In 1959, Berry Gordy Jr. gathered the best musicians from Detroit's thriving jazz and blues scene to begin cutting songs for his new record company. Over a fourteen year period they were the heartbeat on every hit from Motown's Detroit era. By the end of their phenomenal run, this unheralded group of musicians had played on more number ones hits than the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, Elvis and the Beatles combined - which makes them the greatest hit machine in the history of popular music. They called themselves the Funk Brothers. Forty-one years after they played their first note on a Motown record and three decades since they were all together, the Funk Brothers reunited back in Detroit to play their music and tell their unforgettable story, with the help of archival footage, still photos, narration, interviews, re-creation scenes, 20 Motown master tracks, and twelve new live performances of Motown classics with the Brothers backing up contemporary performers.
Peter Case has lived a life of constant change, soaring highs, and soul-crushing lows. This film walks a million miles in the shoes of one of America’s last great troubadours.
Pearl Jam perform live at Madison Square Garden on 8 July 2003 as part of the Riot Act Tour, the band's first with organist Boom Gaspar.
Documentary on roots rocker Ben Harper and his band, the Innocent Criminals - featuring music from his album "Pleasure and Pain".
Ben Harper playing with the Innocent Criminals at the Hollywood Bowl in 2003
One Love documents the December 1999 tribute concert honoring reggae pioneer Bob Marley produced in Oracabessa Bay, Jamaica, and originally broadcast on the TNT cable network. Featured is a cross-section of major rock, pop, hip hop, and reggae talent including Lauryn Hill, Chrissie Hynde, Jimmy Cliff, Erykah Badu, Queen Latifah, Busta Rhymes, and Tracy Chapman. For its DVD release, the producers have restored an hour of additional footage not included in the broadcast, including bonus songs performed by the Marley Family and a behind-the-scenes featurette. Exclusive DVD features also include a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound mix and a multi-angle presentation of the concert finale, enabling users to select from five separate angles.
When six teenage boys came together as a skateboarding team in the 1980s, they reinvented not only their chosen sport but themselves too – as they evolved from insecure outsiders to the most influential athletes in the field.
Filmed over the last six months of the 2000 Presidential election, Phillip Seymour Hoffman starts documenting the campaign at the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, but spends more time outside, in the street protests and police actions than in the orchestrated conventions. Hoffman shows an obvious distaste for money politics and the conservative right. He looks seedier and more disillusioned the campaign progresses. Eventually Hoffman seems most energized by the Ralph Nader campaign as an alternative to the nearly indistinguishable major parties. The high point of the film are the comments by Barney Frank who says that marches and demonstrations are largely a waste of time, and that the really effective political players such as the NRA and the AARP never bother with walk ins, sit-ins, shoot-ins or shuffles. In the interview with Jesse Jackson, Hoffman is too flustered to ask all of his questions.
Gatling Pictures' "Cure for Pain: The Mark Sandman Story" examines the life and work of Mark Sandman, deceased frontman of Boston "low rock" band Morphine. From his Newton, Mass., roots to his travels across America and around the globe, Sandman left an indelible imprint as one of the most distinctive musicians of his generation. Along with revisiting the "unique and sultry sound" of his music, the film explores the meaning of family through this critically praised and personally conflicted singer, songwriter and innovative instrumentalist.
Live concert footage of the Dave Matthews Band, Ben Harper and Relentless7 and Gogol Bordello, shot at the three-day Austin City Limits festival in October 2009.
Winner of the 2005 Maui Film Festival's Best Short Film Documentary, this eye-popping video captures big-wave surfing at its most insane. Made by the folks who brought you Step in Liquid and Riding Giants, the film features tow-in trailblazers Laird Hamilton, Dave Kalama, Darrick Doerner and others taking on Peahi, Maui's enormous swells during the winters of '04 and '05. Fueling the action is a hot soundtrack courtesy of Pearl Jam, U2 and Beck.
