: The Women Of Rockabilly Y
Sure, Elvis was the King, but who was the Queen? The Women Of Rockabilly – Welcome To The Club is a documentary search for the "Female Elvis", as we meet the women of rockabilly music and explore the "what-if’s?" and "what-now’s" of their careers. Brenda Lee, Wanda Jackson, Janis Martin and a sassy cast of lesser but no less colorful pretenders to the throne describe their trailblazing days when they were the embodiment of exuberance, sexuality and defiance in a world that wasn’t quite ready for them. A rockin’ feature documentary by Beth Harrington.
What Happened, Miss Simone? N
Classically trained pianist, dive-bar chanteuse, black power icon and legendary recording artist, Nina Simone lived a life of brutal honesty, musical genius and tortured melancholy. In this epic documentary, director Liz Garbus interweaves never-before-heard recordings and rare archival footage together with Nina's most memorable songs, to create an unforgettable portrait of one of the least understood, yet most beloved, artists of our time.
What is Klezmer Y
Michael Grade narrates the story of klezmer, the 'original party music'. From its origins in Jewish folk music performed at weddings and Bar Mitzvahs, klezmer has now gone global, played from Amsterdam to Australia to audiences who find its spirit and energy hard to resist. Timeshift explores the sounds, influences and shifting fortunes of this infectious music and shows that beneath its joyful strains lies an emotional appeal that you don't need to be Jewish to respond to.
What Makes a Great Tenor?
The great tenor Rolando Villazon takes us inside the world of the sexiest and most risky of all operatic voices. It's a journey which includes some of the great names of the past, such as Caruso and Lanza, and some of the brightest stars performing today, like Domingo, Alagna and Florez. We hear how they tackle their most famous roles and what the risks and rewards are.
What the Universe Tells Me: Unraveling the Secrets of Mahler's Third Symphony Y N
a documentary that explores how philosophy, mythology and music combine in Mahler's Third Symphony to create an all-encompassing panoramic experience. From the volcanoes of the South Pacific to the Alpine peaks and meadows where Mahler composed, in WHAT THE UNIVERSE TELLS ME dramatic images from the natural world give shape to the Symphony's evolutionary saga. Performances combine with illustrative artwork, computer animation, historical film clips and the insights of world-renowned historians, philosophers and biographers. Thinkers such as Howard Gardner, Stan Brakhage and Catherine Keller join Mahler experts Henry Louis de La Grange, Donald Mitchell, Peter Franklin and Morten Solvik to introduce this masterpiece to new audiences and to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its premiere.
When Pop Went Epic: The Crazy World of the Concept Album Y
It's possibly one of the most denigrated inventions in the history of music; the greatest signifier of rock star pomposity. Indeed, in some quarters, the very mention of it is likely to provoke sniggering derision, conjuring up images of quadruple-gatefold album sleeves, songs that go on for weeks and straggly-haired rockers prattling on about mystical lands, unicorns, goblins and dystopian futures. But - back when people actually took the time to sit down and listen to records from beginning to end - for many, nothing delivered a more rewarding experience than the concept album. And for some, it's still a format that provides rock music with its high watermark moments.
This documentary explores the history of a musical format - usually based around a structured narrative, though sometimes tied together by a loose theme - that developed to become the equivalent of rock 'n' roll theatre, often on an operatic scale. The legendary cape-wearing keyboardmeister Rick Wakeman - himself the creator of several of history's most, ahem, 'elaborate' long players - presents this insightful and playful exploration of the greatest examples of the art form.
From social commentary to collected songs of loneliness, heartache and introspection, from tales of intergalactic rock stars to anthems of isolated youth, the film takes us on a journey - examining the roots of the concept album in its various forms, unpacking some of the most ambitious - and ridiculous - projects of the past fifty years, from Woody Guthrie's Dustbowl Ballads to Tales from Topographic Oceans by Yes; the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds to George Clinton's Mothership Connection; The Wall by Pink Floyd to The Flaming Lips' Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.
Some of the mavericks who made the maddest and most memorable big ideas happen are here to provide their own perspectives, including Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull); Laura Marling; George Clinton; Wayne Coyne (Flaming Lips); J Willgoose Esq (Public Service Broadcasting); Fish (Marillion); Tony Asher (co-writer of lyrics on Pet Sounds); graphic artists such as Roger Dean (designer of Yes album sleeves) and Aubrey Powell of design partnership Hipgnosis (Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and Animals, and Genesis's The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway).
When You're Strange: A Film About The Doors
The creative chemistry of four brilliant artists – drummer John Densmore, guitarist Robby Krieger, keyboardist Ray Manzarek and singer Jim Morrison – made The Doors one of America’s most iconic and influential, theatrical and mysterious, thrilling and sometime frightening rock bands. Narrated by Johnny Depp, American Masters: When You’re Strange is the first feature documentary about The Doors, premiering nationally Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 9 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings). The film tells their story using only original footage – much of it previously unseen – shot between their formation in 1965 and Morrison’s death in 1971. “From the outset I decided to use only original footage of this astonishing band,” says Tom DiCillo, director and writer of When You’re Strange. “To me, there is nothing more powerful and riveting that seeing Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore and Jim Morrison leap into life on the screen.”
Whitney: Can I Be Me?
