Prades, France, 1940s. The exiled Catalan cellist Pau Casals decides not to perform any more in public until the fall of the dictatorship that oppresses Spain. Pierre, a young Frenchman studying with Casals, tries to convince him to celebrate an extraordinary concert as a tribute to freedom.
This very special film consists of truly electrifying video footage from Bob Dylan’s “born again” period, shot on the last leg of his ’79-’80 tour, much of it thought to have been lost for years and all newly restored.
Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk spans over 30 years of the California Bay Area’s punk music history with a central focus on the emergence of the inspiring 924 Gilman Street collective. This diverse group of artists, writers, organizers and musicians created a do-it-yourself petri dish that changed the punk scene... and the world at large.
To mark the 40th anniversary of Bohemian Rhapsody, this documentary digs deep into archive to tell the story of Queen as it follows their journey from a struggling band gigging at pubs and colleges to the moment they captured the UK's hearts and minds with what was to become one of - if not the - greatest song of all time. Queen's formative years have never been explored in such detail. With a wealth of unseen interviews, recently unearthed rushes of Queen's first ever video and outtakes from the recording sessions of Bohemian Rhapsody itself, this is the unique story of early Queen, told by the band themselves. This documentary completes the final part of the trilogy alongside Days of Our Lives and Freddie Mercury: The Great Pretender. It's simple. It's real. It's raw. It's what happened.
In the summer of 2015, legendary musician David Byrne staged an event at Brooklyn's Barclays Center to celebrate the art of Color Guard: synchronized dance routines involving flags, rifles, and sabers. Recruiting performers that include the likes of St. Vincent, Nelly Furtado, Ad-Rock, and Ira Glass to collaborate on original pieces with 10 color guard teams from across the US and Canada, Contemporary Color is a beautifully filmed snapshot of a one-of-a-kind live event.
Johnny Cash: American Rebel is built around 12 essential Johnny Cash tracks spanning four decades that each deliver the passion, musicality and messages against war, injustice, racism and prejudice, including “Folsom Prison Blues,” “Jackson,” “San Quentin,” “Man in Black,” “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” “Ring of Fire” and “Hurt.” Each song illustrates a chapter in his life, as well the story of an ever-changing America from the 1950s to modern day, as told through interviews, archival concert footage, photographs and personal artifacts from the Cash family.
Documentary about the pedigrees of punk featuring The Boomtown Rats, Sex Pistols, Pretenders, The Clash, The Jam, Madness, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, The Specials, Secret Affair, and many ...
Take Me to the River is a film about the soul of American music. The film follows the recording of a new album featuring legends from Stax records and Memphis mentoring and passing on their musical magic to stars and artists of today.
Bayou Maharajah explores the life and music of New Orleans piano legend James Booker, the man Dr. John described as "the best black, gay, one-eyed junkie piano genius New Orleans has ever produced." A brilliant pianist, his eccentricities and showmanship belied a life of struggle, prejudice, and isolation. Illustrated with never-before-seen concert footage, rare personal photos and exclusive interviews, the film paints a portrait of this overlooked genius.
Eddie and his Mexican friend Ricardo are expelled from college after Ricardo put Eddie in the girl's dormitory when he was drunk. Per chance Eddie gets mixed up in a bank robbery and is forced to drive the robbers to safety. To get rid of him they force him to leave the USA for Mexico, but a cop is following him. Eddie meets Ricardo there, Ricardo helps him avoid being arrested by the cop when he introduces Eddie as the great Spanish bullfighter Don Sebastian II. The problem is, the cop is still curious and has tickets for the bullfight. Eddie's situation becomes more critical, when he tries to help Ricardo to win the girl he loves, but she's engaged to a "real" Mexican, who is, unknown to her father, involved in illegal business. While trying to avoid all this trouble, Eddie himself falls in love with his friend's girl friend's sister Rosalie, who also want to see the great Don Sebastian II to kill the bull in the arena.
A beautiful expression of two differing cultures brought together by the warmth and dedication of a great musician and humanitarian. In 1979, as China re-opened its doors to the West, virtuoso Isaac Stern received an unprecedented government invitation to tour the country. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2000.
A documentary about a political troupe headed by actors Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland which traveled to towns near military bases in the US in the early 1970s. The group put on shows called "F.T.A.", which stood for "F**k the Army", and was aimed at convincing soldiers to voice their opposition to the Vietnam War, which was raging at the time. Various singers, actors and other entertainers performed antiwar songs and skits during the show.
Never one for understatement, the aptly named singer known as Meat Loaf (aka Marvin Lee Aday) teamed with operatically-minded pianist-composer Jim Steinman to produce a bombastic slab of 1970s classic rock that has become one of the biggest selling albums of all time. Fueled by Steinman's epic compositions, Todd Rundgren's grandiose production, and Meat Loaf's own soaring vocals, the singer's 1977 debut BAT OUT OF HELL elevated the rock-opera genre to appropriately theatrical heights with its extravagant orchestration and a melodramatic narrative celebrating teenage rebellion. This episode of the CLASSIC ALBUMS series recounts the making of this monumental work through interviews, archival footage, and live performances of album tracks such as "You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth," "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad," and, of course, the adolescent opus "Paradise by the Dashboard Light."
To mark the closing of New York's historic Shea Stadium in 2008, Billy Joel drafted an all-star musical team, including Paul McCartney, Tony Bennett, John Mayer and Garth Brooks, for a last play at Shea. This hits-packed feature is a grand slam!
Young John Anderson is captivated by jazz musician Billy Cross when he performs on the remote airstrip of his Western Australian outback hometown after his plane is diverted. Years later, now a family man and making a meagre living tracking dingoes and playing trumpet in a local band, John still dreams of joining Billy on trumpet and makes a pilgrimage to Paris.
Release in March 1987, U2's The Joshua Tree quickly became the fastest-selling album in British chart history, selling almost 250,000 copies within the first week of release. In the US, it was equally successful, topping the Billboard album chart for nine weeks, spending 58 weeks in the Top 40 there and earning a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. The story of the making of The Joshua Tree is told here, via interview and archive film footage, with contributions from band members Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. U2’s long-time manager Paul McGuinness reveals how the album catapulted the band into the category of rock superstars, and there are contributions from Elvis Costello in the role of a major U2 fan, re-mix producer Steve Lillywhite, and of course co-producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. Packed with reminiscences and powerful performances, this is the story of one of the most famous and best records of the Eighties, a true Classic Album.
This musical biography tells the story of the making of Deep Purple's classic album "Machine Head. Exclusive interviews with Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, John Lord and Ian Paice take us through a track by track making of the album. The performers demonstrate riffs & licks from the songs and explain the genesis of the songwriting. Also included are featured songs, archive footage of Deep Purple in concert, including American footage of "Smoke on the Water" and "Space Truckin'", TV performances and promotional videos, more.
Live at Montreux 1996 is a live DVD by British hard rock band Deep Purple, recorded in 1996 and released in 2006. The CD and DVD release features live performances from Montreux in 1996 and 2000.
Music videos and archived footage supplement recent interviews in this documentary of ex-Pogues singer Shane MacGowan. We follow his life from the early days in Ireland and England, through his formation of - and later dismissal from - The Pogues, to his new band The Popes. Shane's family, friends, and former bandmates comment on the music, the rumors, and the alcohol.