Documentaries and Biographies

From Berklee Library Research Guides

Biographies

Blues Biographies

Muddy Waters: Can't Be Satisfied produced and directed by Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon DVD 797  Check Availability from amazon.com: "[The video] includes some bio material, tracing Waters's evolution from a sharecropping acoustic folk singer to a sharp-dressing, Chicago-based leader of one of the greatest electric bands ever, along with reminiscences and accolades from friends, family, and fellow musicians like Keith Richards, Bonnie Raitt, and Buddy Guy." - Sam Graham

The Jazz Channel Presents B.B. King  DVD 783  Check Availability from amazon.com: "This electrifying Jazz Central performance features the trademark guitar and vocal styles that have made B.B. King one of the most influential blues musicians of the 20th century."

B.B. King  TV 1415  Check Availability from the catalog: "This program follows this inveterate rhythm and blues nomad on tour, capturing both his thoughts in more solitary moments and his music in performance."

Can't You Hear the Wind Howl?: The Life and Music of Robert Johnson  DVD 73  Check Availability from amazon.com: "This ambitious mixture of dramatic reconstruction with traditional documentary affords excellent insight into legendary bluesman Robert Johnson's life, the enduring power of his music, and the myth which surrounds him." - Sam Sutherland

John Lee Hooker: That's My Story by Jörg Bundschuh DVD 3725  Check Availability from amazon.com: "...there's no doubt that the late John Lee Hooker (1917-2001) was in a class by himself, a genuine original whose music--raw, primitively simple, scary even, powered by his deep moan of a voice--was the very embodiment of the Delta blues style. Big names like Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, and many more line up to pay tribute to the man in this absorbing 90-minute documentary..." - Sam Graham

Sippie directed and produced by Roberta Grossman and Michelle Paymar TV 158  Check Availability from the catalog: "This film portrait of Sippie Wallace features concert footage, conversations with the 83-year-old singer, recordings and photographs."

I Am the Blues by Willie Dixon DVD 883  Check Availability from amazon.com: "Not only known for his songs, his bass playing and production have also been carried over to the sounds of artists from the 60's up until today. With such hits as 'I Just Want To Make Love To You', 'I Got The Blues' and 'Jungle Song' Dixon ushered in the bands of rock and Motown. This is a testament to the man and his music."

Alberta Hunter: My Castle's Rockin' produced and directed by Stuart Goldman DVD 995  Check Availability from amazon.com: "An American Film Festival Winner, this performance documentary DVD...explores the life, times, and music of a Blues and Jazz pioneer, singer Alberta Hunter. Complete with a full-length concert live from the Cookery in Greenwich Village, as well as rare vintage footage and interviews, this DVD captures the spirit of the 'Jazz Age,' while simultaneously showcasing Alberta Hunter's timeless vocals and music."

Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee: Red River Blues, 1948-1974  DVD 1059  Check Availability from amazon.com: "...the 16 performances here remind us of this superb duo's complementary strengths: Sonny, the achetypal country blues harp player, whooping and 'fox chasing' in a style as old as any known; Brownie, the more urbane, but no less passionate exemplar of the southeast's Piedmont-style blues, a stunning guitarist and singer."

Wild Women Don't Have the Blues produced by Carole van Falkenburg and Christine Dall DVD 4340  Check Availability from amazon.com: "Wild Women Don't Have the Blues shows how the blues were born out of the economic and social transformation of African American life early in this century. It recaptures the lives and times of Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Ida Cox, Alberta Hunter, Ethel Waters and the other legendary women who made the blues a vital part of American culture."

Jazz Biographies

Satchmo: Louis Armstrong written by Gary Giddins DVD 753  Check Availability from the catalog: "With over a dozen of his classic performances ranging from 1932 to the late sixties, Satchmo includes excerpts from Pennies from Heaven, Betty Boop cartoon, Going places, Jam session, New Orleans with Billie Holiday, High Society with Bing Crosby, and Hello Dolly with Barbra Streisand. Also included are live concerts with Dizzy Gillespie, and Jack Teagarden and the All Stars."

Count Basie Story produced and directed by John Jeremy and Angus Trowbridge TV 40  Check Availability from the catalog: "In English; with Japanese subtitles. A documentary about the life and music of the jazz musician Count Basie. Features interviews with musicians and others who knew him. Also includes many performances by Count Basie and his Orchestra."

