{"id":7879,"date":"2026-01-07T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/cameron-crowe-will-say-anything\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T15:00:00","slug":"cameron-crowe-will-say-anything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/cameron-crowe-will-say-anything\/","title":{"rendered":"Cameron Crowe Will Say Anything"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/Cameron-and-Robert-Plant-1973-Neal-Preston.jpg\" width=\"1200\" height=\"819\" alt=\"Cameron Crowe and Robert Plant, 1973. (Credit: Neal Preston)\"><figcaption>Cameron Crowe and Robert Plant, 1973. (Credit: Neal Preston)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>When you\u2019ve led a life like Cameron Crowe, you\u2019re bound to keep everything. Backstage passes from touring with Led Zeppelin in 1973. Four hours of tapes from an interview with Pete Townshend at the <em>Quadrophenia<\/em> tour kickoff the same year. A legendary note from Gregg Allman written on Miyako Hotel letterhead in which he threatened to hijack Crowe\u2019s interview (and almost his career). Not to mention scripts and prop pieces from <em>Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Almost Famous<\/em>,<em> <\/em>and <em>Say Anything.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>But Crowe nearly lost it all in 2025. As the Palisades Fire ripped through Los Angeles County, he came <em>this close<\/em> to seeing his house\u2014and six decades worth of treasures from his storied career across film and journalism\u2014burn into oblivion. The flames miraculously extinguished in his driveway. And in another stroke of luck, he had turned in the manuscript for his memoir, <em>The Uncool<\/em>, just 24 hours prior, cataloging many of those memories into one defining collection.<\/p>\n<p>More from Spin:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2026\/01\/bruno-mars-new-album\/\">Bruno Mars In A \u2018Romantic\u2019 Mood With New LP<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2026\/01\/robyn-new-album\/\">Robyn Readies \u2018Sexistential\u2019 For March Release<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2026\/01\/pat-smear-foo-fighters-broken-foot\/\">Pat Smear To Miss Foo Fighters Shows After Breaking Foot<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cIn a weird way, I was at peace with all that I would have lost [because] at least I wrote this book where I could access it all,\u201d Crowe shared in a recent interview from his new abode (he still hasn\u2019t been able to go home due to the toxic smoke), fresh off a book tour moderated by a host of friends and muses including Eddie Vedder, Kate Hudson, Sheryl Crow, and John Cusack.<\/p>\n<p>Besides, Crowe said, shrugging, \u201cHow am I not going to remember what it\u2019s like to be around Pete Townshend and David Bowie?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Out now on Avid Reader Press, <em>The Uncool <\/em>is, in fact, a total misnomer. The incredibly detailed 322-page chronicle offers a portrait of one of the <em>coolest <\/em>people to ever have a byline or director\u2019s chair. In many ways, it\u2019s an addendum to his cinematic self-portrait <em>Almost Famous, <\/em>and much like that movie\u2019s effect 25 years ago, someone right now is reading Crowe\u2019s book and wanting to find their way into music journalism. Except nothing will come close to what Crowe was able to accomplish\u2014or witness.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Uncool <\/em>is a firsthand tour through a mythical epoch of music and culture that died long ago, when interviews happened over a span of days, weeks, and months in hotel rooms, backstage corners, and even private planes. \u201cThe story was everywhere,\u201d Crowe recounts in the book. It was the halcyon era of the golden gods of rock, and he had a front row seat.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"850\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/Kris-Kristofferson-and-Cameron-in-San-Diego-1972-courtesy-of-Vince-Compagnone.jpg\" alt=\"Cameron Crowe and Kris Kristofferson in San Diego, CA. (Credit: Vince Compagnone)\" class=\"wp-image-651361\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/Kris-Kristofferson-and-Cameron-in-San-Diego-1972-courtesy-of-Vince-Compagnone.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/Kris-Kristofferson-and-Cameron-in-San-Diego-1972-courtesy-of-Vince-Compagnone-340x241.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/Kris-Kristofferson-and-Cameron-in-San-Diego-1972-courtesy-of-Vince-Compagnone-768x544.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/Kris-Kristofferson-and-Cameron-in-San-Diego-1972-courtesy-of-Vince-Compagnone-498x353.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Cameron Crowe and Kris Kristofferson in San Diego, CA. (Credit: Vince Compagnone)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As the book uncovers in glorious detail, the young scribe spent an unfettered 18 months with the notoriously anti-media David Bowie during this Thin White Duke era in Los Angeles. He traveled with Led Zeppelin (again) on The Starship during the band\u2019s <em>Physical Graffiti<\/em> tour. He witnessed Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris find a connection in real-time. He saw Bruce Springsteen\u2019s notable Troubadour debut. And all before he had a driver\u2019s license.