Documentaries

[HuskyNan]

My husband and I spotted a documentary on Netflix called The Wrecking Crew. They were a group of people that were the studio musicians for some of the biggest names in the music industry. In some cases, they actually changed the original song to make the sound we’ve all come to know. While most musicians were anonymous to everyone but those in the industry, two became stars in their own right - Leon Russell and Glenn Campbell. This is one of the best documentaries I’ve seen and I highly recommend it, especially if you’re a music enthusiast

Here’s a 2+ minute trailer

 

[HuskyNan]

huh, the entire thing is on YouTube

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Saw this a few years back (I believe it was on HBO). Excellent documentary. I believe Tommy Tesdesco's kid put it together (Tedesco was likely the best guitar player nobody heard of).

Hal Blaine (drummer) at one time was on more #1 records than any other musician and Carol Kaye was the gold standard for bass players.

They were the musicians behind Phil Spector's wall of sound and behing nearly everything that came out of LA in the 1960's (including a few bands that were somewhat capable of playing their own Instruments).

Well worth the time invested watching it.

 

[Deepster]

If you liked that one, you'll like 20 Feet from Stardom.

20 Feet from Stardom - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Similar vibe about backup singers. How some of them were super famous in the industry but just couldn't break out as solo acts. Good story about the inspiration for the Stones "Brown Sugar". It won the best doc Oscar the year it came out.

 

[Chin Diesel]

If we are doing studio musicians, Muscle Shoals and Fame are on that Rushmore.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

If you liked that one, you'll like 20 Feet from Stardom.

20 Feet from Stardom - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Similar vibe about backup singers. How some of them were super famous in the industry but just couldn't break out as solo acts. Good story about the inspiration for the Stones "Brown Sugar". It won the best doc Oscar the year it came out.

Another awesome documentary. I was amazed to find out how seriously they screwed over Darlene Love.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

If we are doing studio musicians, Muscle Shoals and Fame are on that Rushmore.

You need to include the Funk Brothers (Motown's house band) and Stax records house band (that also recorded as Booker T and the MG's).

 

[Waquoit]

If we are doing studio musicians, Muscle Shoals and Fame are on that Rushmore.

Muscle Shoals has it's own documentary. It's called Muscle Shoals.

 

[Waquoit]

My husband and I spotted a documentary on Netflix called The Wrecking Crew. They were a group of people that were the studio musicians for some of the biggest names in the music industry. In some cases, they actually changed the original song to make the sound we’ve all come to know. While most musicians were anonymous to everyone but those in the industry, two became stars in their own right - Leon Russell and Glenn Campbell. This is one of the best documentaries I’ve seen and I highly recommend it, especially if you’re a music enthusiast

Here’s a 2+ minute trailer

It definitely a fun watch. I found it interesting while most of the players never got very famous, one finally admitted at the end "we always got paid". People make choices.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

It definitely a fun watch. I found it interesting while most of the players never got very famous, one finally admitted at the end "we always got paid". People make choices.

IIRC, Tommy Tedesco became a session musician because he had a family and no longer wanted to travel. Carol Kaye was a single mother and couldn't travel. Joining what became the Wrecking Crew was how they were able to make their livings as musicians without sacrificing their families.

 

[TGW93]

That was a great documentary. I really enjoyed Carol Kaye "matter of factly" talking about her baselines - like the Mission Impossible theme(!)

I watched two this past weekend:

• Class Action Park - I visited that place three times in the late 80s / early 90s and survived, though it was touch and go for a bit in the wave pool.
• There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane - about a wrong-way driver who killed herself and seven other people on the Taconic Parkway in 2009. It stayed with me for a few days and (surprise) is not a feel good story.

 

[CL82]

My husband and I spotted a documentary on Netflix called The Wrecking Crew. They were a group of people that were the studio musicians for some of the biggest names in the music industry. In some cases, they actually changed the original song to make the sound we’ve all come to know. While most musicians were anonymous to everyone but those in the industry, two became stars in their own right - Leon Russell and Glenn Campbell. This is one of the best documentaries I’ve seen and I highly recommend it, especially if you’re a music enthusiast

Here’s a 2+ minute trailer

I watched this a while back. It was very good. I thought it was particularly interesting that the original artist would sometimes struggle to reproduce at shows the sound that the session musicians generated.

Agree with you that the section about Glen Campbell was interesting. I never realize that he didn't read music.

 

[CL82]

That was a great documentary. I really enjoyed Carol Kaye "matter of factly" talking about her baselines - like the Mission Impossible theme(!)

I watched two this past weekend:

• Class Action Park - I visited that place three times in the late 80s / early 90s and survived, though it was touch and go for a bit in the wave pool.
• There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane - about a wrong-way driver who killed herself and seven other people on the Taconic Parkway in 2009. It stayed with me for a few days and (surprise) is not a feel good story.

