20 music documentaries you must watch if you liked A Star is Born

Good Ol Freda

Not every music documentary has to be about a musician. You might think that’s odd, but not when you read about Good Ol Freda, which focused on the person who made everything happen behind the scenes for one of the most popular bands in history, The Beatles.

The 2013 documentary was, in fact, inspired by The Beatles, but it wasn’t about the Beatles. Instead, the film focused on Freda Kelly, who was the secretary to the band and their manager Brian Epstein from 1962 until 1972, and also president of their official fan club. Her close relationship with the band as they rose from a local gem to worldwide fame has been a point of interest for years, but she always turned down book deals and interview opportunities. She even gave most of her Beatles memorabilia away to fans over the years.

Kelly was already a fan of the band when she was taken on as a secretary for their manager, Epstein, at the age of 17. Her first task was to create the fan club, and she was quickly inundated with hundreds of letters every day, which she personally responded to. Even following Epstein’s death in 1967, she continued to work with the band.

Despite turning down offers for years, Kelly finally agreed to a documentary by filmmaker and family friend Ryan White, who raised almost $60,000 on Kickstarter for the production. The film focused on the girl from Dublin, Ireland, who went against her father’s advice to work with the band. It premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in 2013, and the name was inspired by a Christmas album recording where George Harrison thanks Freda Kelly by name, with the other members following with “Good ol’ Freda!”