Image via Wikimedia Commons
This series is virtually never ending, you guys. In compiling this third edition, we had absolutely no trouble finding five more quality music documentaries on YouTube. In fact, this might be our best collection yet.
No niche genres or obscure artists here, really: these five films are all about hugely famous people and bands with widespread influence. (Okay, there's one doc in there about a musician not everyone's heard of – but she's incredibly important, and you'll thank us later.) Bowie and Lemmy are in the mix, of course, as well as several other icons who are, thankfully, still with us.
1. Cracked Actor
This infamously raw 1975 BBC doc shows the late David Bowie at a presumably delicate stretch of his life: After touring America behind Diamond Dogs, he spent a good chunk of 1974 in LA admittedly ingesting more cocaine than food on a daily basis. But the New Republic was spot on in describing it not as an indictment of the artist but, rather, a testament to his prowess as the brazenly creative "shape shifter" he'd ultimately be revered as. This is post-Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane, but at the time, it could have looked to be a signal of the end of Bowie, despite the fame he'd already amassed – but, as we all know now, it was only a transitional footnote in the greater scope of a lengthy, groundbreaking career.
2. Motörhead: The Guts and the Glory
There's a newer doc paying homage specifically to Lemmy Kilmister – Lemmy, released in 2010. But because it's not currently available on YouTube, and because we think you may want to take some time to remember Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor too, who also recently passed, we're calling this one a winner. Cinematography wasn't much a concern for the makers of Motörhead: The Guts and the Glory; this is basically a collection of barebones interviews with the players themselves about the history of the band arranged chronologically, for the most part. The informality of it actually works in its favor, though. After all, this is Motörhead we're talking about, and putting on airs was never their thing. The bickering and joking around is endearing; the whole thing rings more authentic and natural than most films about legendary rock gods do.
3. Nas: Time is Illmatic
Centered on the making of Illmatic, Nas' 1994 debut that's still heralded by many as the best hip-hop album of all time, this critically lauded doc offers more than just a biography of the iconic rapper. The sociopolitical context of Illmatic, dating back decades, is detailed as much as the artist's own upbringing – even though it's mainly an interview with Nas used to narrate the film. Its timely release – 20 years after the fact – afforded it plenty of hindsight to also analyze the album and the artist's lasting impact.
4. Sister Rosetta Tharpe: The Godmother of Rock and Roll
She was a pop star – a rock star, really – before the term ever existed. Back in the '30s and '40s, Sister Rosetta Tharpe was famous for her masterful guitar picking and emotive performances. This PBS documentary, which first aired three years ago, is smart to heavily rely on live footage to tell her story. Explaining how the gospel great pushed the genre into the secular mainstream and pioneered the style that inspired Chuck Berry and Elvis helps, but for those just discovering her, understanding the immensity of her influence lies in actually seeing Sister Rosetta Tharpe's legendary showmanship for themselves.
5. The Irish Rock Story: A Tale of Two Cities
Belfast and Dublin were incredibly disparate cities at the time that rock and roll came to Ireland, but the first-generation groups of the '60s and later successors helped create a bridge – both in terms of music scenes and sociopolitical environment – that transformed the two. Included in the island's rock and pop lineage are Van Morrison, the Undertones, Thin Lizzy, Sinead O'Connor and, of course, U2, among others.
For more music docs to watch on YouTube, see part one and part two of this series.
Jhoni Jackson is an Atlanta-bred music journalist currently based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where she juggles owning a venue called Club 77, freelance writing and, of course, going to the beach as often as possible.
