Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
The Uncool: A Memoir
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"Cameron has written a book that feels like music, an intimate souvenir, like a song you can't stop listening to." --Stevie Nicks
The long-awaited memoir by Cameron Crowe--one of America's most iconic journalists and filmmakers--The Uncool is a joyful dispatch from a lost world, a chronicle of the real-life events that became Almost Famous, and a coming-of-age journey filled with music legends as you've never seen them before.
Cameron Crowe was an unlikely rock and roll insider. Born in 1957 to parents who strictly banned the genre from their house, he dove headfirst into the world of music. By the time he graduated high school at fifteen, Crowe was contributing to Rolling Stone. His parents became believers, uneasily allowing him to interview and tour with legends like Led Zeppelin; Lynyrd Skynyrd; Bob Dylan; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; and Fleetwood Mac.
The Uncool offers a front-row ticket to the 1970s, a golden era for music and art when rock was young. There's no such thing as a media junket--just the rare chance a young writer might be invited along for an adventure. Crowe spends his teens politely turning down the drugs and turning on his tape recorder. He talks his journalism teacher into giving him class credit for his road trip covering Led Zeppelin's 1975 tour, which lands him--and the band--on the cover of Rolling Stone. He embeds with David Bowie as the sequestered genius transforms himself into a new persona: the Thin White Duke. Why did Bowie give Crowe such unprecedented access? "Because you're young enough to be honest," Bowie tells him.
Youth and humility are Crowe's ticket into the Eagles' dressing room in 1972, where Glenn Frey vows to keep the band together forever; to his first major interview with Kris Kristofferson; to earning the trust of icons like Gregg Allman and Joni Mitchell, who had sworn to never again speak to Rolling Stone. It's a magical odyssey, the journey of a teenage writer waved through the door to find his fellow dreamers, music geeks, and lifelong community. It's a path that leads him to writing and directing some of the most beloved films of the past forty years, from Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Say Anything...to Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous. His movies often resonate with the music of the artists he first met as a journalist, including Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Who, and Pearl Jam.
The Uncool is also a surprisingly intimate family drama. If you've seen Almost Famous, you may think you know this story--but you don't. For the first time, Crowe opens up about his formative years in Palm Springs and pays tribute to his father, a decorated Army officer who taught him the irreplaceable value of the human voice. Crowe also offers a full portrait of his mother, whose singular spirit helped shape him into an unconventional visionary.
With its vivid snapshots of a bygone era and a celebration of creativity and connection, this memoir is an essential read for music lovers or anyone chasing their wildest dreams. At the end of that roller-coaster journey, you might just find what you were looking for: your place in the world.
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Book Details
ISBN:
9781668059432
EAN:
9781668059432
Binding:
Hardcover
Pages:
336
Authors:
Cameron Crowe
Publisher:
Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
In coming across this book amongst the gazillion others on Kindle, I recognized I might get some answers to one of my favorite movies, Almost Famous. From the first of a bazillion times watching that movie (ok, I had a crush on Kate Hudson), the musical undertones always pulled at me about something I wish I had done at a young age: Taken that risk. While the movie reminds you he was 16, this autobiography drives it home by giving you the chance to realize people like Gregg Allman, Glenn Frey, Bowie, and Jimmy Page were opening up their lives to a teenager who figured out how to listen. And the stories were impressive, captured by a kid who took a shot to follow a dream. He could have let his mother strong arm him into that godforsaken law career, but rock and music culture won.It’s easy to see in the beginning how Crowe might feel ‘Uncool’, but even after Allman’s scare, Crowe hit the Cool big time. While Almost Famous plays through this book constantly, the stories are more heartfelt because Crowe talks about the people, not the rock stars, making them more relatable despite the trappings of fame. Even snarling Lou Reed.And you meet Alice, a force of nature reflected in Frances McDormand characterization, but learn there was more to her than fear for her son and daughter in the drug addled early 70s.I’m now dying to find his original articles to read what he wrote and see how his voice evolved with each new experience. They must be out there somewhere without spending a small fortune on a Rolling Stone subscription.
Short Answer: One of the Best! Buy Immediately! I remember watching the movie “Almost Famous” & marveling at the writing & how he tied everything together. Watching movies is a personal journey. Yes, you talk about it with your friends, but you watch it from the viewing eye of your personal background. What joy to watch this author weave that movie into such a story & with it, create the movie star Kate Hudson in an incredible role.NOW, we have the real story on which Almost Famous is based. AND IT’S BETTER!. Reading books is definitely a person journey. It’s you and the book for about 6 hours and this book will bring you to tears and open your eyes in amazement at the REAL story behind the movie and much more. If you don’t enjoy books, just read the chapter on Greg Allman about halfway through the book. Almost Famous centered around the teenage rock journalist interviewing a band but really attempting to interview the star guitarist. Repeat that sentence replacing Allman as the interviewee who hates interviews and is fresh from the death of his brother/partner. But somehow Cameron accomplishes this interview & it’s completely taped! UNTIL Allman demands the tape & threatens the young Crowe! What happens next? How is the story written? What changed Allman’s mind and what was said years later? It is literally much better than the movie and THAT, is a small example which happens repeatedly throughout the book is why you must read it.But I segued from that story into a 3 minute chapter about a cute friend in her 20s dating a 69 year old Cary Grant. OK, this is too much let’s make some prank calls to Cary Grant & Lucille Ball. So, I did what I did when I’m reading something great, I researched and bought her book on dating the star written after his death. What I’m trying to say is this book is about discovery and deeper than Almost Famous but really in just a different outlet: book vs. film which for many is more detailed and easier to get to the truth. And we receive closure with his wonderful, eccentric Mother (with a fitting ending), his sister, and two other members of the family not mentioned in movie.Here is a “young genius” if I may, who became a journalist (and quite a good one who specialized in getting the interviews no one else good get, yes, you also Joni Mitchell), wrote a definitive teenage movie predicted to fail, “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”, and then moves on to movie highs like Almost Famous and Jerry McGuire. All seminal movies for a generation growing up in the USA together for us to watch and enjoy.STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING! Buy the book, audiobook, whatever, and read from this genius at conveying his generation. Cameron, thanks for the great memories throughout your life. It was worth it to all of us.
Who am I to quibble with someone able to write for Rolling Stone at the age of 15? Let me just focus on two negative aspects of this book.(1) News flash to Cameron Crowe: "Almost Famous: The Musical" BOMBED. Bad reviews. Closed after two months. Why are you spending so much time on this dribble when you're the guy who won the Oscar for the MOVIE. The movie barely rates a mention here. I guess we have to wait for Part II.(2) Was this book really edited by someone at Simon & Schuster???? On Page 79, Crowe talks about hearing the news that singer Jim Croce died in a plane crash in Tennessee. HOW DOES THE TOP ROCK JOURNALIST OF THE 70s NOT REMEMBER THAT CROCE DIED IN LOUISIANA???? Page 182...Who is TERAH? Don't you mean Tamara?There...I feel better.
What an astonishing story of a life lived in the fast lane as a 70’s music lover with an equal passion for “showing people the mirror”. The authenticity and wealth of saved artifacts from the times written about are icing on a delicious cake of well told stories. I will most likely read this book again and again.
After listening to this author on several talk shows, I knew I needed to add it to my “must read” list! So glad I did! It is the first book in a long time that even got my son interested in reading it! The book keeps the reader interested from page one to the very end of the book. So thrilled I got the book before it was sold out.