<\/p>\n<p>To this day, Crowe remains the youngest-ever contributor to <em>Rolling Stone. <\/em>After stints with San Diego\u2019s underground beat paper <em>The Door <\/em>and music mag <em>Creem, <\/em>Crowe began publishing articles for <em>Rolling Stone<\/em> at 15, frequently ditching classes for feature assignments. On one occasion, he convinced a teacher to give him class credit for the Zeppelin assignment.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, there have been some mishaps over the years, too. The worst interview, Crowe said, was John Mayall, though he fine-printed the situation as, \u201cIt was not because of him. It was because of me.\u201d Crowe added, \u201cI did this amazing phone interview with him and he was telling me stories about Eric Clapton. This was early on. I was so excited. But it was before the time of having the proper equipment. I had like a suction cup microphone that I put on the phone that recorded none of it. And if I remember correctly, I tried to do the interview again because I had not gotten one word. And I think the answer that came back was no way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Crowe also recalled that when he was sent to interview Steve Miller for <em>Rolling Stone, <\/em>\u201che cast me aside saying \u2018I was too young to understand his complete musical knowledge, his complete musical scope.\u2019 I thought he was joking. He wasn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1462\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/Cameron-Jimmy-Page-on-the-Starship-1973-Neal-Preston.jpg\" alt=\"Cameron Crowe and  Jimmy Page on the Starship, 1973 (Credit: Neal Preston)\" class=\"wp-image-651363\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/Cameron-Jimmy-Page-on-the-Starship-1973-Neal-Preston.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/Cameron-Jimmy-Page-on-the-Starship-1973-Neal-Preston-340x414.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/Cameron-Jimmy-Page-on-the-Starship-1973-Neal-Preston-768x936.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/Cameron-Jimmy-Page-on-the-Starship-1973-Neal-Preston-498x607.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Cameron Crowe and  Jimmy Page on the Starship, 1973 (Credit: Neal Preston)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Even so, in other situations, youth was Crowe\u2019s advantage. \u201cIt was partially my age, partly that it was a novelty that I was a younger person who knew their music so well, and the fact that there were such fewer outlets,\u201d Crowe rationalized about how he was not only able to get access to bonafide legends but also get them to break down the sex\/drugs\/rock and roll fourth wall for incredibly revealing conversations that showed a more human side.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In many ways he came at it as a fan and friend, going against mentor Lester Bangs\u2019 advice of \u201cdon\u2019t make friends with the rock stars\u2014they\u2019ll ruin you.\u201d Bangs be damned, though, what Crowe did worked. After <em>Rolling Stone <\/em>published his profile on Led Zeppelin in 1975, editor Ben Fong-Torres handed over a box of fan letters sent to the magazine\u2019s headquarters that thanked Crowe for the in-depth piece.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you were from one of those magazines [<em>Rolling Stone, Creem, <\/em>or <em>Circus<\/em>], they\u2019d talk to you,\u201d Crowe added. \u201cAnd if you were young and knew the stuff, they would say things like, \u2018Well that was fun. Why don\u2019t you come to Tucson?\u2019 And I\u2019d be like, \u2018Yeah, that\u2019d be great!\u2019 Like I could just do that. My parents would freak out. They\u2019d be like, \u2018What\u2019s in Tucson? More promiscuity? What are they doing to you?\u2019 I\u2019m like, \u2018They\u2019re answering my questions!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rock stars aside, Crowe\u2019s family are the other incredibly amiable characters that often steal the spotlight in <em>The Uncool<\/em>. For as much as the book is a coming-of-age in rock journalism, it\u2019s also just a regular coming-of-age tale about an atypical kid. In between the <em>Rolling Stone <\/em>sagas, much of the space is devoted to heartwarming recollections of the family patriarch, James, a celebrated military vet who moved the family from Palm Springs, California, to San Diego to embark on a real estate and telephone business career when Crowe was 13. There\u2019s also great attention paid to his mother, Alice, a strong-headed teacher who wanted her son to become a lawyer but also gave him his first-ever interview with Cesar Chavez when he was a guest speaker in her class. A number of the daily aphorisms she doled out as motherly advice open chapters in the book.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"779\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/Cameron-and-Tom-Petty-courtesy-of-Petty-Legacy-LLC.jpg\" alt=\"Cameron Crowe and Tom Petty. (Courtesy of Petty Legacy LLC)\" class=\"wp-image-651362\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/Cameron-and-Tom-Petty-courtesy-of-Petty-Legacy-LLC.