Cameron Crowe

This is a lightning-speed read as Crowe recounts one fascinating adventure with rock stars after another. It's heartening to see the kindness he received as a teenage interviewer from Kris Kristofferson, and the time he spent with David Bowie is fascinating. Ronnie Wood comes across as a truly great guy as well. There are lots of other stories as well, and he had memorable meetings with so many stars who were lost to us--Jim Croce and his guitarist Maury Muehleisen, Gram Parsons, and Ronnie show more Van Zant of Lynryd Skynrd, for example. It's also a moving story about his family, his two older sisters, his mother and father.

But the whole time I'm reading it, there's also a feeling of skepticism. Some of these stories seem a bit embellished perhaps? There are also a few factual errors, such as the site of the plane crash that killed Jim Croce. Mostly, though, there are just big holes in this selective memoir. Nancy Wilson (of Heart) whom Crowe was married to for 24 years is mentioned only once in the narrative, as his then girlfriend, and she is mentioned in the thanks part at the end. Of course, Crowe also leaves out his failed movies and other ventures, but I hate to think he considers his marriage that much of a failure.

So, in any case, if you are fascinated with rock music, you'll find a lot to like here. But, like me, you may find that while Crowe's tone seems confessional, he's hiding an awful lot. show less

Given that the 2000 film Almost Famous is widely known to be a semi-autobiographical version of Cameron Crowe’s time as a teenage journalist for Rolling Stone magazine (for which Crowe won a Best Original Screenplay Oscar), you might think you already know his story.

Or, knowing that he went on to write and direct movies like Say Anything, Singles, Jerry Maguire, and more, that he’s obviously had a very cushy life.

The Uncool is Crowe’s real memoir and puts the lie to both these show more assumptions.

For one thing, the Almost Famous account of young William Miller following fictional band Stillwater doesn’t come even close to Crowe’s actual early achievements.

From writing record reviews at the age of 14 for a San Diego free underground paper, through interviewing farm worker and political activist Cesar Chavez, to writing for Creem at the invitation of Lester Bangs (still 14), Crowe talked his way backstage to interview the early Eagles, then Kris Kristofferson, Jim Croce, Gram Parsons, Jerry Garcia, Gregg Allman, Todd Rundgren, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, Ron Wood, David Bowie (spending 18 months with him), Fleetwood Mac, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, and Joni Mitchell.

Among others. How he managed that at such a young age makes great reading.

I couldn’t help thinking how when I was a 12-year-old in my bedroom in Claremont, Tasmania, trying to work out how Jim Croce used harmonics in Time in a Bottle, Crowe – two years older than me – was interviewing the man himself.

And then there’s his family life. While Frances McDormand was indelible as his fictional mother in Almost Famous, the real story of Crowe’s family, especially his mother, Alice, is much more moving.

The Uncool also covers the uncomfortable time when Crowe was 21 and “washed up” at Rolling Stone, usurped by a hungrier writer eager to cover newer music.

At this point, Crowe realises that starting professional life so young has meant he has nothing more than a high school diploma he received in the mail to prepare him for another career.

He has the idea of impersonating a high school student to write a story about modern teenagers. That became Crowe’s book Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which became the movie of the same name, for which Crowe wrote the screenplay.

Crowe’s profile of Sean Penn during the making of the movie is, frankly, worth the price of the book alone.

Despite studio scepticism, the movie is a hit, credited as uncovering a new movie audience. When Todd Rundgren later convinces Crowe to film him playing a new song, he feels a new rapture for filmmaking, “like writing but without a pen”.

“Congratulations,” said Tom Petty, “you’re a director.”

Crowe bookends his memoir with the preparations for and eventual Broadway debut of Almost Famous: The Musical, adapted for the stage by Crowe himself. This, like all the anecdotes in the book, is interspersed with highly emotional family drama.

It’s no surprise that Crowe is a terrific writer with fantastic material. I suppose it also shouldn’t surprise that someone so good, so young at getting people to open up to him should open so much about himself.

If any of the names in this review ring a bell or strike a chord with you (musical pun intended), you’ll find The Uncool an absolute delight.

Highly recommended. show less

This is a memoir of an amazing talent who did what he wanted to do from age 13 on - listen to rock music, meet, and write about the musicians who would let him hang out with them. It's also a tribute to his family - his mother, whose portrayal by Frances McDormand in the movie Almost Famous steals the film; his two elder sisters, one of whom was perceived as "different" back in the late 60s when there was no diagnosis, just condemnation and shunning; his other sister who got him his first show more job as a music writer and became estranged from the family for decades; and his father, who recedes into the background as his mother and her wise aphorisms take center stage in the Crowe family. And then what follows is an amazing run of writing about and becoming chummy with almost ever prominent rock star of the era - too many to name, but most significantly Ronnie Van Zant of Lynyrd Sknyrd, David Bowie, Tom Petty, and some strange encounters with Gregg Allman. As an adolescent boy, he is awkward with women and only Joni Mitchell seems to penetrate his obsession with white male rockers. After he grows up, he decides to write his own memoir and out pops Almost Famous, which becomes a movie and leads to his second career as a director of such acclaimed films as Fast Times at Ridgemont High (based on his decision to spend two semesters at a local high school as an adult - which he can do because he still looks about 12, and sounds like all through the audiobook), Say Anything, Jerry Maguire, and Vanilla Sky. Throughout the memoir, his sincerity and his love for his family shine through, with one very large hole: where is his ex-wife Nancy Wilson of the band Heart, who was his spouse from 1986 to 2010?? He announces towards the end that he has had a daughter with a new love, but not one mention of his 24 year marriage? This omission really had a negative impact for me. show less

Of course, I had to read Cameron Crowe's memoir, and of course, I was delighted by it. I've been a fan ever since I picked up a copy of Fast Times at Ridgemont High from a bargain table at Waldenbooks around '82. I loved the book, which was better than the film (which was still fun). You can't get that book anymore; it sells used for over $1k.

In '85, I had a roommate who had attended Claremont High, which was the real Ridgemont.

His film Singles remains the closest thing I have to a memoir show more of my life in the early '90s. I'm not in the film, but it perfectly captured the feelings I had as a single and my dating life. It was also one of the many reasons I ended up moving to the Seattle region.

And since I love music, this was a fantastic memoir not only of Crowe's family life but also of his rock interviews and the basis for his later film, Almost Famous. Pick it up if you are a fan of the 70s. show less