Earlier this month, Eddie Vedder, Melissa Etheridge, John Mellencamp, Ben Harper and Sting brought the songs of Bruce Springsteen to an unlikely venue: Washington, DC’s opulent Kennedy Center. The full Kennedy Center Honors aired on CBS last night, giving fans the opportunity to see the New Jersey legend sitting beside President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as a cavalcade of artists professed their admiration for his life and music. Caroline Kennedy described Springsteen as “a rocker from the Jersey shore who created his own musical universe and across America and the world became ‘The Boss,’ ” at the top of the show. (Read our on-the-scene report from the Kennedy Center Honors, which also paid tribute to Robert DeNiro, Dave Brubeck, Mel Brooks and Grace Bumbry.)
My Way is more than a song, it's a major score that has crossed the boundaries of eras and generations. An anthem that has become a part of ourselves and of music history. My Way is one of the most covered songs in the world, from Sid Vicious to Tom Jones, from Nina Simone to Pavarotti. Yet many people are unaware that it was conceived in France, by the pool of Claude François' private hotel, in the summer of 1967, and that a succession of chance encounters and sleepless nights guided it across the Atlantic to the man who was to make it a legend. Like a biopic, this documentary recounts the birth of a myth and how a song entered the pantheon of pop culture.
Recorded on September 28th, 2014 in Los Angeles, musicians pay tribute to their favorite George Harrison songs.
The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.
Rachel and Pete invite you to join them in the ATTIC for an unforgettable musical experience. Trailing The Who's world tour, IN THE ATTIC is a series of live performances in intimate clubs across America.
Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals recorded live at the XM Studios in Washington, DC on June 19, 2007.
Live at the Apollo was a by Ben Harper and The Blind Boys of Alabama filmed at the Apollo Theater (Harlem, New York), on October 12, 2004. Born October 28, 1969 Ben Harper is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae and rock music[1] and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live performances and activism. Harper's fan base spans several continents. His albums have been commercially successful in North America, Europe and Oceania. Harper is a two-time Grammy Award winner as well, winning awards for Best Pop Instrumental Performance and Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album, in 2005.
Happy 80th Birthday, Ringo! The Big Birthday Show is a Starr-studded charity broadcast with featured performances by Ringo, Paul McCartney, Joe Walsh, Ben Harper and Dave Grohl, Gary Clark Jr., Sheila E., Sheryl Crow & more, plus additional guest surprises! Show to benefit Black Lives Matter, The David Lynch Foundation, MusiCares & WaterAid through Ringo’s Lotus Foundation.
Ben Harper performs songs from his latest album, "No Mercy in this Land", accompanied by harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite, in a memorable concert at La Cigale.
The stories of some of the biggest artists in music, recalling the romance and adventure, as well as the idiocy and chaos, of their time on the road. While the world has changed, the custom has not changed. There is no other way to know whether you can make it in this business. You have to get in the van.
For decades, the most-cherished piece of gear owned by Grammy-winner Ben Harper has held a secret. Watch as Ben tells the story...and sheds light on its maker, famed tube amp builder Howard Dumble.
Filmmaker Drew Thomas brings California's popular Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival to the screen with a different kind of musical documentary that not only showcases performances by some of the hottest acts to take the stage, but offers interviews with such musical icons as Beck, Joshua Homme, Mos Def, and Perry Farrell as well. From English icon Morrissey's performance at the inaugural Coachella Festival back in 1999 to Canadian indie rockers the Arcade Fire's electric 2005 set, the musical acts featured here run the gamut from hip-hop to alternative and virtually everything in between. Other artists featured include the Pixies, the Flaming Lips, Kool Keith, Radiohead, Saul Williams, and Squarepusher.
Promotional performance filmed for ARTE Concert
Rising musician Jeff Buckley had only released one album when he died suddenly in 1997. Now, never-before-seen footage, exclusive voice messages, and accounts from those closest to him offer a portrait of the captivating singer.
Features live clips and 16 artists performances from Bonnaroo 2009 in Manchester, TN. Performances by Amadou & Mariam, Andrew Bird, Beastie Boys, Ben Harper and Relentless 7, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Cage The Elephant, Coheed and Cambria, The Del McCoury Band, Elvis Costello, Jenny Lewis, Passion Pit, Phish, Raphael Saadiq, Santigold, Snoop Dogg, The Decemberists, Zac Brown Band
What begins as a love story becomes an existential crisis when filmmaker Sebastian Silva flies to Miami to fulfill his lifelong dream of swimming with a dolphin.