Sarah Vaughan: The Divine One  DVD 664  Check Availability from amazon.com: "Packed with live performances spanning her entire career Sarah Vaughan-The Divine One offers a portrait of a woman who was personally shy and professionally unparalleled. Friends, family and fellow musicians speak illuminatingly of Sarah; among them Billy Eckstine, Roy Haynes, Joe Williams, George Gaffney, Sarah's mother, Ada, and her daughter, Paris."

Ella Fitzgerald: Something to Live For  Reserve DVD 284  Check Availability from amazon.com: "Archival footage of early performances, as well as later television appearances, capture Ella's pilgrimage from Depression-era New York, through her discovery at the Apollo Theater and subsequent emergence as a swing vocalist and on to her long career as a matchless pop and jazz stylist." - Sam Sutherland

Song of the Spirit: The Story of Lester Young  TV 196  Check Availability from jazzlegends.com: "Rare film of Prez, along with on-camera interviews with the likes of Bobby Scott, Jo Jones, John Hammond, John Lewis, Buster Smith, Dizzy Gillespie, Connie Kay, friends and relatives, bring the elusive legend of Prez to life."

Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker directed by Gary Giddins DVD 79  Check Availability from amazon.com: "[This DVD] 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."

Miles Ahead: The Music of Miles Davis  TV 1419  Check Availability from the catalog: "Documents the life and music of Miles Davis through interviews and performance clips. [Includes the songs:] So what -- New rhumba -- Blues for Pablo -- Time after time -- Footprints -- Al Jarreau -- Human nature."

Thelonious Monk, Straight No Chaser  DVD 351  Check Availability from amazon.com: "[This DVD] provides an intelligent portrait of this often reclusive, sometimes difficult artist, including telling glimpses of his volatility. A stormy studio session with Teo Macero, then Columbia Records' preeminent jazz producer, speaks volumes about Monk's very private approach to his muse. Perceptive interviews and glimpses of Monk's sunnier moments provide added depth, yet the real triumph is the generous catalog of classic Monk songs captured on camera." - Sam Sutherland

Sit Down and Listen: The Story of Max Roach produced by Penny Corke DVD 2254  Check Availability from the catalog: "Originally produced in 1984. Jazz drummer, bandleader, composer, and professor Max Roach reflects on his career in music; includes footage from the studio, on tour, and behind the podium."

The Long Night of Lady Day: The Story of Billie Holiday, 1915-1959  TV 1  Check Availability from the catalog : "In English; with Japanese subtitles. Guide is in Japanese. A documentary about the life and music of the singer Billie Holiday. Includes many musical performances by Billie as well as interviews with musicians and others who knew her."

Mary Lou Williams: Music on My Mind directed and edited by Joanne Burke TV 2022  Check Availability from Women Make Movies: "Pioneering Black American composer-arranger-pianist Mary Lou Williams is one of the most remarkable figures in the history of jazz. In this authoritative film, lively interviews with Williams, Dizzy Gillepsie and Buddy Tate interweave the musical and personal elements of her dramatic life. At the height of her career, she dropped out of music to help drug-addicted musicians in Harlem, making a triumphant comeback fifteen years later."

Ornette: Made in America by Shirley Clarke TV 202  Check Availability from the catalog : "A brilliant documentary tracing the rhythms, images and myths of America through the eyes of the great Ornette Coleman, whose radical music shattered the conventions of modern jazz, as he returns to his home in Texas."

Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise a film by Robert Mugge DVD 118  Check Availability from amazon.com: "Here we see Ra and the band rehearsing and performing; their 'joyful noise' is free, sometimes chaotic, but also clearly blues-based, somewhat reminiscent of Monk or Mingus (there's even a rendition of 'Round Midnight'). Ra is also interviewed surrounded by the Egyptian artifacts and antiquities that were an important element of his 'mythocracy.'"

Charles Mingus: Triumph of the Underdog a film by Don McGlynn DVD 151  Check Availability from amazon.com: "The documentary is full of well-preserved footage and contains interviews with many Mingus followers like Wynton Marsalis as well as performances by icons Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, and Gerry Mulligan. The film traverses past the musical legend with insight and information into Mingus's personal life, his civil rights activism, and his final triumph in the music world--just as his body began to deteriorate from Lou Gehrig's disease--to his eventual death in 1979."