I watched the Class Action Park one as well. I remember wanting to go there as a kid. I had a tendency to push the boundaries at parks, because I always presumed that they were made so you couldn't do anything dangerous. It's probably a good thing that I didn't go to Action Park.

 

[Punkbo]

I watched the Class Action Park one as well. I remember wanting to go there as a kid. I had a tendency to push the boundaries at parks, because I always presumed that they were made so you couldn't do anything dangerous. It's probably a good thing that I didn't go to Action Park.

I realize this isn’t a referendum on amusement parks, but I can’t help myself because I love roller coasters. Magic Mountain is the best….now back to the discussion on documentaries.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I watched the Class Action Park one as well. I remember wanting to go there as a kid. I had a tendency to push the boundaries at parks, because I always presumed that they were made so you couldn't do anything dangerous. It's probably a good thing that I didn't go to Action Park.

First heard about that place my freshman year in college and went that summer (1979) and at least once every subsequent year until a year after I graduated.

At the time I thought it was a blast, but on retrospect, it was pretty insane.

Found a magazine article (which may have led to the documentary) not quite a decade ago and (in part due to the humor in the recklessness when college aged in comparison to beind well into adulthood) showed a few coworkers and stated in no uncertain terms that I would never allow my son to go there if it was still open (he was in HS at the time).

Our first trip there was likely within days of the first death at that park (did not fond out about this one until may years later). The young man was basically my exact age (found this out in the documentary) and he died on the "luge", which was basically a long fiberglass track that you went down in a kind of stripped down sled. I ripped up my hand grabbing the track to keep from flying off in a turn. The guy who lost his life went off the track and split his skull open when he landed.

A few years later a kid got electrocuted on the kayak pond. They installed a machine that created "rapids" by supplying pressurized air. They never grounded it properly so when the kid came off the kayak (due to the rapids) he step on something and that was it.

The shenanigans the owner pulled to try to avoid blame (and liability) were criminal in their own right.

 

[Waquoit]

IIRC, Tommy Tedesco became a session musician because he had a family and no longer wanted to travel. Carol Kaye was a single mother and couldn't travel. Joining what became the Wrecking Crew was how they were able to make their livings as musicians without sacrificing their families.

That's fine. And they got paid plenty. My point is I didn't want to hear anyone whine about not getting enough credit for what they did because they always got paid. And the artists they backed didn't.

 

[HuskyNan]

My husband and I have been fascinated with Everest ever since the disastrous 1996 climbing season (get Jon Krakauer’s book Into Thin Air or see the 2015 movie Everest). We came across a 3 episode documentary on Netflix called Aftershock: Everest and the Nepal Earthquake.

The documentary interviewed several survivors and tells the events of the days before, during, and after the earthquake. The photography and graphics are amazing and even though I’ve seen many documentaries and movies about Everest, this one put everything in perspective such as where, exactly, the peak of Everest is in relation to Kathmandu.

Some of the stories are heartbreaking but the filmmakers do a good job of avoiding an over emotional tale while still respecting the grief of their story tellers. I was, as usual, captivated by the stories of people who literally risk their lives to make the ascent of Everest. It’s definitely worth a watch.

Also relevant to Everest is the NOVA episode on the effects of high altitude on humans. It’s Everest: Into the Death Zone.

 

[storrsroars]

On the lighter side of things, I watched "Still" a couple of weeks ago. It's about Michael J. Fox and his battle Parkinsons. Haven't really thought about the guy in years, but watching this was a reminder of how frigging talented the guy was. Still has a extremely sharp wit and sense of humor. Also had no idea Tracy Pollan's brother is Michael Pollan of food journalism fame. I thought it was worth the watch and there are a lot of laughs in it, in addition to the tragic part of his story.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Started this one. Hoped it would have some of the latest info but there’s not much. It’s not bad but is a bit slow and people just throw out conclusions.

Watch Top Secret UFO Projects: Declassified | Netflix Official Site

Though claims of extraterrestrial encounters have long been dismissed, many believe the existence of UFOs is not just likely, but a certainty.

www.netflix.com

 

[nwhoopfan]

"Hired Gun" is another good documentary about studio musicians.

 

[storrsroars]

Watched "The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling" (Hulu). Judd Apatow put this together from Garry's diaries, old clips and interviews with contemporaries. If you were a fan of the Larry Sanders Show or Shandling's stand-up, this is worth a watch. Really complicated dude who had lifelong issues dealing with the death of his older brother at 13 and his mother's response to it. Puts a lot of what went on in "Larry Sanders" in a different perspective. While his overall work might lead one to believe he was superficial and vain (and he was that), he was also amazingly giving, which is why the comedic universe loved him so much.