Documentary discussion....

[marko]

Anybody seen The Americas, narrated by Tom Hanks? Absolutely beautiful and incredible photography.

 

[mystang52]

I'm also a sucker for most documentaries, whether a series or single episode. I watch quite a bit of Smithsonian and History Channel. While channel surfing, I sometimes come across "Behind the Music," a 1 hour story about a given music group. Even if I barely recognize the group's name, I find them interesting.

 

[DayDreaming]

I really enjoyed 20 Feet from Stardom, about backup singers. Totally fascinating! The isolated recording of the lady who sang on Gimme Shelter will blow your mind. Amazing!

I enjoyed some other music documentaries too - The Last Waltz (The Band), Rust Never Sleeps (Neil Young), History of the Eagles, Jazz on a Summer's Day, Living in the Material World (George Harrison), and if you've got 4 or 5 hours to kill, What a Long Strange Trip (Grateful Dead).

I haven't watched too many historical documentaries, although with the dearth of decent television these days I've been considering it. I'll go through the ones listed above and see what looks interesting.

If you haven't seen it, you should love "The Wrecking Crew!" about a group of studio musicians who were on so many great albums. And it's interesting to see where they invented some of the musical riffs that we just assume were created by the big name band, not the unknown studio musicians.

Also, currently on Netflix, "Wham!". I was never a fan of the musical group Wham! but this is a great documentary on them, and it gave me a lot of new found respect for George Michael, even though I was never a fan of him either.

 

[SJhawkins]

Plus 1 for the Wrecking Crew

 

[ERD50]

If you haven't seen it, you should love "The Wrecking Crew!" about a group of studio musicians who were on so many great albums. And it's interesting to see where they invented some of the musical riffs that we just assume were created by the big name band, not the unknown studio musicians.
...

+1 Carole Kaye's contribution of that bass line to Sonny & Cher's "The Beat Goes On" made the song. I think she eventually sued for songwriting credit, and settled out of court?

"Muscle Shoals" is in the same vein, about the "Swampers" studio musicians that backed up so many hits. Like the Carole Kaye example above, Barry Beckett came up with the piano intro/rhythm that kicked off Aretha's "I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You). They almost gave up on that song, it just wasn't coming together, until he hit that mood, and Aretha just ran with it, and had a major, major hit.

Aretha had 9 unsuccessful albums, then two hits ('Respect', #1, and "Never Loved a Man), #10) from that album at Muscle Shoals. Amazingly, (from google...) She spent only one day recording with the famous Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section on their home turf ... – but both "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" and "Do Right Woman - Do Right Man" came from the aborted sessions. Within three weeks, they were released as a single.

The remaining tracks of that album were recorded later.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Ken Burns could do a documentary on dirt and I'd watch it. I have watched at least one of his documentaries twice: Country Music. I'd like to watch others again, too, including The American Buffalo, and maybe Hemingway. So many interesting facts packed into these multi-part epics.

I can't wait for his The American Revolution, due out next year. Leonardo da Vinci will apparently be out first.

I really liked his baseball documentary. The old film clips of guys like Walter Johnson were fun to watch, and changes to the game with American culture (such as desegregation) broadened the doc's perspective.

 

[pb4uski]

DW and I watched a couple DVRed episodes of The Americas on NBC (and probably Peacock too), narrated by Tom Hanks and enjoyed both.

 

[grasshopper]

Anybody seen The Americas, narrated by Tom Hanks? Absolutely beautiful and incredible photography.

A friend of mine was one of the lead researchers on the rattlesnake sequence.

 

[tutan]

Anybody seen The Americas, narrated by Tom Hanks? Absolutely beautiful and incredible photography.

Have watched 4 episodes on Peacock. I must say Tom Hanks does not have a distinct enough narration voice like David Attenborough or President Obama.

 

[marko]

Have watched 4 episodes on Peacock. I must say Tom Hanks does not have a distinct enough narration voice like David Attenborough or President Obama.

Yes but he's good enough as the photography more than makes up for it. I always find myself saying " how on earth did they get that shot!!?" Breathtaking stuff.

 

[Koolau]

I received email about an event to be held in Raleigh, NC to promote a new film by Ken Burns about the American Revolution. Looking forward to it (premiere Nov 16, 2025).

The best documentary on the subject I’ve seen so far was “Liberty!”, which was released around 1999. That may have also been PBS but i can’t seem to find a streaming copy.

Ken Burns’ American Revolution

ADDED:

Here is (I hope) “Liberty!” on YouTube:

Liberty! The American Revolution

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

youtube.com

Thanks for sharing. I recall that program on PBS. Look forward to a Ken Burns Revolution film.

 

[steelyman]

There’s an interesting series on Netflix called “The Turning Point”. It currently covers two topics: the events surrounding the 9/11 attack and the Cold War. I re-watched the second which covered a lot of things I didn’t know (either not born yet or blissfully ignorant).

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

There’s an interesting series on Netflix called “The Turning Point”. It currently covers two topics: the events surrounding the 9/11 attack and the Cold War. I re-watched the second which covered a lot of things I didn’t know (either not born yet or blissfully ignorant).

A little OT, but a book called "The Looming Tower" by Lawrence Wright provides a comprehensive, five-decade examination of events leading up to 9/11. It won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction.

 

[steelyman]

I received email about an event to be held in Raleigh, NC to promote a new film by Ken Burns about the American Revolution. Looking forward to it (premiere Nov 16, 2025).

The best documentary on the subject I’ve seen so far was “Liberty!”, which was released around 1999. That may have also been PBS but i can’t seem to find a streaming copy.

Ken Burns’ American Revolution

ADDED:

Here is (I hope) “Liberty!” on YouTube:

Liberty! The American Revolution

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

youtube.com

Reposting this, not so much to be a nag, but I believe today is the 250th anniversary of Lexington & Concord, starting the American Revolution.

I’ll watch an episode or two of Liberty!

 

[Beststash]

Recently watched "Corridors of Power" on PBS. A documentary of how America has responded to reports of genocide, war crimes and mass atrocities as the only global superpower after the fall of the Soviet Union. Produced and direct by Israeli cinematographer and director, Dror Moreh.

A hindsight look at the successes and failures of related US Foreign Policy.