Let There Be Drums

➤ Rated TV-MA
➤ Multiple streaming platforms

Toe tappers, finger drummers, and more accomplished percussionists will all appreciate the new documentary Let There Be Drums. Directed and co-written by Justin Kreutzmann, son of Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann, the film features some of the best rock ’n’ rollers ever to bang the pots and pans.

Interviewees recall how they got into drumming—often through musical parents—and acknowledge other drummers’ innovations. For example, Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers says the Who’s Keith Moon was the first to put cymbal crashes in the middle of a drum fill. The film’s full of interesting rock trivia, archival footage, and home videos, such as Adrian Young’s living-room audition for No Doubt.

There’s a deeper groove, too. “This film is about our dads,” Justin says, adding that growing up with the Grateful Dead ­“surrounded by drugs … wasn’t exactly Leave It to Beaver.” But Jason Bonham remembers his father John, the legendary Led Zeppelin drummer who died at age 32, as an “everyday guy.” Most sons describe wanting to please their fathers, and fathers admit being a traveling musician caused their family lives to suffer. Young says his “soul hurt” when his wife and kids couldn’t accompany him on the road.

The film is rated TV-MA for foul language, brief nudity, and sad tales of alcohol and drug abuse. The interviewees’ veneration for music ranges from personal to New Agey; no one recognizes the God who let there be drums. The film also overlooks drummers from Christian bands. Tourniquet’s Ted Kirkpatrick (who died in August), HM Magazine’s fan-voted “favorite drummer” for 10 consecutive years, deserves mention in any drumming G.O.A.T. conversation.