Almost Famous (2000)

Visual cues notwithstanding, Crowe states, "The true inspiration of the movie is music. It's about that feeling you have when you've just discovered a song, and you listen to it ten times in a row. You might eventually get sick of the song, but for that moment, you're ageless, you're timeless, you're in your own private universe. That's a feeling I think only music can give you. I wanted to do a movie that tapped you on the shoulder and said, 'I've felt that way too.' But if you're going to declare so openly that you love music, you should show why you love it so much, so the goal was to write a love letter back to music."

Collaborating with composer Nancy Wilson and music supervisor Danny Bramson, Crowe incorporated both score and songs to evoke the period as well as the emotions of "Almost Famous." Fans of 1970s music will recognize the music of some of the most influential artists of the day, including Led Zeppelin, The Who, Elton John, Black Sabbath, Joni Mitchell, Yes, Simon & Garfunkel, The Allman Brothers, and more.

In addition, Crowe and Wilson collaborated pseudonymously to write several of the original songs performed by Stillwater in the movie, including 'Fever Dog," and 'Love Thing," while Wilson's sister, Ann, joined the songwriting team on "Chance Upon You." Peter Frampton also contributed to Stillwater's discography," co-writing the songs "Hour of Need" and "You Had to Be There."

Wilson offers, "Music has the power to transport you. The songs from that era can bring you back to that time and can even make you remember what you were feeling when you first heard them. Creating an original score to complement and work around the songs in the film was a delicate balance."

'The songs are a souvenir of that time for me," Crowe reflects. 'And the artists--some of them are still in the spotlight, some have been forgotten--but these were people who were mythic to me, and I wanted to say, remember them, support them, love them'; they were great to me. I think the lesson is that the music is to be treasured along with the memories, and I'm very proud that so many of those artists supported us and valued what we were doing by letting us use their songs in the movie."

He concludes, "In some ways, doing this movie was my way of saying thank you to the people who spoke to me and reached me and changed my life: my mom, my favorite bands, my sister, Lester Bangs, and the girls that taught me a little bit about love along the way. Those times and places and people are unforgettable to me. It was a time that in some people's eyes is ancient history... but it was just around the last corner and hopefully we caught a whiff of it with this movie.

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