Today's episode is about "Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten", from 2007, directed by Julien Temple. Our guest today is Elizabeth Nelson of the band The Paranoid Style. Check out their outstanding new album The Interrogator: https://theparanoidstyle.bandcamp.com/album/the-interrogator Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten is more of a wake for the then-recently departed punk rock legend than a by-the-books rock doc. Many of Joe's family, friends, musical compatriots, actor and director...

Today's episode is about "Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him)?", from 2010, directed by John Scheinfeld. Our guest today is Galen Howard, star of stage and screen. Check out his Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/galenhoward/?hl=en Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him)? takes us through the life of the unlikely, self-destructive pop genius. Harry rose from a troubled childhood to become the Beatles' favorite musician. Many of the famous...

Today's episode is about "All I Can Say", from 2019, directed by Danny Clinch, Taryn Gould, Colleen Hennessy, and, posthumously, Shannon Hoon. Our guest today is Ryan Bradford. Check out his Substack at https://awkwardsd.substack.com/ as well as our previous episode with Ryan about GWAR. "All I Can Say" is compiled from VHS footage taken by Blind Melon singer Shannon Hoon from his early days as an aspiring musician right up until a few hours before his death at 28 from an accidental drug...

Today's episode is about "The Greatest Night in Pop", a 2024 Netflix doc about the making of "We Are the World", directed by Bao Nguyen. The move has two acts - Act 1 is a heist film-style tick-tock about how the concept came together at the behest of Harry Belafonte, the song got written despite Stevie Wonder ghosting Lionel Richie, and the Avengers of 80s Pop was assembled just in time for the recording. Act 2 has us in the room during one very long night as Quincy Jones triest to wrangle...

Today's episode is about "Ain't in It for My Health: A Film About Levon Helm", from 2010, directed by Jacob Hatley. Our guest today is a returning champion, Eamon O'Flynn, host of Record Roulette Podcast, which can be found on Twitter @rrmusicpod - check out our previous episode with Eamon about "Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band". "Ain't in It for My Health" is very different from Robbie's movie - it offers an intimate and revealing picture of The Band's legendary singer...

Today on Rock Docs we discuss "The Song Remains the Same", a 1976 film about Led Zeppelin directed by Peter Clifton and Joe Massot. For those who haven't seen the film, or whose memory of seeing it is lost in a drug-addled haze (as it was meant to be seen), the movie starts with LZ manager Peter Grant dressed as a 1930s gangster shooting a Nazi werewolf and it just gets weirder from there. This is nominally a concert film (is it even a rock doc at all?) shot during the band's 1973 shows at...

Today on Rock Docs we discuss "Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone", a 2010 film about the alternative rock band Fishbone, co-produced and co-directed by Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler, and narrated by actor Laurence Fishburne. Our guest for this episode is Dallas McLaughlin, Fishbone superfan and the world's foremost satirist. Check out his stuff at dallasmclaughlin.com Everyday Sunshine goes into the backstory of Fishbone, how busing, desegregation, and the clash of various LA music...

Welcome to Nick's Pick's Vol. 3, in which we invite our friend and returning champion Nick McCann on to discuss any documentary he chooses. Today's episode is about "Sound City", a 2013 doc about the LA recording studio Sound City. The movie was directed by Dave Grohl. The movie features a bunch of Dave Grohl's buds such as Stevie Nicks, Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Trent Reznor, Stephen Pearcy from RATT (underrated!), Rick Rubin, and of course Rick Springfield. Also: if you directed a music...

Today's episode is about "Don't Look Back", a 1967 doc about Bob Dylan directed by D. A. Pennebaker. Our guest for this episode is Ray Padgett, author of "Pledging My Time: Conversations With Bob Dylan Band Members", the Dylan Substack "Flagging Down the Double E's", and the "Every Tom Waits Song" Substack. Don't Look Back is one of the most well-known and well-regarded music documentaries of all time. What is there to say? It's Don't Look Back for chrissakes. Enjoy our conversation about...

Today's episode is about "X: The Unheard Music", a 1986 doc about the LA-based punk legends X. The movie was directed by W.T. Morgan. Our guest for this episode is another legend: Juliana Hatfield! Juliana is known for her many solo albums along with her work with the bands Blake Babies and the Lemonheads. Her new album, Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO, is out now. We can't get it out of our heads. X: The Unheard Music features the band performing many of their classic songs (along with their...

It's our 2nd annual Thanksgiving look at The Last Waltz. This time we're joined by Julia Swanson, noted superfan of the late Robbie Robertson.  Plus: imagine all of the guests at the Last Waltz got sick and had to cancel at the last minute. Who among the constellation of rock stars circa 1976 would you draft for your very own Last Waltz team? Rock Docs is a Treble Media Podcast hosted by David Lizerbram & Andrew Keatts   Twitter: @RockDocsPod   Instagram: @RockDocsPod   Cover...

