Musicians of the past brought to life in documentaries

Remembering the documentaries made last year that brought back to life lives cut short due to the musicians’ inability to handle unexpected success

It would be appropriate to commence this column with a quotation from Benjamin Franklin: “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes”, and so it was with news of singer Nat King Cole’s daughter, Natalie, passing away with the commencement of the New Year, followed by David Bowie and Eagles’ Glenn Frey.

While there is little doubt that a documentary capturing their life and times will probably reach the silver screen sooner rather than later, it would be appropriate to reminisce the brilliancy of documentaries that were made in the year gone by, which virtually brought back to life, lives that were cut short, largely due to the musicians’ inability to handle unexpected success and the pitfalls that went with it.

The one that remains currently in the limelight is Amy, the girl behind the name (released by Reliance Entertainment), the remarkable story of six-time Grammy winner Amy Winehouse in her own words.

What makes the documentary memorable is unseen archived footage and previously unheard tracks depicting Winehouse’s life largely from the standpoint of her struggle with substance abuse, both before and after her career burgeoned.

The film commences with a 1998 home movie of 14-year-old Winehouse singing along with a long-time friend at the birthday party of their mutual friend in London. The rest of the straightforward biographical depiction shows the songwriter’s life from her early childhood to her career that attained musical success — from her debut album, Frank (2003), to her second, final album Back To Black (2006) — and, with it, encompassing her troubled relationships and her downfall due to drug usage and alcohol addiction, until her premature death in 2011.

Winehouse is featured throughout the film talking about her early influences and how she felt about fame, love, family, and her music career. Complicated, yet tender, Amy captures everything that impacted the singer but, most importantly, it focuses on the very heart of the matter: her being an amazing person and a potential musical genius.

Credit for the striking film direction goes to Asif Kapadia, who was born to Indian parents, and who conducted more than 100 interviews with Winehouse’s friends and family, apparently resulting in making Amy the highest grossing documentary of all time in the U.K. Kapadia has since been nominated for a Grammy this year in the ‘Best Music Film’ category for Amy.

Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain — who, like Winehouse, died at the age of 27 — also receives a deserving documentary known as Montage Of Heck (released by Reliance Home Video & Games). Director Brett Morgan’s film — with full support from surviving family members — contains Cobain’s personal audio, and visual archives.

The documentary includes footage from his band, Nirvana’s various performances, as well as unreleased home movies, recordings, artwork, photography, journals, demos, and songbooks, made with the full cooperation of Cobain’s family, creating an intimate portrait of the late Nirvana frontman.

Intriguingly, there was yet another Kurt Cobain documentary that was also released last year, Soaked In Bleach. Soaked In Bleach is certainly a patch on Montage Of Heck, as this one — shot by Benjamin Statler — utilises the 1994 experiences of private detective Tom Grant — and some rather suspect re-enactments — to explore the question of whether Cobain did kill himself.

Another documentary that requires viewing across a wide audience is the life and musical works of late singer-songwriter and civil rights activist Nina Simone, which finally receives a long-overdue cinematic study, thanks to director Liz Garbus’ acclaimed What Happened, Miss Simone , which is also nominated for a ‘Best Music Film’ Grammy this year.

Containing unreleased archival footage, Simone’s talent and personality shine through as one who was always gloriously singular, and uncontrollable as ever, much credit due to the inputs of Nina’s daughter, Lisa Kelly, who was part of the production team as the film’s executive producer.

On December 1, 2015, the film was selected as one of 15 shortlisted for a 2016 Academy Award for ‘Best Documentary Feature’.

While Nina Simone is definitely not a member of the ‘27 Club’ — a category of musicians that have all died aged 27 — it does include Rolling Stones’ founder-guitarist Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Doors’ Jim Morrison and, not known to many, but also blues guitar legend Robert Johnson and blues band Canned Heat’s founder, Alan ‘Blind Owl’ Wilson too.

Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse became new additions to that list and, like most predecessors, their memories survive thanks to the respective and respectful heartfelt documentaries.

The writer has been part of the media and entertainment business for over 23 years. He still continues to pursue his hobby, and earns an income out of it.