Art Blakey: The Jazz Messenger a film by Dick Fontaine and Pat Hartley TV 899  Check Availability from the catalog: "Combines conversations among musicians who have worked with Blakey with sequences of Blakey teaching and performing to profile Blakey's career in jazz."

Pop Biographies

Taylor Hackford's Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock 'n Roll  DVD 4181-4184  Check Availability from amazon.com: "Two distinct portraits of Chuck Berry emerge in this lavish four-disc set...On one side there's the Berry who wrote a catalogue's worth of genre-defining songs...all of them filled with wit, delightful stories, and poetry...On the other hand, there's the Berry who, in the course of the film as well as the accompanying bonus material, emerges as a prickly cheapskate who drove the filmmakers and musicians nuts with his absurd demands and unpredictable behavior. Together they make a fascinating look at the guy who justifiably calls himself 'the father of rock 'n' roll.'" - Sam Graham

Aretha Franklin, The Queen of Soul  TV 200  Check Availability from the catalog: "Documentary about the career of Aretha Franklin. The moving, empathic quality of Aretha's singing is demonstrated in clips from film and television appearances, as well as original footage of one of her recording sessions. Includes interviews with her family, Reverend Cecil Franklin, Reverend James Cleveland, Clive David, Smokey Robinson, Keith Richards, Ray Charles, Dionne Warwick, George Michael, Whitney Houston and Eric Clapton."

Tina Turner: The Girl from Nutbush  TV 656  Check Availability from the catalog: "Includes: opening comments from Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Mark Knopfler, Cher; biographical information with contributions from family and friends; vintage footage from the Ike & Tina early performances; over 48 minutes of Tina performing her classic hits."

Ray Charles: The Genius of Soul produced by Kirk D'Amico & Toby Byron DVD 3624  Check Availability from the catalog: "An American original, Ray Charles was the innovator who fused gospel, jazz and blues to create modern soul music. Spanning five decades, this is a fascinating look at the man and his music."

Moonwalker by Michael Jackson DVD 3446  Check Availability from the catalog: "A magical, musical journey into the world of Michael Jackson, Moonwalker is a feature-length extravaganza that will take you to the next dimension of special effects and thrill you with the most spectacular song and dance productions ever filmed. The story is told in the form of an anthology of never-before-seen film segments ..."

Unauthorized by Prince TV 567  Check Availability from the VHS cover description: This VHS "looks back at the important people, unusual places and ironic circumstances that helped make Prince king...In a 'rocumentary' style that tracks the evolution of his genius, this spirited and funny videography captures a memorable portrait of pop music's most influential artist of the past 20 years."

The Show in association with Russell Simmons DVD 2225  Check Availability from amazon.com: "This spirited documentary examines the world of rap music using both interviews and performance footage of many popular rappers at a Philadelphia concert. The singers address many aspects of their music and lifestyle including the apparent connection between rap performers and crime, the differences between East Coast and West Coast rap, the rampant use of marijuana amongst rappers, the genre's popularity and its influence outside the Black and Latino communities, and the disdain 'old school' rappers have toward the current more hardcore crop."

Behind the Music. Rick James  TV 1745  Check Availability from the catalog: "Throughout the late '70s and early '80s, Rick James racked up a string of hits for Motown, both as a solo artist and as a songwriter, producer, and mentor for the likes of Teena Marie and the Mary Jane Girls. But by the late '80s, James' professional career began to take a back seat to his legendarily hedonistic lifestyle and Olympian appetite for self-destruction."

Behind the Music. Quincy Jones  TV 1811  Check Availability from the catalog: "A look at the life of Quincy Jones-- from the tough streets of Chicago to New York City to Europe where he performed as a trumpet player, working with such greats as Lionel Hampton and Ray Charles. Over the years, Jones worked as an arranger and composer with legends such as Frank Sinatra. He nurtured talent like Michael Jackson and produced the biggest selling album of all time, 'Thriller,' and the number one selling single, 'We Are The World.'"

Behind the Music. Dr. Dre  TV 1814  Check Availability from the catalog: "A look at the trials and tribulations surrounding one of rap music's most successful artists/producers. Dr. Dre discusses his early years as an LA dee-jay, his first rap group, World Class Wreckin Cru, starting Ruthless Records with drug dealer turned rapper Eazy-E, and bringing Ice Cube on board to form N.W.A."

