re: What are some good music docs on cable and/or Netflix?

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New York Doll is a documentary based on the life of former New York Dolls member Arthur Kane. It was nominated for both a Satellite Award and a Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, where it premiered in 2005.

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The film details the history of both the New York Dolls and one of its members, Arthur "Killer" Kane. The film narrates the history of the band from its formation in 1972, through its drug problems and the deaths of several of its members. The central focus of the film, however, is Arthur's life after conversion to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after struggles with alcoholism, drug abuse, an attempt at suicide, and a 1992 beating with a baseball bat (falsely rumored to be related to the Rodney King riots happening at the same time) that left him near death and needing a long recovery.

As Kane struggles with both loneliness and poverty, he discovers that he will once again have a chance to perform with the Dolls in London. After overcoming his differences with former band member David Johansen, Kane has a successful performance. Upon his return to Los Angeles, Kane contemplates touring with the reunited Dolls

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1971 The year that changed Music. Apple TV +

Dio: Dreamers Never Die - Full Showtime Documentary

A must watch for any Dio fan/s.

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New York Doll

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Watching this right now, solid.

The Billy Joel Doc may be the best of them all

There was one on either Netflix or Prime about the making of Dark Side of the Moon that was very good.

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Paralyzed with polio as a child, Brooklyn-born Jerome Felder reinvented himself first as a blues singer, renaming himself Doc Pomus, then emerged as a one of the most brilliant songwriters of the early rock and roll era, writing 'Save the Last Dance for Me,' 'This Magic Moment,' 'A Teenager in Love,' 'Viva Las Vegas,' and dozens of other hits. For most of his life Doc was confined to crutches and a wheelchair, but he lived more during his sixty-five years than others could experience in several lifetimes. AKA Doc Pomus brings to life Doc's joyous, romantic, heartbreaking, and extraordinarily eventful journey. In his later years, Doc was a mentor to generations of younger songwriters, and a fierce advocate for downtrodden rhythm and blues musicians. He wrote a thousand songs including some of the most recorded songs in the history of popular music - but his most lasting gift may have been his uniquely generous spirit. 'If the music industry had a heart,' the record producer Jerry Wexler remembered, 'it would be Doc Pomus.'Packed with incomparable music and rare archival imagery, AKA Doc Pomus features interviews with Doc's collaborators and friends, including Dr. John, Ben E. King, Joan Osborne, Shawn Colvin, Dion, Leiber and Stoller, and B.B. King. Passages from Doc's private journals are read by his close friend, Lou Reed. Doc Pomus' gripping life story makes for a powerful and lively film that introduces this unique American character to a new, much wider circle of admirers.

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With his composer, Mort Shuman



With Mr Zimmerman

Jimmie & Stevie Ray Vaughan: Brothers in Blues - watch on YT

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Despite a relatively short career of just 4 years from 1965 to 1969, Small Faces stand as one of the most influential British groups of the sixties. They produced a string of hugely successful singles from their debut Whatcha Gonna Do About It through to The Universal and one of the truly classic psychedelia albums Ogden s Nut Gone Flake . This retrospective programme combines full length performances with archive interviews with the late Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane and new interviews with Ian McLagan and Kenney Jones plus short lived original member Jimmy Winston to tell the full story of this extraordinary band.

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One of the greatest bands of the British Invasion's second wave. Unfortunately they had only one US hit ("Itchycoo Park") so they're not very well known here.

Not the best made music doc ever, but it does offer extended performances instead of brief clips, which is a big plus. If you're a fan of '60s Kinks or Who, give The Small Faces a try.

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MC5: A True Testimonial is a 2002 feature-length documentary film about the MC5, a Detroit-based rock band of the 1960s and early 1970s. The film was produced by Laurel Legler and directed by David C. Thomas; the couple spent more than seven years working on the project.

Although the MC5 are considered very influential today, they were relatively obscure in their time. To make the film, Thomas collected photographs and film clips of varying quality, including U.S. government surveillance footage of the MC5's performance at the protests that took place outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. He interviewed the surviving members of the band and people closely associated with it. In the editing room, Thomas matched the band's recordings to the silent footage he had collected.

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During 2003 and early 2004, the film was shown at film festivals around the world. Critical reception was overwhelmingly positive. The New York Times described the film as "riveting"; The Boston Globe said it was "everything a rockumentary should be and usually isn't"; and The Washington Post called it "one of the best movies of the summer". Wayne Kramer, the MC5's guitarist, said it was a "wonderful film" and John Sinclair, the band's one-time manager, said Thomas had done "a fine job". In 2007, Time Out London ranked it #48 on a list of the "50 Greatest Music Films Ever".

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In April 2004, Kramer sued Legler and Thomas. In his suit, Kramer alleged that Legler and Thomas had promised he would be the film's music producer, an assertion the film-makers denied. With the lawsuit, distribution of MC5: A True Testimonial ended and plans for a DVD release in May were canceled. In March 2007, the court ruled in favor of Legler and Thomas, and the Court of Appeals upheld the decision on appeal. Nevertheless, MC5: A True Testimonial has not been released on DVD, although in 2011 the film-makers began a fund-raising campaign to pay for both a theatrical and DVD release. A drive via the fundraising website Kickstarter aimed to raise $27,000 to finance the release of MC5: A True Testimonial, but came up short

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Watch on archive.org