Published October 4, 2023

There are a lot of directions I could go in with this one. Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous” was already a period piece when it came out in 2000, being set in 1973, and revisiting it 50 years after its storyline was an interesting way to spend part of a vacation day.

Jann Wenner’s recent comments about women and Black artists prompted me to do some reading about Rolling Stone’s work culture in the ’70s, and this Vanity Fair story from 2018 let women who worked there have the floor. “It was us against those guys” made it into the headline of the article. I thought of that story again upon re-watching the movie and hearing Alison the Fact Checker express her displeasure at some quotes from the fictional band Stillwater after going through the scraps of paper with notes that would shape the cover story on them.

“Plus, they refer to all the women as chicks,” she says. “I mean, as a woman, I have a problem with that.”

Music and journalism? Yeah, I’m sold. This part of Vicki Sufian’s recollection of her time at Rolling Stone had me nodding in recognition for several reasons.

Cameron Crowe did an interview with Jack Ford when Ford was president. I had to fact-check it, but [Crowe] had left on vacation and left notes. One of the things Ford said in the piece is “I don’t like being in the White House. I don’t get laid as much as I used to.” This is the great quote, and so I have to call the White House and ask Jack Ford if he said this. Ford says, “Please don’t print that. I didn’t say it.” I couldn’t find it in the notes and couldn’t find Cameron, and so we had to take it out. Cameron comes back and says, “I’m really sorry. He did say it.” A few years later, Jack Ford in Page Six—talks about the time he lied to a Rolling Stone fact-checker. Me. [A rock star lying to a Rolling Stone fact-checker is a central plot point in Crowe’s film Almost Famous.]

Another thing that tickled me about the movie was that they used Stillwater as the name of the band. It had no connection with the real-life Stillwater from the ’70s, a Southern rock group from Georgia whose first album spent a lot of time on my turntable in those days.

It’s in my digital collection these days after I paid good money years ago to have it transferred onto a CD. Additionally, I listen to the “Almost Famous” soundtrack a lot, which is one reason I used it as my featured image for this post.

Of all the memorable lines in the movie, this quote delivered by Philip Seymour Hoffman in his role as rock critic Lester Bangs remains my favorite.

The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you’re uncool.”

I have nothing to add to that.