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/Cameron-and-Tom-Petty-courtesy-of-Petty-Legacy-LLC-340x221.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/Cameron-and-Tom-Petty-courtesy-of-Petty-Legacy-LLC-768x499.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/Cameron-and-Tom-Petty-courtesy-of-Petty-Legacy-LLC-498x323.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Cameron Crowe and Tom Petty. (Courtesy of Petty Legacy LLC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But it\u2019s Crowe\u2019s sisters, Cindy and Cathy, who perhaps had the most profound effect on his eventual career. As the youngest of three growing up in a house where rock music was shunned, Crowe\u2019s sisters would pass down their vinyl contraband with instructions on how to listen. When Cathy tragically died by suicide as a teen, those gifts (such as symbolically passing on the Beach Boys\u2019 \u201cDon\u2019t Worry Baby\u201d) took on new meaning. As Crowe says in the book, which he dedicated to Cathy, he quickly learned \u201cthe way music can serve as an emotional guide throughout your life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI remember at one point, my sister [Cindy, portrayed as the fictionalized Anita in <em>Almost Famous<\/em>] said to me, \u2018You shouldn\u2019t write about Cathy and we shouldn\u2019t talk about her openly.\u2019 I think that was just because we were still kind of figuring our way through it and maybe I wasn\u2019t ready to write about her effect on our lives yet,\u201d Crowe revealed. \u201cBut I really put it together that I wouldn\u2019t be here doing this, this thing that I love, if not for her gifting me with that passion. Because that\u2019s the best, when somebody you love or trust says, check out this music. It becomes so much more personal than an algorithm.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As Crowe continued his career, Cathy continued being a spiritual beacon. \u201cI felt that through the years, Cathy was giving me clues as to who she was, and it led me right back to the music that she wanted me to hear before she died, which was the Beach Boys and the Tremeloes and this deep-feeling pop. I couldn\u2019t stop writing about Cathy and I knew the book had to be for her. I got to introduce people to my sister.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In <em>Almost Famous,<\/em> Cathy\u2019s absence was symbolized by the empty chair at the table at the family home. As Crowe recalled, \u201cI was so conscious of it. The cinematographer, John Toll, didn\u2019t realize why I was being so adamant, as it kept getting framed out of the shot. He asked, \u2018What the fuck is going on with the empty chair?\u2019 And I was like, \u2018You don\u2019t understand, it\u2019s everything!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"801\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/on-the-set-of-Almost-Famous-Neal-Preston.jpg\" alt=\"Cameron Crowe on the set of Almost Famous. (Credit: Neal Preston)\" class=\"wp-image-651359\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/on-the-set-of-Almost-Famous-Neal-Preston.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/on-the-set-of-Almost-Famous-Neal-Preston-340x227.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/on-the-set-of-Almost-Famous-Neal-Preston-240x160.jpg 240w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/on-the-set-of-Almost-Famous-Neal-Preston-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/on-the-set-of-Almost-Famous-Neal-Preston-498x332.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Cameron Crowe on the set of <em>Almost Famous<\/em>. (Credit: Neal Preston)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It\u2019s a theme that comes up again in <em>The Uncool <\/em>in several scenarios, including when Crowe was sitting in a hotel room with Gregg Allman for an incredibly intimate chat about the band\u2019s survival after the death of bandmate and brother Duane Allman that wound up being on the cover of <em>Rolling Stone <\/em>in 1973. \u201cI never forgot that Gregg had the empty chair, too, and that he scared the shit out of me by saying his brother was sitting in it,\u201d Crowe remembered.<\/p>\n<p>Later, during the opening night of the <em>Almost Famous<\/em> musical in 2019 at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego, there was an empty seat that was saved for his mom, Alice. She had passed just days prior and, in the end, remained so proud of her son for accomplishing his dreams (it\u2019s she who often said the tagline, \u201cit\u2019s all happening\u201d). In 2022, when the show hit Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, Crowe was able to spread some of his mother\u2019s ashes as a final sendoff. \u201cIt would have really made her happy that the show got to Broadway,\u201d said Crowe.<\/p>\n<p>Thinking of all the people in <em>The Uncool <\/em>who are no longer alive made Crowe careful about how to portray them in his memoir with tender loving care. \u201cI wanted to kind of catch a moment before everything got set in stone about them, and just to have it out there, like Bowie, like Glenn Frey, even Gram Parsons\u2014you know, here\u2019s what it was like to be around them,\u201d Crowe said.