Sample This

In these times of quarantine, stay-at-home, lockdown, house arrest, or whatever you're calling this downtime from the world, it sure helps to have a hobby.

(Clarification: it helps to have an indoor hobby. Dave is going berserk not being able to run around and play sports. Check out his madness at Gheorghe's sister blog.)

I have two activities of choice lately, and they're closely related.  Listening to / watching music and writing / making music.  The latter is a long-standing work in progress; I've threatened to complete an album in the home studio for a while, and -- with inspiration from Dave and FOGTB Lecky -- this is my chance to get there, or at least get close.

In the meantime, while people I know and articles I read advise me on which series to binge watch, I am going against that grain. With certain exceptions (John Oliver, reruns of classic sports events I loved, etc.), I am limiting my programming to one genre: music documentaries. I'm off to a great start, but there's a long way to go.

Step 1: Compile the list.
There are more search returns for "best music documentaries of all time" than you can count -- by a long shot.  And those lists are, as you would figure, a mixed bag.  I made my own list based on culling those recommendations, falling back on my own knowledge of good music docs, and also just pursuing work about bands I like.

My list is now set, but only until someone else whose opinion I value (yes, that includes you people) chimes in with a new rec and I add it.

Step 2: Prioritize.
Eh. I have been a little haphazard. I am trying to juggle 'twixt genres and long form vs. quick hitters to some degree. But so far it's been somewhat random. One x-factor is how I can watch them; if a music documentary is on Netflix or Amazon Prime, I don't know how long I'll be able to see it for free, so it inches up the list.

Step 3: Watch.
This has been fun. It's interesting to watch music docs in succession. It definitely makes the terrific ones stand out, and I catch myself critiquing any time there are any sorts of lulls that drag. You get why some film critics are irascible and stingy with stars; a movie I happen to like may be just fine, but when some reviewer saw three things this week that absolutely blew them away, the one I like simply ain't gonna measure up.

I've also noticed that Hobby 1 bleeds into Hobby 2. Watching scenes about the recording process, studio tips and tricks, or just hearing a good song gets the creativity brewing.

Current Status
Here's where this project stands. First, there were entries on the list that I had seen semi-recently, and even the best ones aren't getting re-watched when I have so much more to view. They included:

I told you how much I liked the Dead doc (saw it in a local old theater), and similarly, the Tom Petty one is a long but great 4-hour number.  We've also had back and forth in the comments on Country Music; it's amazingly good. And I'm an easy mark for The Clash, R.E.M., and Talking Heads, so those were all banner. But anything I watched in the last 2 years won't be revisited.

Nota Bene: Stop Making Sense is one of the few concert films that made this list.  I really wanted true documentaries, not footage of music being played. Of course I love a good show, but this quest is different. I think only Aretha, Prince, and Zeppelin made the list with predominantly concert films.

The First Batch (in order of viewing)
David Crosby: Remember My Name (2019)
The one that launched my plan, it's been on HBO a bit. It's solid, informative, and well done. The takeaway: Crosby is a dick, he knows it, he can't help it, and he wishes he could change. But man, can he sing. Great old footage and photos of CSN and CSNY.

Searching for Sugar Man (2012)
The best thing I have seen in a very long time, period. Someone urged me to watch this years ago, and I put it off. Stupidly. Don't read about this one, please just go watch it.

ZZ Top: That Little Ol' Band from Texas (2019)
After that, I wanted to veer in another direction. This worked just fine. I forgot how good ZZ Top was in the '70s and early '80s. Lots of big, blues-based guitar sound. And lyrical dick jokes. Highly enjoyable.

Sample This (2013)
An oddity that would be the strangest of the lot, were it not for Sugar Man. Cohesion and production values aren't as high, but it does not want for a more fascinating story. My interest stemmed from my favorite Beasties song, "Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun," which samples, among many other pieces, a 1973 song called "Last Bongo in Belgium" by a random outfit called the Incredible Bongo Band. On that same album is the IBB's take on the song "Apache," and their rendition has been sampled... wait for it... 613 times since. (Ed. Note: it read 611 when I started writing this post. No bullshit.) It's been said that pretty much every hip-hop act has sampled this particular song at least once. Anywho... the backstory, the legacy, and whole thing makes for a super interesting homeboys bonanza for music nerds like me. Check it out.

Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage (2010)
Yep, I wanted to get involved in this debate. Great film. I'm never going to love that much of Rush's music, but I certainly appreciate the band more, and like TR offered, there are quite a few nuggets of Did You Know??? And "Tom Sawyer" is still a lot of fun. Neil Peart's passing earlier this year makes it more impactful, and it's just a well-developed chronology of an influential trio who's been making music longer than anyone not named ZZ Top.

Fleetwood Mac -- Rumours ("Classic Albums” series) (1997)

I figured this would be light fare, and in some aspects, it is. It's just over an hour long, and it's simply what went into one hit album. While it offends any punk rock sensibilities I have, I like Fleetwood Mac and this album quite a bit, so I gave it a whirl. Most of the intrigue involves the dynamics at play among the band members when it was recorded -- basically two intra-band couples were splitting and Mick Fleetwood, the odd man out, was being left by his wife. And yet they came together and made a record that sold a bazillion copies.

That story is told a bit like a soap opera, but it's interesting. More appealing to me is the behind-the-recording stuff. A number of scenes at the mixing board with the engineers and a couple dozen tracks for any given song, and they deconstruct it accordingly. You won't hear a song the same way after it's been broken down like that -- for the better. It also inspires studio fun. "Gold Dust Woman" has tracks of harpsichord, dobro, and other instruments layered into the mix.  And in the scene Lindsey Buckingham describes "Second Hand News," he plays a track from it that's... chair.  A pleather chair in the studio, repurposed as a percussion instrument. Gets you thinking in your own studio.

* * * * *

Okay... so far, so good.  Here's what's left on my long list. You can look up any titles that aren't self-evident. I have seen a number of these before, anywhere from 4 or 5 to 25 or 30 years ago. Long ago enough that it will feel like the first time, to quote a band whose documentary (if it exists) I likely won't be watching.

What do you think?  It beats watching mindless shows about Floridiots with tigers.