“Almost Famous” Turns 20!
Almost Famous, Cameron Crowe’s fiction-ish film about a young music journalist in the 1970’s rock scene has just turned 20. We recently re-watched it and saw a tribute to it in Rolling Stone’s September issue, so today we’re going to talk about how much we love it.
L: This film is near and dear to my heart because, as you can tell from this blog, I love everything about music. The fact that the main character is a decidedly uncool kid with a strict mother and a pure love of rock ‘n’ roll instantly sparked affection from me. It’s careful with its sentimentality, juxtaposing a pretty innocent kid with a drug- and drama-addled rock scene.
C: I love this movie not only because of the sugar high that is hanging out with Stillwater, but that in the end the main character just wants to get away from the excess and sleep in his own bed. It shows the messiness behind the music and how intense it can be.
L: Right, with Penny Lane at the heart of it, both illuminated and damaged by that hedonism. Almost Famous also resonates because there’s a lot of truth packed into the fiction of it - legendary stories about Led Zeppelin, Heart, The Who, The Eagles. That happens to be my favorite era of rock. Led Zeppelin remains my favorite band and The Who is arguably the greatest rock band of all time. (Note that I don’t say rock ‘n’ roll, because that would be the Rolling Stones). And … that’s where the soundtrack comes in!
C: This soundtrack represents the movie so well. The lows of “Cortez the Killer” and the highs of “Tiny Dancer” mixed in with the romantic sentimentality of “Tangerine” - they provide a framework for the story.
L: Yes, and in most movies, that’s a bit of a sin, making the music do the heavy lifting. But this is a movie about music and the people who live, breathe and create it. These are the same songs Stillwater themselves would’ve been listening to.
C: Almost Famous will hold up forever because down to the last authentic prop, it’s a perfect snapshot of an iconic period in rock ‘n’ roll.
C + L