<\/p>\n<p>Bowie, in particular, was a heavy character to look at in the rearview. \u201cThe most shocking thing to me was how close he was coming to dying, and I didn\u2019t realize it as much as he obviously told me about later,\u201d Crowe shared about witnessing Bowie\u2019s dark, drug-fueled days as he made <em>Station to Station <\/em>in the mid-\u201970s<em>. <\/em>It was an erratic period he and Bowie discussed in hindsight when they reconnected in 2006<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1350\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/Static_1080x1350_CameronCrowe_2025_National.jpg\" alt=\"Cameron Crowe, 2025. (Courtesy of Cameron Crowe)\" class=\"wp-image-651360\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/Static_1080x1350_CameronCrowe_2025_National.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/Static_1080x1350_CameronCrowe_2025_National-340x425.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/Static_1080x1350_CameronCrowe_2025_National-768x960.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/Static_1080x1350_CameronCrowe_2025_National-498x623.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Cameron Crowe, 2025. (Courtesy of Cameron Crowe)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cHe survived, which is a gift. But, for all we know, there could have been a John Belushi moment during that time in Los Angeles, and that could have been Bowie\u2019s legacy. I hate when that happens, when a legacy has to soak in a piece of misfortune,\u201d Crowe shared, citing other examples like Marvin Gaye, John Lennon and, most recently, Rob Reiner.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m really going through this now with Rob Reiner,\u201d Crowe admitted. \u201cIt\u2019s like, how dare you taint a body of work? And it\u2019s going to take years for it to survive a messy, unasked-for, terrible, tragic ending.\u201d As if following his own tenet, Crowe quickly extinguished the lingering sadness by offering a better memory of the late film director. \u201cYou know what\u2019s interesting, when we were developing <em>Say Anything<\/em>, the producer James Brooks was really close with Rob Reiner, and he was the first person we went to and asked to play the father. He turned it down, but I realized how much he was on my mind writing <em>Say Anything<\/em>. When I think about Lester Bangs, too, my thing was always, he reminds me of Meathead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s stories like these we can only hope will make it into a part two, if Crowe ever decides to expand on the memoir concept to tell the tales behind the movie scenes (<em>The Uncool <\/em>wraps up just as Crowe\u2019s film career is getting started). Next up on the literary front for Crowe, however, is a collection (also via Avid Reader Press) called <em>Hamburgers for the Apocalypse: The Music Journalism of Cameron Crowe<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of like a match set with <em>The Uncool<\/em> in a way, because you could read the articles that the book is about, the story behind those stories,\u201d Crowe previewed.<\/p>\n<p>For now though, making movies has taken precedence. \u201cI want to make some movies now because I want to exercise those muscles. It\u2019s been a while since I was directing. And I\u2019ve just got all this stuff stored up,\u201d Cameron shared. \u201cI get a body rush remembering what it\u2019s like to write something and have it be elevated in the hands of the right actor and with the right music. There\u2019s no greater feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Crowe\u2019s next confirmed project: a biopic on previous <em>Rolling Stone<\/em> interviewee Joni Mitchell. Crowe is naturally tight-lipped about it other than saying that filming will get started in 2026 and calling it \u201ca dramatic feature with a lot of humor.\u201dIn fact, working on Mitchell\u2019s movie gave Crowe the chance to really think about how he wanted to put together <em>The Uncool. <\/em>\u201cI just keep thinking about when you strike that chord of personal writing. That\u2019s what she\u2019s about, she\u2019s the queen of that. And with this book, I wanted to look back and kind of thank the people that opened doors for me, the people that trusted in me when they didn\u2019t have to,\u201d Crowe said. \u201cBut that\u2019s the whole experience of the life journey\u2014the little messages and things that pop up, and often it\u2019s in music.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2021\/07\/the-greatest-rock-stars-of-all-time\/?utm_source=yahoo&amp;utm_medium=bottomlink&amp;utm_campaign=yahoolink\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cameron Crowe and Robert Plant, 1973. (Credit: Neal Preston) When you\u2019ve led a life like Cameron Crowe, you\u2019re bound to keep everything. Backstage passes from touring with Led Zeppelin in&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2682,24,699],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cameron-crowe","category-pushly","category-read-me"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7879\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}