Movie Articles: Almost Famous--William meets Stillwater

As my latest project I have begun writing articles from famous movies as I think the characters would have written them and in some occasions how I would have written them myself. I started with Almost Famous (not the best idea in retrospect) and decided to put it in a magazine layout. Here goes!

I'm including the text alone here in case the text in the layout isn't visible. All comments, suggestions encouraged :)

Text:

“One of those people is going to save the world and that means that ROCK AND ROLL CAN SAVE THE WORLD---all of us together.” 

I grew up with music as my savior thanks to my sister, Anita, who introduced me to Cream, Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, and Miles Davis.  Upon giving me the CD of The Who’s “Tommy”, she claimed “Listen to Tommy with a candle burning and you will see your entire future.

In what was a strict and, admittedly, strange household, music soon became the liberation movement, along with writing. So what better way to spend my life than writing about the magic of Rock and Roll?

Upon giving me my first assignment, my childhood hero, Lester Bangs proclaimed, “You got here just in time for the death rattle, the last gasp. The last grope.” But what a mighty grope it turned out to be once I got a grip on it.

I couldn’t have gotten off on a worse foot when arriving at a Black Sabbath concert on my first assignment. As we drove up, my mother yelled “Don’t Take Drugs,” as I exited the car to enter the San Diego Sports Arena, causing raucous laughing from the concert goers surrounding us. Then there was the challenge of actually getting inside.

Upon approaching the back entrance, I was told that I was not allowed in and was sent to the top of the ramp “with the girls”. It was there that I met Estrella, 17, and Penny Lane, who presented themselves as “Band Aids” (do not ever call Band Aids groupies, “no more sex, no more exploiting our bodies and hearts…just blow jobs”, they exclaimed).

Penny Lane was beautiful, with flowing blond curls and enough charm to make you fall in love with her with one look. Estrella was blonde and innocent, despite the talk of sex and drugs surrounding the scene atop the ramp.

As I spoke to the girls, Stillwater approached on their Bus, “Stillwater Tour 73”, painted on the side.  The band was composed of Russell Hammond, the star guitarist, Jeff Bebe, the singer, Ed Vallencourt, the quiet drummer and Larry Turner, the bass player. The director of the grand orchestra was band manager, Dick Roswell.

Upon first meeting them, the band refused to talk to me, claiming journalists were “frustrated musicians”. It was not until I praised the song “Fever Dog”, that they believed I may have been a legitimate fan and not just an enemy trying to infiltrate the camp. It was my saying, “and the guitar sound was incendiary” that really won over the guitarist. 

Russell then began to open up, giving me the first one-on-one interview of my career; however hurried it was amid the chaos backstage. I had my handy tape recorder and, despite evidence to the contrary, felt like the coolest man in town.

“Rock and Roll is a lifestyle, and a way of thinking. It’s not about money and popularity. It’s a voice that says here I am and FUCK YOU if you can’t understand me,” he began as he smoothed the strings of his guitar with a dirty cloth. 

Russell would go on to explain how it was chasing the “Buzz” that had gotten them out of Troy, Michigan and touring across the country to share their message. 

“We’re here because we needed to fucking be here, not just 'cause we needed to be away from Troy, Michigan, WHICH WE DID... but what it all comes down to is that thing,” he continued. 

Then he stressed the quote that most got me hypnotized: 

“One of those people is going to save the world and that means that ROCK AND ROLL CAN SAVE THE WORLD---all of us together. 

It was then time for the ring director to corral then band and get them to stage to open for Black Sabbath. The band huddled together, touched feet, “broke” and headed on to the stage, before I knew it I was surrounded as well, as much a part of the band as the colorfully laminated suitcases carrying the instruments.

In a blur of time, the band was on the stage, Jeff transformed with the microphone in his hand while Russell showed off, playing with his guitar cord for the fans—becoming the star almost immediately. They began with the song, “If you Say Nothing” and within the first thirty seconds the crowd was completely invested. The show had begun.

The show passed in a flurry as I watched with the girls, Russell shining against the rest as a consummate star with the lights barring down upon him. After the show, I was invited with the band to the Continental Hyatt House in Los Angeles, which they affectionately called “The Riot House”.

The warning from Bangs before my mission rang out “Once you go to L.A. you’re going to make friends, but they’ll be fake friends. They’re going to try and corrupt you. You can’t be friends with Rock Stars.” 

Jaded throughout, Bangs claimed upon sending me out that “they will ruin rock and roll, strangle everything we love about it.” 

But right now, at least for me, the dream was alive. And I was part of the family. The initial embarrassment that had come when I was sent to the top of the rank was long forgotten. For here was a sense of comradeship I’d never experienced. For once there was no overarching worry that I didn’t fit in, that I was younger, that I wasn’t one of them. 

Black Sabbath began playing, and despite it being my assignment, I was busy outside the arena getting Penny Lane’s number in case I “needed a rescue”. She talked of flying off to Morocco just the two of us, and my new world expanded. 

I stumbled home dreaming of jam sessions at the Riot House and a private tour of Morocco with Penny Lane, still wearing her fur coat under the blistering heat of the desert.