Cameron Crowe—best known as the writer‑director who turned a teenage road‑reporter story into the Oscar‑winning film “Almost Famous”—has spent his life walking the line between music and cinema. In a recent interview with The Post, he remembered a brief moment when his career might have branched even further, when he almost cast David Bowie in his movie.
Crowe planned for Bowie to play Rocky Fedora, a rock‑star type character who would be guided by a British publicist similar to Brian Epstein. “I still feel bad about it,” he said. As the script grew and more characters came in, Rocky faded away and Bowie’s name disappeared from the final cut. “It was tough to lose that character, and to lose Bowie,” Crowe laughed.
The experience with Bowie isn’t new, though. In 1976, Crowe was an 18‑year‑old reporter who spent months with the legend in Los Angeles, watching him create the art‑rock classic “Station to Station.” He lived in a cramped Beverly Hills house owned by the Bowies, where the singer kept to a diet of milk, red peppers and, at the time, drugs. Crowe puts it: “Somebody as famous as Bowie telling a kid, ‘Spend a year and a half around me and hold up a mirror.’ There was no assignment. I was just winging it.”
During that whirlwind period, Crowe had daily jam sessions and even a chance to try songwriting with Bowie’s “cut‑up” technique. The demo Crowe recorded had a “Space Oddity” vibe and, though it never made a record, it earned them a spot on the 1976 Rolling Stone cover. The backstage moments—including a bottle of urine on a windowsill and piscine trouble—became the fodder for Crowe’s memoir, “The Uncool.” Published by Avid Reader Press and Simon & Schuster, the book offers a raw look into the Hail‑Mary‑like “life of a teen reporter on the road.”
Crowe’s career started early. He graduated high school at 15 and then began writing hard‑hitting pieces for Rolling Stone, covering Fleetwood Mac, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Tom Petty. His first major scoop was a 1978 feature that put Petty on the national radar. The young journalist’s intimate connection with rock stars gave him backstage access that few could—he once recorded Zeppelin’s “Lyin’ Eyes” in a gay bar’s bathroom, using a tape recorder and the ambient noise of patrons.
“It was the best access I could get,” Crowe recalled. He even lived in the “Eagles’ Nest,” a rental house in Mulholland that Glenn Frey called home. He watched Eagles guitarists write “One of These Nights” from a distance, hearing the strain and excitement that made the recording unique.
Crowe’s early life was close to several music icons, and these relationships fed into his later work. When he crafted “Almost Famous,” he drew on real moments—like a tense interview with the Allman Brothers’ Gregg Allman, who, in a 2 a.m. confrontation, warned the teenager that he could be arrested for “taking notes.” Later, Allman referenced his deceased brother Duane in a shoulder‑to‑shoulder conversation that turned into a confession, not an interview. This raw honesty typifies what Crowe worked with, even when Allman’s irate reaction threatened to derail his career.
Crowe’s mother, Alice, a professor, was a steady supporter and a huge influence. His screenwriting career was built on her encouragement—after he won the Oscar for “Almost Famous,” she urged him to consider law school, but he chose the movies. Her death in 2019 left a hole Crowe frequently references, noting that she remained curious “until her last breath.”
The senior filmmaker still has new projects on the horizon. He’s quietly developing a docudrama about folk‑rock legend Joni Mitchell and is looking for ways to continue telling music stories. He was optimistic when it came up that he could bring “Rocky Fedora” as a cameo. “I like that! He’d make a great Easter egg. Who knows, he might just pop up again. I think Bowie would approve,” he said with a grin.
Crowe’s life is a collage of behind‑the‑scenes adventures, raw interviews, and the stories that shape rock history. Using a tone that feels like one story shared over coffee, he keeps his material in the mainstream, whether the topic is a classic film, a memoir launch, or a new musical biopic. For fans of rock journalism, film, and the crossover of music and storytelling, Cameron Crowe remains a central figure whose work echoes through both cinema and the pages of Rolling Stone.
Source: New York Post
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