I recently re-watched Cameron Crowe's semiautobiographical masterpiece Almost Famous and am pleased to report it is as good as I remember it, possibly better. The movie is full of memorable moments that all spring from one key scene. When his sister Anita (Zooey Deschanel) leaves home to be a stewardess she leaves William Miller (Michael Angarano and Patrick Fugit) a gift that will set him free. A bag of records including:
- Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys
- Sweet Baby James, James Taylor
- Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones
- II, Led Zeppelin
- Axis Bold as Love, The Jimi Hendrix Experience
- Wheels of Fire, Cream
- Blue, Joni Mitchell
- Blonde on Blonde, Bob Dylan
- Tommy, The Who
I understand the albums we see are baste on Crowe's own record collection from the time. Despite being recorded before I was born I own most of these albums we see. One thing has always bugged me about the scene, we get a glimpse of another cover but I have never been able to work out what it is. In the hope of finding the answer I took to the internet. I didn't find the answer I was looking for but I did find THIS script from the movie. As is often the case it differs from the finished film, it contains this description of the scene:
William locks the door. He reaches under his bed. It's a black leatherette travel bag, with tartan design. He unzips the bag — it's filled with albums. He flips through the amazing, subversive cache of music. Cream's Wheels of Fire… the seminal Bob Dylan bootleg Great White Wonder… the Rolling Stones' Get Yer Ya Ya's Out… The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds… Abraxas by Santana… Jethro Tull's Stand Up… The Mother's of Invention's We're Only In It For The Money… Led Zeppelin… Crosby, Stills and Nash… Miles Davis' Bitches Brew… and The Who's Tommy… with a note taped to it.
Take a look at this, as he flips through them its the third album we see between Sweet Baby James and Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! Any ideas who what it is?
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