Today's episode is about "Anvil! The Story of Anvil", a 2008 doc about the then-obscure Canadian heavy metal band Anvil. The film was directed by Sacha Gervasi. Our guest for this episode is Fran Broderick, who records as Left-Handed 2nd Baseman. Check out his new album "The Dogs Race to the Door" and more at lh2b.com. The movie follows the band's two core members, childhood friends Steve "Lips" Kudlow and Robb Reiner, as they confront the challenges of being middle-aged rockers who never...

This episode is a recording of the first-ever live Rock Docs podcast, recorded at the home of Michael and Kristy Rennie along with friends and fans of the podcast. Along with King Crimson superfan Roger Morrison, we watched the 2022 documentary "In the Court of the Crimson King: King Crimson at 50", directed by Toby Amies. What you'll hear in this episode is the conversation following the screening. The movie is an exploration of the legendary prog rock band King Crimson, overseen by Robert...

Today's episode is about "Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing", a 2006 doc about the (formerly Dixie) Chicks and the fallout from Natalie Maines' famous 2003 comment, "We do not want this war, this violence. We're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas". The film was directed by Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck. Our guest for this episode is the music writer and podcast producer Dylan Tupper Rupert. We follow the band as they deal with the immediate repercussions of the...

Today's episode is about "The Devil and Daniel Johnston", a 2005 doc about the musician, outsider artist, and revered cult figure Daniel Johnston, directed by Jeff Feuerzeig. The movie was selected by our guest Noah Bond, who plays drums with many excellent bands including Cut Worms, Bonnie Doon, Sylvie, and Anna St. Louis. Daniel Johnston was an illustrator, filmmaker, and a musician who wrote and recorded countless beautiful songs, most of which were captured on a home cassette deck...

Today's episode is about "Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliche", a 2021 doc about the British punk legend and X-Ray Spex leader, directed by Celeste Bell and Paul Sng. The movie was selected by our guests, Sweeping Promises. Check out their outstanding new album Good Living Is Coming for You. Poly Styrene, born Marianne Joan Elliott-Said, was the child of a Scottish-Irish mother and a Somali father. Celeste Bell, her daughter, narrates and appears in the film in addition to being its co-director....

Today's episode is about "Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami", a doc about legendary Jamaican singer and style icon Grace Jones, directed by Sophie Fiennes. The movie was selected by our guest, Kyp Malone, who you probably know from the seminal 2000's Brooklyn indie-rock band TV on the Radio. Bloodlight and Bami and is a verite portrait of Grace Jones' life, over the course of a few years in the 2010s. If you're looking for a Wikipedia-style run through Grace Jones' career and the backstory...

Today's episode is about "The Elephant 6 Recording Co." (C.B. Stockfleth, 2023), about the titular record label's roster of wild outsider indie artists such as Neutral Milk Hotel, the Olivia Tremor Control, the Apples In Stereo, Elf Power, the Music Tapes, the Minders, the Gerbils, of Montreal, Beulah, Dressy Bessy, Great Lakes & more. Our Very Special Guest is the legendary Lance Bangs, whose credits are too long to list here, but he's worked with most of your favorite musical artists...

Today's episode is about "WHAM!" (Chris Smith, 2023), a hot new Netflix doc about the massively successful George Michael/Andrew Ridgeley collab. Our Very Special Guest is Candice Renee from Treble Media! Our podcast is brought to you by Treble Media. And Candice was our guest way back in 2021 for our episode about the documentary "Hype!"! She only talks about rock docs with exclamation points! WHAM! is actually a very sweet movie about two best friends who supported each other through an...

Today's episode is about "Grateful Dawg" (Gillian Grisman, 2000), which chronicles the friendship and artistic collaboration between Jerry Garcia and David Grisman. Our Very Special Guest is Brian Weinsten of the podcast Attendance Bias. Brian was nice enough to have us on his show and we're returning the favor. Grateful Dawg is very much a family affair - the director's father is David Grisman, other family members appear in the show, and it features cinematography by Justin Kreutzmann,...

Today's episode is about "Harvest Time" (Neil Young, 2022), which consists of footage shot by Neil and his crew between January and September 1971 during the creation of his acclaimed and beloved album "Harvest".   Our Very Special Guest is Tyler Wilcox, who plays in the band Prairiewolf (check out their self-titled album out now!), curates the excellent Doom & Gloom From the Tomb site (a selection of rad bootlegs + other music), and writes for Aquarium Drunkard, among other...

Today's episode is about "Gimme Danger" (Jim Jarmusch, 2016), which is about Iggy & the Stooges. It's a rags-to-more rags story. We are all at least halfway to Jarmusch-heads. And of course we all love Iggy & the Stooges. If you care about punk rock, or any kind of rock, or music, or just watching Iggy, an extremly articulate and thoughtful person, discussing the fascinating events of his life while surrounded by his laundry, this is the movie for you. Plus: Iggy roasts "Marrakesh...

Today's episode is about "20,000 Days on Earth" (Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, 2014), which is about Nick Cave.   Is this even a documentary at all? It's sort of a semi-fictionalized day in the life in which we follow Nick as he records some music, performs live, visits his therapist, hangs out with friends including Warren Ellis, Kylie Minogue, and Ray Winstone, among others, delivers some monologues, and generally looks and acts super cool, depending on your tolerance for Nick Cave doing...