THE 50 BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARIES OF ALL TIME

Music has always played an important part in cinema since the very beginning of the industry. The early films were silent but were accompanied by a pianist or even, in some large cities, a small orchestra in theaters. When recorded, synchronized sound began in 1927, it was a game-charger for the movies and the first sound feature film released, "The Jazz Singer" was, not surprisingly, a musical.

Over time, documentaries were made about music and the gifted artists who created these sounds. In recent years, this has exploded with a large number of movies about musicians, well-known, obscure or forgotten, in all genres have been filling cinemas and streaming channels.

Vulture has put together a list of fifty of what they consider to be the best music documentaries of all time. First putting these selections together in 2015, they have updated this listing to include recent releases. These movies (which include a few concert films) are all important and fascinating documents. There are films which deeply explore what has made many of these popular musicians so vital; highlight professionals who had assisted singers and musicians with their careers and reveal talented artists who never had a real opportunity to shine in their lifetime yet remain highly influential.

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The 50 Best Music Documentaries of All-Time

LISA MARIE PRESLEY (1968 - 2023)

Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of the rock & roll legend, Elvis Presley, shockingly passed away at the age of fifty-four. The music artist had suffered from cardiac arrest at her home on January 12th but no other details has been released to date.

She was only nine years old when Elvis Presley died in 1977,  becoming the sole heir to the estate after the passing of her grandfather and great-grandmother by 1980. On her twenty-fifth birthday, Presley inherited the estate, which had grown to over one hundred million dollars. But she decided to turn the funds into the Elvis Presley Trust which continued the management of the estate including Graceland, Presley's mansion in Memphis turned tourist attraction after his death.

After her two high-profile yet short-lived marriages to Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage ended, Presley decided to finally venture into a professional music career and at the age of thirty five released her debut album, "To Whom it May Concern" in 2003. This bluesy rock album, with Presley co-writing all of the songs, was a moderate critical and commercial success with the single, "Lights Out" cracking the top forty on the US pop chart. She would release only two more albums during her career in music, the follow-up, "Now What" in 2005 (which featured a cover of Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry") and "Storm and Grace", a roots album produced by T Bone Burnett in 2012, both receiving a warm reception with modest sales.

Presley is survived by her mother, actress Priscilla Presley; her daughter Riley, an actress, from her first marriage to musician Danny Keough and fraternal twins, Harper and Finley Lockwood from her fourth husband, musician Michael Lockwood. Presley's only son, Benjamin Keough died at the age of twenty-seven from an apparent suicide on July 12, 2020.

NEW SOUNDS

LADY GAGA & TONY BENNETT

After Lady Gaga recorded a song with Tony Bennett for the sequel to his popular "Duets" album in 2011, this unlikely duo got along so well that they wanted to do an entire album together. That has finally worked out with "Cheek To Cheek", a collection of jazz standards. Their wish is that this record will get younger listeners interested in these classic songs by such composers as George Gershwin, Cole Porter and Duke Ellington. Recorded the old-fashioned way, live with an orchestra, Gaga and Bennett seem to inspire each other and had a lot of fun together.

Here is their swinging version of the Irving Berlin song, "Let's Face The Music and Dance":

"Let's Face The Music and Dance" -Lady Gaga & Tony Bennett (2014)

Take a look at the music video for "Anything Goes" for an example of how much these two enjoy each other:



BARBRA STREISAND

"Partners", the thirty-fourth studio album from Barbra Streisand is another duets release from the legendary performer but this time, most of the songs are re-recordings of her previous hits. Produced by Walter Afanasieff and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds (who is also one of her duet partners on "Evergreen"), the CD features some of the best vocalists in music history. The line-up includes Lionel Ritchie ("The Way We Were"), Billy Joel ("New York State of Mind"), John Legend ("What Kind of Fool"), Josh Groban ("Somewhere"), Stevie Wonder ("People") and most surprisingly, the late Elvis Presley on his classic, "Love Me Tender".  Some of the match-ups are more effective than others but overall, "Partners" is still worth a listen. It's interesting to note that there were no other female singers used on this project. Perhaps no one was available? Anyway, the album is off to a great start as it has reached the top-ten in several countries and debuted at number one in the U.S.

Here is the virtual musical pairing of Streisand with the "King", who actually came very close to co-starring with her in the 1976 remake of "A Star Is Born":

"Love Me Tender" - Barbra Streisand & Elvis Presley (2014)

SMOKEY ROBINSON

On his first CD in four years and on his new label, Verve, Smokey Robinson has also decided to go the duets route on the appropriately entitled, "Smokey & Friends". Like the Streisand record, Robinson has rounded up some of his musical buddies (such as James Taylor, Elton John, Mary J. Blige, Sheryl Crow and John Legend) to rework the songs he wrote and made famous. Sadly, there really isn't much here that's inspired or particularly memorable.

One of the more interesting tracks is with Steven Tyler of Aerosmith who together do an adequate blues-rock version of "You Really Got a Hold On Me". Have a listen: