Inspired by The Mad Hatters Love of Almost Famous. Anyone who has seen the film will remember the life changing event that happened to young William Miller. The character based on writer/director Cameron Crowe lives with his older sister and their oppressive/repressive mother. When his sister leaves home (to a soundtrack of America by Simon and Garfunkel) she tells William: “One day you’ll be cool. Look under your bed, it’ll set you free”. What he finds under his bed is her record collection, actually part of Cameron Crowe’s own collection from when he was a kid. As William flips through the records you can clearly see what eight of them are:
The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds
The Rolling Stones: Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out!
Led Zeppelin: II
Jimi Hendrix Experience: Axis Bold as Love
Cream: Wheels of Fire
Joni Mitchell: Blue
Bob Dylan: Blonde on Blonde
The Who: Tommy
So what compelled my to blog about this? Very simply I own six of the eight albums used in the scene.
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Good God, seeing it laid out like that makes me want to change one of my desert island picks. After all, II is Led Zep’s best album. That Cameron Crowe knows his shit.
Not sure, I’m torn between II and their fourth album. I love them both.
Yeah, IV’s no joke. But Lemon Song’s my all-time fav. Bring it on Home is top three, too.
I think I smell a weekly poll coming on…
I would struggle to choose between a few of them.
I have seven of eight on vinyl…one of these days I really do need to get my hands on “Blonde on Blonde”
That’s the bit I kept quiet about, when I say album I mean it in the most generic of ways, I have them on CD not vinyl. If you don’t have it you really need to get Blonde on Blonde.
[…] Gonna need those tunes. Almost put A Hard Day’s Night in this spot, but after mulling over Andy’s thoughts on the AF soundtrack, the Fab Four had to take a step down. Helps that the first time I saw this I thought it was the […]
Great post Andy, watching that clip reminded me how much I enjoyed that film the first time I saw it, it seemed so fresh. So often, so much of what I enjoy about a film has to do with the soundtrack and the way its used, timing is crucial, and here Crowe gets it pitch perfect.
That is one of my favourite scenes in the film, that and the bit where they all sing along to Tiny Dancer.
A classic example would be the way Scorcese used great tracks in Goodfellas to bring a scene to life, to give it lasting character, like whenDeNiro is sitting at the bar smoking and the camera moves in on him slowly as you hear the opening chords of Sunshine of your Love.
As I type I am searching for Led Zepp II on Spotify. Thanks for reminding me of part of the reason I go to the movies.