"Almost Famous", almost Poco?

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"Almost Famous", almost Poco?

Postby marc » Fri Aug 31, 2012 10:45 am

They've been running the movie "Almost Famous" on Cinamax lately and I like it. Kate Hudson sure looks as good as any groupie would want to look.

Since Cameron Crowe wrote the story based on his first original Rolling Stone article and since that article was about Poco, I've always wondered how much of the film was actually about Poco.

I've been a fan of the band since the beginning and I've heard a few things over the years but I still wonder about how closely the film reflects the bands history at that moment in time.

Anyway, I like the film.

Marc-

I have Crowe's original Rolling Stone article on a jpeg. If anyone is interested, I'll be glad to send it along to anyone who'd like to see it. Just send me an email.
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Re: "Almost Famous", almost Poco?

Postby pocojim » Fri Aug 31, 2012 12:09 pm

I have that article also (RS #133, 4/26/73) on the RS "Cover to Cover" CD set. I can make a PDF of the article (or any other Poco article that appeared in RS) for anyone who'd like a copy. Email me offline if you're interested.

Jim
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Re: "Almost Famous", almost Poco?

Postby duffyb » Fri Aug 31, 2012 4:26 pm

Always loved that movie and I know they supposedly did pay a bit of homage to Poco with the horseshoe on the front of the tour bus. I remember reading an article about this movie before it came out in Newsweek and was #@$! that they mentioned that it was about a fictitious band and the assignment was with Poco, but 'who'd want to hear about Poco.' Grrr! I wonder if Rusty has any anecdotes about this tour and article. Maybe it will be in his book. Was it Richie on the roof? Lol! Thanks Jim, I'd like to read this! I don't think I ever did. But then again, I'm old.
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Re: "Almost Famous", almost Poco?

Postby CurlyQfromLI » Fri Aug 31, 2012 6:53 pm

I had always heard that the group was based on the Allman Bros Band...although the movie took some poetic license...the dark haired guy was Gregg...not Dickey Betts, as many people thought.
This info is also mentioned in Gregg's new autobiography "Cross to Bear"
Annie

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Re: "Almost Famous", almost Poco?

Postby Bogeyfire » Sat Sep 01, 2012 1:32 am

I haven't seen the movie since it first came out, but it really hit home for me. The setting was San Diego. The kid's mentor was a combination of two of the DJs I grew up listening to at that time on KGB radio. All the concerts I went to during that period were at the SD Sports Arena, (aka, "The Sports Aroma" named for all the pot.) It was a very nostalgic movie to me.
8-)

From Wikipedia:
The film is based on Crowe's experiences touring with rock bands Poco, The Allman Brothers Band, Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. In a Rolling Stone article, he talks about how he lost his virginity, fell in love, and met his heroes, experiences that are shared by William, the main character in the film.

An actual band named Stillwater released two albums in the late 1970s. The band agreed to let Crowe use the name after they read the script.[2]
Navy Hymn- O Trinity of love and power!
Our brethren shield in danger's hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them wheresoe'er they go.
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Re: "Almost Famous", almost Poco?

Postby daysgoneby » Sat Sep 01, 2012 7:55 am

Thanks to mark for the article. A really great inside view at the beginning of the end of the richie era poco.
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Re: "Almost Famous", almost Poco?

Postby bluelarryblue » Sat Sep 01, 2012 10:20 am

I kept hearing that Poco was the basis of the band in the movie, but I never could make that connection. To me it's an amalgam of several bands, and no doubt Poco is in there somewhere. My take was that if there was one band predominant it would be the Allman Brothers. The guitar player looks like Dickie Betts. Along that timeframe, I think Betts was formulating his take off from the ABB. The dynamics of "Stillwater" as a band could probably have been taken from 90% of the bands working at the time.

Somehow, it's hard for me to picture ANY of the Poco guys jumping off a roof into a pool. Hey maybe that's a trivia contest idea - "Which Poco member jumped off the roof into a pool at a party on tour?"

Although, having seen Rusty back in the day turn his PSG up on it's side and play it with a folding chair, maybe I'm underestimating his capabiity for wildness!
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Re: "Almost Famous", almost Poco?

Postby brinash » Sat Sep 01, 2012 1:27 pm

Crowe's "mentor" in the movie wasn't an almagamation of two SD DJs, it was Lester Bangs, an actual person who really did live in San Diego--he was in my English Lit class at San Diego State in 1969.
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Re: "Almost Famous", almost Poco?

Postby brinash » Sat Sep 01, 2012 1:29 pm

But I do remember Gabriel Wisdom from both his KGB and, earlier, KPRI-FM days in San Diego. Phillip Seymour Hoffman looks more like Gabriel in the film than he does Lester.
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Re: "Almost Famous", almost Poco?

Postby Bogeyfire » Sat Sep 01, 2012 2:20 pm

brinash wrote:But I do remember Gabriel Wisdom from both his KGB and, earlier, KPRI-FM days in San Diego. Phillip Seymour Hoffman looks more like Gabriel in the film than he does Lester.


Yes. That was what I was going for. I was thinking it was Gabriel Wisdom and Jim McInnes. That was just my impression. Never read any reviews of the movie. I still miss Bob Cohburn from those days. That was my introduction to FM radio. He always had the inside gouge on the big rock stars. Years later I would catch Bob's interviews on LA station KLOS. He was a hobnobbing story teller who always sounded a little stoned with that hushed underground radio voice.
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