Advertisement
Cameron Crowe managed to snare the use of four classic Led Zeppelin songs for his forthcoming movie, Almost Famous, much to his surprise. The hard rockers are notoriously stingy with their catalog, and wouldn't let Crowe use "When the Levee Breaks" from "Led Zeppelin IV" in his debut 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High (to coincide with the dialogue where Brian Backer's character Rat declared side two of "Led Zeppelin IV" to be "the best make-out music"). Instead of "Levee," Crowe was forced to substitute "Kashmir," from the band's Physical Graffiti, much to the consternation of Led Zep purists everywhere.
This time out, Crowe was not only eighteen years older and wiser,
but took an early cut of the movie to London for
Robert Plant and Jimmy Page
to see, before asking for permission to use their songs.
They were so enthralled with the movie -- which actually borrows
from the time Crowe spent on the road with them for a Rolling
Stone story -- that they gave their OK for the use of four of
their songs, including "That's the Way," which will appear on the
soundtrack (out on Dreamworks Sept. 12). As for the movie itself,
in theatres Sept. 15, it's a semi-autobiographical story of a
journalist on tour with a fictional band dubbed Stillwater, an
amalgam of all the bands Crowe covered for Rolling Stone.
Pearl Jam's Mike McCready stars as one of the
Stillwater members, while Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Crowe's
mentor, legendary music critic Lester Bangs. Peter
Frampton (the film's music director),
Heart's Nancy Wilson (Crowe's wife) and
Red House Painters' Mark Kozelek also make
brief appearances.
The track listing to Almost Famous:
The Beach Boys, "Feel Flows"
Simon and Garfunkel, "America"
The Who, "Sparks"
David Bowie, "I'm Waiting for the Man"
Rod Stewart, "Every Picture Tells A
Story"
Thunderclap Newman, "Something in the Air"
Lynyrd Skynyrd, "Simple Man"
Stillwater, "Fever Dog"
Elton John, "Tiny Dancer"
Todd Rundgren, "It Wouldn't Have Made Any
Difference"
Nancy Wilson, "Lucky Trumble"
Yes, "Your Move"
Cat Stevens, "The Wind"
The Allman Brothers Band, "One Way
Out"
The Seeds, "Mr. Farmer"
Clarence Carter, "Slip Away"
Led Zeppelin, "That's The Way"
JAAN UHELSZKI
(August 11, 2000)