Behind the Music. Snoop Dog  TV 1943  Check Availability from the catalog: "Snoop Dogg (his lifelong nickname) grew up in the crime-filled streets of Long Beach, California and eventually landed in jail. Once released, he collaborated with Dr. Dre on 'The Chronic' and later put out his solo effort 'Doggystyle.' While 'Doggystyle' soared to the top of the charts, Snoop headed to court to stand trial for murder. Hard times continued when his close friend, Tupac Shakur was murdered in gang-related violence. Snoop was acquitted of murder, and came to terms with the murder of Tupac."

Jimi Hendrix  DVD 196  Check Availability from amazon.com: "Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, Lou Reed, and Germaine Greer are all wheeled out to wax lyrical about their days with Jimi, but nothing is more eloquent than watching and listening to him play. From 'Hey Joe' in grainy black and white on the Ready Steady Go TV show, classic footage of Monterey, Woodstock (yes, 'The Star-Spangled Banner'), and the Isle of Wight festivals to an acoustic 12- string rendition of 'Hear My Train a' Comin',' Hendrix the musician speaks for himself."

Berklee Oral History Project: Roy Haynes interviewed by Fred Bouchard DVD 3575  Check Availability from the catalog: "Recorded Apr. 17, 2009."

Documentaries

Jazz and Blues Documentaries

The Blues, A Musical Journey  DVD 1636-1642  Check Availability from amazon.com: "'Musical journey' is an apt description, as Scorsese and the six other directors responsible for these seven approximately 90-minute films follow the blues--the foundation of jazz, soul, R&B, and rock & roll--from its African roots to its Mississippi Delta origins, up the river to Memphis and Chicago, then to New York, the United Kingdom, and beyond...There's also plenty of documentary footage, interviews, and contemporary studio performances recorded especially for these films."

Rock & Roll. Vol. 1  TV 836  Check Availability from amazon.com: "Renegades travels southern backroads to New Orleans, Memphis and Nashville, then north to Chicago, interviewing Little Richard, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, disc jockey Hoss Allen and producers Dave Bartholomew, Sam Phillips and Phil and Marshall Chess along the way...In the Groove reports on the years between Elvis and the Beatles, when the hit single became an intricately crafted work of art and producers, songwriters and musicians created studio magic."

Rock & Roll. Vol. 2  TV 837  Check Availability from amazon.com: "Shakespeares in the Alley looks at the towering influences of Bob Dylan and the Beatles on rock and roll and 'folk rock.'...Respect chronicles the transformation of black gospel music into a defining sound for all Americans...The program journeys from Detroit's Motown Records to Stax Records in Memphis. Last stop: the FAME studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama where Aretha Franklin made musical magic."

Rock & Roll. Vol. 3  TV 838  Check Availability from amazon.com: "Crossroads traces the blues, another African American tradition that changed the sound of Rock and Roll, from the Mississippi Delta to Chicago to the UK, where this earthy rich sound inspired a host of young British musicians bored with the pop music of the day...Blues in Technicolor takes viewers on a trip into the psychadelic rock world of the late '60s and early '70s."

Rock & Roll. Vol. 4  TV 839  Check Availability from amazon.com: "The Wild Side tours through the rock and roll theatrics of the '70s, when bands like the Velvet Underground, the Doors and David Bowie brought the decadent dramas of life in the underground into the limelight...Make it Funky Soul music stretches to create a rock and roll revolution in rhythm and attitude in the '70s. Innovators James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, George Clinton and famed bass players Larry Graham and Bootsy Collins take viewers on a tour of funk as the music becomes bolder and more expressive of the realities of black life."

Rock & Roll. Vol. 5  TV 840  Check Availability from amazon.com: "Punk explores the late '70s musical innovations: punk and reggae...The Perfect Beat chronicles the rise of a new musical form: rap...The video shows how [superstars] like Madonna and Prince folded rap, techno and house into their music, and how MTV ultimately embraced it."

Sweet Home Chicago  LD 3  Check Availability from the catalog: "Utilizing historic footage and interviews with many blues performers, this film captures the sound of the great urban blues artists and tells the story of Chess Records, the independent company that became the premier home of Chicago blues."

And This Is Free: the Legendary Slice-of-Life Film from the Streets of Chicago  TV 1139  Check Availability from the catalog: "A personal vision of life around Chicago's Maxwell Street open air market filmed in 1964 by award-winning photographer Mike Shea in collaboration with blues guitarist Mike Bloomfield. Includes performances by street musicians such as Robert Nighthawk, Jim Brewer, Carrie Robinson, and Blind Arvella Gray."

