two days ago we were casually discussing the greatest soundtracks of all time, and my immediate reaction was to name 'almost famous'. ok, granted, i'm not much of a movie buff, so my soundtrack experience isn't all that broad, but this grammy award-winning soundtrack has to be up there for masterfully traversing the music of the late sixites and seventies. and not the hits - the truly great music of the era. my copy of this cd is so well-loved that it's almost worn out, and full of skips scratches and glitches. but that somehow adds to the authenticity and i love it just the same.
it will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that this movie is one of my all-time favourites. i love this movie not because i identify with fifteen-year-old william miller (i don't really); more accurately, because i adore penny lane and her band-aides. and yes, to an extent i identify with them. this is a movie about music lovers, for music lovers, and that's obvious in its soundtrack (which had a budget of $3.5 million, more than double the standard budget). it's semi-autobiographical, chonicling director cameron crowe's varied adventures with bands of the era, and the soundtrack reflects that - led zepp, lynyrd skynyrd, the allman brothers' band: all bands that crowe toured with, which also dominate the soundtrack. elton john's 'tiny dancer' was surely re-popularised by the iconic 'bus scene', immediately following the equally iconic "i am a golden god" scene (another nod to led zepp) .
part of what i love about this soundtrack is the tracks included by fictional band "stillwater". frankly, penny was onto a good thing, and i couldn't help but fall a little in love with guitarist russell hammond in watching the film. even more so, i fell a little (more!) for billy cruddup in learning that the actors learnt the instruments, and played the songs themselves. a babe and a musician.... whoar! in another lovely little twist, pearl jam guitarist (and possible musical genuis) mike mccready wrote the stillwater guitar track, and some of william's experiences with stillwater allude to crowe's own experiences with pearl jam.
full of throwbacks to classic bands like led zepp, buddy holly, neil young, fleetwood mac, hendrix, and oh so many more, the almost famous soundtrack comprises about fifty iconic songs of the era. the album couldn't include all of them, and my only complaint is that it didn't include dr hook's "the cover of the rolling stone" - a crucial point in the movie and a wonderful song to boot. that point notwithstanding, this is one of my favourite ever albums: i dare you to put it on and not fall back in love with rock n'f*n' roll.
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