From acclaimed director Nick Broomfield comes a film about one of the greatest singers of all time. Whitney Houston was the epitome of superstar, an 'American princess' and the most awarded female artist ever. Even though Whitney had made millions of dollars, had more consecutive number ones than The Beatles and became recognised as having one of the greatest voices of all time, she still wasn't free to be herself and died at the age of 48.
Made with largely never-before-seen footage and exclusive live recordings, Whitney: Can I Be Me tells Whitney Houston's incredible and poignant life story with insights from those closest to her.
The Winding Stream
What came to be called American roots music had its origins with the Carter Family and the iconic Johnny Cash, who performed with the clan for years. This fascinating documentary traces the Carters' broad musical influence up to the present.
The Who, The Mods and the Quadrophenia Connection Y
Documentary about The Who, the band formed in 1964 that was adopted as a figurehead by the British mod movement. The film includes news reports, film and video clips, location shoots and performances of tracks including 'My Generation', 'Anyway, Anywhere, Anyhow', 'Won't Get Fooled Again', 'The Real Me', 'Sea and Sand', 'Cut My Hair', 'I'm One', 'Bell Boy', '5:15' and 'Love Reign O'er Me'.
Wild Boys: The Story of Duran Duran Y
Duran Duran came out of Birmingham and conquered the world during the 1980s. Originally a New Romantic band in full make-up and cossack pants, they rapidly became bedroom pin-ups for a generation of teenage girls.
Led by Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and John Taylor, Duran Duran dominated the British and American charts in the mid-1980s with classic singles such as Rio, Save a Prayer and Wild Boys. Pioneers of the MTV-style promo video - from the X-rated Girls on Film to Raiders of the Lost Ark spoof Hungry Like the Wolf - Duran Duran were the 80s equivalent of the Beatles in America and outsold Spandau Ballet and Wham! in their pomp.
60 million records later, Le Bon and Rhodes are seen touring America with their Pop Trash project from the early 2000s. The documentary reflects on the heady heights of Duran Duran's career, the cracks in their make-up plus the effects of
Willie Nelson: Texas Style Y
Come along with Willie Nelson as he visits some of his favorite places and people in Texas. Featuring Ray Charles, Ray Benson of Alseep At The Wheel, Jackie King-jazz guitarist, Willie's grandchildren, Bruce Hornsby & The Range, and Bobbie Nelson (Willie's sister), in order of appearance. This is sometime between 1985 to 1988.
The Winner Takes It All - The ABBA Story Y
The documentary reflects the peaks and valleys of the Swedish supergroup's popularity over the decades, as well as the quartet's turbulent years together. The documentary successfully manages to piece together both the group's public and private sides through the use of interview excerpts and video footage, and it also contains exclusive interviews with all four members of ABBA for the first time since their split. Reflecting on the intricate nature of their music, as well as the elevation of their compositions to the heady heights of pop classics, the documentary concludes with behind-the-scenes footage of preparations for the ABBA-inspired stage show Mamma Mia! This is a must for all ABBA fans, as well as those wishing to discover the heritage of one of the world's greatest pop groups.
Yehudi Menuhin: Who's Yehudi? Y
Yehudi Menuhin was the twentieth century's greatest violinist. As famous as any Hollywood star, he even had songs written about him.
A child prodigy, unmatched by his contemporaries, he achieved more by his teens than most artists do in a lifetime. But the man behind the violin was harder to know - his cocooned and curious childhood marked him emotionally for life.
Endlessly touring and crossing continents and cultures, the man whose contract with EMI was the longest in the history of the music industry took classical music out of the concert hall because he believed music was for everyone and had the power to change lives.
An impassioned idealist, Yehudi wanted to give more to the world than music - he became a tireless figure fighting for the humanitarian issues he believed in.
Presenter Clemency Burton-Hill was fifteen and a student at the Royal College of Music when Yehudi first heard her play and asked her to study with him. She says of that first lesson, 'We worked through pieces of Bach and Beethoven. And I walked out of there a better fiddle player. But I also came out with a sense that to be a truly great musician is about much more than just music...'
In this film, which commemorates the 100th year of Yehudi's birth, family members and close friends recall his extraordinary musical life, one in which he embraced jazz and Indian ragas as much as Bach, Beethoven and Bartok.
You Can't Do That: The Making of A Hard Day's Night Y
Thirty years after A Hard Day's Night, its producer, director, writer and others describe its making. United Artists Records came to Walter Shenson, asking him to produce a movie so UA could issue a soundtrack album. Shenson signed Lester to direct, and they got the Beatles to agree to star. Shenson sent Owen to Dublin to spend time with the Fab Four; from this came a script built around their being prisoners of their own success. Phil Collins, himself an extra on A Hard Day's Night, hosts this examination of a seminal film: what was ad-libbed, why was it a hit, what was its influence on other movies, and how did it define the way the public viewed each Beatle for years to come?
Yuja Wang Dresses Up Chopin Y
We follow Yuja Wang as a public and private persona in her adopted hometown of New York City as she prepares for an exhilarating recital of works at New York City’s famed Carnegie Hall.
Yuja Wang: Living the Classical Life Y
In an unusually intimate portrait, young piano superstar Yuja Wang speaks of her life and work, demonstrating by musical examples throughout—including a staggering and delightful rendition of an Art Tatum arrangement of “Tea for Two.” She describes her musical aspirations in contrast with audience perceptions, the value of practicing and not practicing, learning and relearning a piece, and the importance of struggle for musical results. She ends the interview with a touching tribute to the late Claudio Abbado.
