♦ Fuego ♦ Posted January 8, 2019 Share Posted January 8, 2019 I was sick all week, so been watching a lot of Netflix. I found a bunch of musician documentaries. So far I've watched the ones on: Nina Simone: Trained in classical piano, and took to it like it was nature. It was fascinating to see both her natural talent, and the staggering racism she encountered in the South. Much of the film talks about her move into race activism in her later career. It talks about the violence she encountered from her husband, and her own violence towards her daughter, perhaps a product of the mental illness that showed itself more clearly in her later life. James Brown: Always loved his sound and energy. Father of funk ("on the ONE"). Good to get some history on his early days (abandoned by mom, then dad, raised by aunt in a brothel), how he got started in music, how driven he was to be a name and be respected, his staunch conservative stance in the midst of the civil rights movement, his harmful side, his mistreatment of his band. John Coltrane: Famous sax player, said to be extremely nice to others. How he started out, how some big names saw potential for greatness and spent hours with him doing private practice, interviews with other big names in jazz, how he developed his own sound which became more and more esoteric (I think he would say spiritual). I was part of a vocal trio, and got to sing one of his sax numbers called "Naima" as a 3-part harmony vocalese. We weren't around long enough to make it really tight, but it was beautiful. Michael Jackson: This was more a mashup of video taken during what was going to be his last show (that never happened). It doesn't cover his early life or oddities, just the background of putting together a show, how dancers were chosen, and how some of the technical details were worked out. David Bowie: This gave a pretty good overview of his life, and how he got started in music and developed into a star (though they kind of tell it like he was unknown and then a superstar, which makes it feel like they left something out). It catalogs his search for a self-image that would catch attention, even if it wasn't "him". It only briefly covers his attitude about performing art regardless of what others think and without explaining it, though I felt that was one of the more important aspects of his approach (which is why he worked with David Lynch, and also spurred other talents to do their art regardless of the audience). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted January 8, 2019 Share Posted January 8, 2019 Twisted Sister was a surprise. Total respect for them after watching. I used to make fun of them but those guys worked their asses off. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Joshpantera Posted January 9, 2019 Moderator Share Posted January 9, 2019 Muscle Shoals was on there a while back. And the Wrecking Crew is a good one too. Both about the lesser known studio musicians who were behind most of the famous hits of the 60's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
♦ Fuego ♦ Posted January 10, 2019 Author Share Posted January 10, 2019 Watched Nat King Cole and Quincy Jones. Really good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwc Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 On 1/8/2019 at 1:53 PM, Jeff said: Twisted Sister was a surprise. Total respect for them after watching. I used to make fun of them but those guys worked their asses off. I haven't seen the documentary but I did see them open for Iron Maiden back in the 80's. They played fine but they kept losing the crowd because Dee Snider (their lead singer) kept insulting everyone. It seemed like it it was part of his persona since he seemed to lean into it but it wasn't really working and the crowd got fed up. Great concert overall. I couldn't hear for 3 days. Now I have tinnitus. Remember to wear hearing protection kids. mwc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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