Add 2 More to the List

You all recall the music documentary quest I embarked upon last year in the nadir of lockdown. I need to go back and examine where I finished. Well, not finished, as it's a living endeavor. Where I stand, rather.

The list of rockumentaries was long but distinguished. So last night I was in a solitary state of Empty-Nester Lester and decided to check back into the world of music+film. And despite there being many entries on the original list that I have yet to take in, check this out: there are a pair of new additions to the mix. To quote Rock Master Scott and the Dynamic Three, here's something fresh! 

First, I watched a film currently on Netflix called Count Me In. It's a piece on drummers and drumming through the years. Exclusively as told by rock drummers themselves. There's no trailer I can find, oddly (unless you click the link above and log into Netflix), so this synopsis will have to do:

Count Me In is an exhilarating celebration of the art of rock drumming, featuring some of the best drummers ever to have graced the drumkit. From Roger Taylor (Queen), Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Stewart Copeland (The Police), Cindy Blackman (Santana, Lenny Kravitz), Keith Moon (The Who), Nick Mason (Pink Floyd) and John Bonham (Led Zeppelin), we are taken on a uplifting journey through some of the most iconic music ever created, focusing on the women and men with the sticks, their passions, culture and awe-inspiring energy.

There are way more interviewed drummers than what's listed above, and tons of clips through the years. Why they wouldn't make more noise about the fact that the Human Drum Machine Topper Headon of The Clash offers his thoughts therein is just crazy...

Second, I watched a film currently on Amazon Prime called Under the Volcano. It's about the music studio George Martin (the George Martin) created on the island of Montserrat in the late 1970's. The lineup of artists who recorded there in the waning time before natural disasters struck was . . . well . . . long but distinguished. Excellent old footage and new interviews. It's the second music documentary I've watched about a particular recording studio, and the second one done well.

I'll continue to plow through the extensive catalog of the music docs that caught my eye. Stay tuned.

If any of you have watched these or any other amidst the genre, chime in with recommendations or reviews. I am loath even to think about the notion of another lockdown at this point, but after the wedding we were slated to attend in New Orleans right after JazzFest weekend -- an event that had stayed the course even after the Fest was cancelled a couple of weeks ago -- just got nixed, there's a tad more angst and dread in the air.

I guess that calls for a punk rock documentary next.