Eric Clapton

In the summer of 1965 the most popular song in America was the debut single by The Byrds. With their mushroom haircuts, 3-part harmonies, and jangly electric 12-string sound, they were to be America's answer to The Beatles. They weren't. Instead, they invented folk rock and attracted a generation of recording artists to Los Angeles. Echo In The Canyon is a look back at the influence and the music of those artists (The Byrds, The Mamas & the Papas, Buffalo Springfield, The Beach Boys) from Southern California's age of innocence (1965 - 1967); the beginnings of Los Angeles' Laurel Canyon music scene, and how the echo of these artist's creations reverberated between each other and ultimately across to London (where it alters the course of The Beatles themselves.) The songs from that era provide an entry point as Jakob Dylan and a new generation of artists whose own body of work reflect the echoes of that pivotal time (Beck, Fiona Apple, Norah Jones, Regina Spektor, Cat Power and others), interpret and perform the songs paying homage to, and in many cases in front of, its authors. Dylan journeys to those who wrote the songs and discovers why they were written and what life was like in Los Angeles' Laurel Canyon in the years before psychedelia and the birth of the singer/songwriter era. He uncovers never before heard personal details behind the recordings and those who made them popular. Performing and or speaking are Tom Petty, Brian Wilson, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Stephen Stills, Roger McGuinn, Michelle Phillips, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Jackson Browne, John Sebastian, and Lou Adler.

Eric Clapton is one of the most revered and influential guitarists of all time. From his early days with the Yardbirds, through John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, Derek And The Dominos and on to his solo career he has had consistent critical and commercial success. "Planes, Trains And Eric" follows Eric Clapton and his band on the Far and Middle Eastern leg of his 2014 World Tour. The film features 13 full length performances from the tour intercut with interviews with Eric Clapton and the band members, rehearsal and soundcheck footage, travel by trains and planes, presentations and "fly on the wall" filming of all the many aspects of being on the road with Eric Clapton.

The film delves into the best-known songs and the sounds they generated, and with access to the masters and the mix-down on the tracks, plus a considerable amount of archival footage, the effect is dazzling -- and the film offers 30 minutes of music material that was not seen on the broadcast version of this same documentary. The highlights among the new footage -- shot on the occasion of the 2005 reunion tour -- include a contemporary acoustic performance of "Sunshine of Your Love" by Clapton and a solo piano performance of "We're Going Wrong" by Jack Bruce; and a glimpse of Ginger Baker playing solo in the studio, in addition to his account of his musical and personal debt to British drumming legend Phil Seaman. —Eagle Vision

An unstable policeman who recently lost his wife is paired with a homicide detective with an impeccable record to investigate a suicide that leads to an international crime ring.

A film account and presentation of the final concert of The Band. Thanksgiving, 1976, San Francisco's Winterland: the Band performs its last concert after 16 years on the road. Some numbers they do alone, some songs include guest artists from Ronnie Hawkins (their first boss, when they were the Hawks) to Bob Dylan (their last, when as his backup and as a solo group, they came into their own). Scorsese's camera explores the interactions onstage in the making of music. Offstage, he interviews the Band's five members, focusing on the nature of life on the road. The friendships, the harmonies, the hijinks, and the wear and tear add up to a last waltz. —<jhailey@hotmail.com> Concert film of The Band's last concert, with a "few friends" and a full brass band showing up to help them out. Concert footage is interspersed with a few studio sessions (Emmylou Harris, The Staples) and candid interviews of Band members by a series of hopelessly-inarticulate reporters. Muddy Waters plays a full-grown, natural-born lover's man, Neil Young plays a helpless (and legless) dope fiend, Robbie Robertson plays a cocky upstart who challenges Eric Clapton for guitar bragging rights (no spoilers here - you'll have to watch to see who won). —Stephen Foster <StevenAlly@aol.com>

Made shortly after his death, this documentary explores the brief life and remarkable legacy of guitarist Jimi Hendrix. This documentary was made three years after Jimi Hendrix's untimely death. At the time it was an example of how a visual biography should be done, but some of the information in it needs revising in the light of new information uncovered over the years. The film contains concert footage spanning the Marquee in 1967 to his last UK performance at the third Isle of Wight festival in 1970; along the way we see classic performances at Monterey (1967), Woodstock (1969), Fillmore East (1969/70), and Berkeley (1970). A double album was released to tie-in with the film, containing the complete performances in the film, along with interviews with people in the film (not necessarily the same interviews). The film is worth seeing for Jimi's performances, and to hear what his contemporaries have to say about him (Eric Clapton, Mitch Mitchell, Lou Reed, Mick Jagger, Pete Townsend, and others).