Deep Blues: a Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads  DVD 625  Check Availability from the catalog: "Robert Palmer, author of Deep Blues and Dave Stewart, a member of Eurythmics pays tribute to the Mississippi blues and various blues artists. Special features include discographies of the performers, performance footage outtakes, an interview with Dave Stewart, bonus audio links, and weblinks."

American Roots Music. Episodes 1, 2, 3 & 4  DVD 1813-1814  Check Availability from amazon.com: "American Roots Music is a four-part documentary. This landmark television program explores the development of uniquely American music genres during the 20th century. Each 1-hour episode features seminal historic footage and musical performances by the pioneers of American music and traces the cultural evolution that shaped and influenced our rich tapestry of music. Masters in the fields of Folk, Country, Blues, Gospel, Western Swing, Bluegrass, Cajun, Zydeco, Tejano and Native American music are celebrated."

Jazz Women on Video  TV 509  Check Availability from the catalog: "A compilation of short films on the foremothers of jazz. Many of these short films were originally made as 'soundies' (precursors of MTV) for jukeboxes with a screen to illustrate the 78 rpm record playing."

Born to Swing produced, directed and edited by John Jeremy CRV 91  Check Availability from the catalog: "The swing music era is recaptured through this portrait of the Count Basie Band and its great soloists."

Dixieland Jazz: I-II produced by Sandra Turbow and Herb Silvers TV 983-984  Check Availability from the catalog: "Highlights the sounds and rhythms of Dixieland music through featured performers."

Blue Note: A Story of Modern Jazz by Julian Benedikt DVD 641  Check Availability from amazon.com: "Directed by Julian Benedikt, the film concentrates on the label's glory days, the '40s, '50s, and early '60s. (Lion and Wolff sold the company, which is still in operation, in 1965.) There's a wealth of archival footage - much of it jaw-droppingly good - from a wide range of sources, as well as numerous interviews with Blue Note artists and fans. An unexpected treat for jazz cognoscenti is getting to see Lorraine Gordon, Lion's first wife and the proprietor of the Village Vanguard, pick up a phone during an interview and take a reservation for that night's show."

Jazz by Ken Burns DVD 264-273  Check Availability from amazon.com: "Spanning more than 19 hours, Jazz is, of course, about a lot more than what many have called America's classical music--especially in episodes 1 through 7. It's here that Burns unearths precious visual images of jazz musicians and hangs historical narratives around the music with convincing authority."

Instrument Focused

Piano Legends by Chick Corea DVD 865  Check Availability from amazon.com: "This 63-minute DVD shows the depth and diversity of keyboard styles, from ragtime, stride, swing, bebop, and hard bop to the avant-garde. Corea brilliantly and succinctly spells out each pianist's style and how each fits into the jazz continuum." - Eugene Holley, Jr.

Trumpet Kings: with Wynton Marsalis  TV 277  Check Availability from the catalog: "Wynton Marsalis presents an overview of twentieth century jazz trumpeters. He shows stages in the development of the trumpet through the use of clips of some of the great performers of this century."

Tenor Titans written, produced, and directed by Burrill Crohn TV 525  Check Availability from the catalog: "Clips of performers filmed and videotaped between 1944 and 1992. A discussion of the development of the tenor saxophone in all eras of jazz with archival footage of legendary performers."

Classic Drum Solos and Drum Battles produced by Rob Wallis and Paul Siegel DVD 635  Check Availability from Amazon.com: "This 60 minute DVD features fifteen of the true 'legends of jazz drumming' in astounding extended solos and in rare, never-before-seen drum duels filmed over the last five decades. Among the highlights are uncut solos from big band legends Sonny Payne, Rufus Jones, Buddy Rich, Sam Woodyard and Louis Bellson as well as small group giants Art Blakey and Joe Morello."

Classic Drum Solos and Drum Battles. Volume 2 produced by Rob Wallis and Paul Siegel DVD 1213  Check Availability from the catalog: "Bonus tracks: Bobby Troup's 'history of the jazz drum set' and a segment featuring the Gene Krupa Jazz Trio impersonating Russian musicians. Also includes an extensive photo gallery and a web link feature which connects to notes on each clip and biographies of each drummer. Clips of fifteen drum solos by various drummers spanning the years 1947 to 1989."