GEFFEN RECORDS
Almost Famous: Original Soundtrack Deluxe Ed. - Various Artists
(5CD Box Set)
A Brilliant Rock Film Deserves the Deluxe Treatment: Epic Almost Famous 5CD Box Set Features 102 Tracks (36 Previously Unreleased), Poster, Book, and Rolling Stone Article
"Look under your bed – it'll set you free." With those enticingly enigmatic words, an empathetic, hip older sister bequeaths to her hyper-smart but nerdy 11-year-old brother her Rosetta Stone to life in the late-'60s: a prized trove of expertly curated rock, pop, and folk albums that set into chaotic motion young William Miller's eye- ear- and mind-opening journey in director Cameron Crowe's quasi-autobiographical 2000 ode to rock ‘n' roll fandom, Almost Famous.
Two decades later, the Oscar/BAFTA/Golden Globe Award-winning film remains one of the sweetest love letters to the genre, one that deftly captured the look, the sound, the feel, the attitude of what rock ‘n' roll meant to its creators, its most fervent adherents, its hangers-on and its worried parents during a golden era of pop music. The movie's legacy is celebrated with the first-ever release of all the music that so powerfully fueled Crowe's story, based on his own power chord-driven odyssey from wide-eyed music-loving kid to respected rock journalist to celebrated filmmaker.
The Grammy Award winning Almost Famous (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is available here as a Deluxe 5CD box set with 102 tracks of which 36 are previously unreleased. The set features 47 songs from the film including tracks from Led Zeppelin and Fleetwood Mac plus six Stillwater songs. Previously unreleased songs include "Tiny Dancer (Almost Famous Version)" with Elton John and cast, The Who's "Amazing Journey / Sparks (Almost Famous Version)" and more. It also includes film dialog, Stillwater demos and jams, and original score tracks by Nancy Wilson plus the William Miller cover story on Stillwater as a '73 Rolling Stone newsprint, book, concert tickets and poster.
The box set points out how exceptional the Almost Famous soundtrack was and remains. Crowe arranged for a dedicated remix and edit of the Who's "Amazing Journey/Sparks" instrumental from their rock opera Tommy and live album Live at Leeds. For another scene, Crowe had grabbed a bootleg live recording out of his stash for Neil Young's "Cortez the Killer" from a 1999 show, which Young recently unearthed from his extensive archive and newly mixed from the original multi-track analog tape for this release. The set is also highlighted with the inclusion of Elton John's iconic "Tiny Dancer," newly mixed with the cast members singing alongside the song as featured in the film.
Crowe found supremely qualified collaborators by drafting Nancy Wilson to compose the score and to team with Peter Frampton to help write credible rock songs for Stillwater. For the new release of the soundtrack music, all of Wilson's brilliant score music is included, along with 14 score outtakes that didn't make the final film.
"We are extremely proud to revisit Almost Famous with a very special bounty of goodness," said Crowe. "For the first time, we've created a Deluxe Soundtrack that features nearly every song from the film, along with Nancy Wilson's wonderfully evocative score... Long live physical media!"
Features:
• Deluxe 5CD box set
• Featuring 102 tracks, 36 of which are previously unreleased
• 47 songs from the film including Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac and 6 Stillwater songs
• Film dialog, Stillwater demos and jams, and original score tracks and outtakes by Nancy Wilson
• Collectibles include the William Miller cover story on Stillwater as a '73 Rolling Stone newsprint, book, concert tickets and poster
Track List
CD1
1. The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late) – Alvin & The Chipmunks
2. The Oogum Boogum Song – Brenton Wood
3. America – Simon & Garfunkel
4. “One Day You’ll Be Cool”
5. Amazing Journey / Sparks (Almost Famous Version) – The Who*
6. Search And Destroy – Iggy & The Stooges
7. “Rock N’ Roll It’s Over”
8. It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference – Todd Rundgren
9. “Don’t Take Drugs”
10. Teacher (U.S. Version) – Jethro Tull
11. “We Are Band Aids”
12. Roundabout – Yes
13. “Incendiary”
14. I’ve Seen All Good People: a. Your Move, b. All Good People – Yes
15. Feel Flows – The Beach Boys
16. “This Is Penny Lane”
17. River – Joni Mitchell
18. “Piggyback Ride”
19. Fever Dog – Stillwater
CD2
1. Every Picture Tells A Story – Rod Stewart
2. Small Time Blues (Acoustic) – The Hyatt Singers
3. Something In The Air – Stillwater & Cast*
4. Easy To Slip – Little Feat
5. “Rolling Stone Magazine”
6. Go All The Way – The Raspberries
7. Mr. Farmer – The Seeds
8. One Way Out (Live) – The Allman Brothers Band
9. “Don’t Forget The Rules”
10. Albert Flasher (Live) – The Guess Who
11. Simple Man – Lynyrd Skynyrd
12. “Just Make Us Look Cool”
13. Love Thing – Stillwater
14. That’s The Way – Led Zeppelin
15. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere – Neil Young & Crazy Horse
16. Future Games – Fleetwood Mac
17. Burn – Deep Purple
18. You Had To Be There – Stillwater
19. “I Am A Golden God”
20. Dear Jill – Blodwyn Pig
21. Tiny Dancer (Almost Famous Version) – Elton John and Cast*
CD3
1. Looking At You – MC5
2. Reeling In The Years (Live) – Steely Dan*
3. Lucky Trumble – Nancy Wilson
4. Untitled – Jeff Bebe*
5. I’m Waiting For The Man (Live) – David Bowie
6. “Your Mom Kind Of Freaked Me Out”
7. “Please Welcome Stillwater!”
8. Love Comes And Goes – Stillwater
9. “You Gotta Take What You Can, When You Can”
10. The Wind – Cat Stevens
11. Voodoo Child (Slight Return) – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
12. Slip Away – Clarence Carter
13. Misty Mountain Hop – Led Zeppelin
14. Wishing Well – Free
15. “Cover Of The Rolling Stone”
16. Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters – Elton John
17. Colour My World – Jefferson High School Band
18. My Cherie Amour – Stevie Wonder
19. Cortez The Killer (Live) – Neil Young*
20. “You Made Friends With Them”
21. The Rain Song – Led Zeppelin
22. “We All Know What You Did To Him”
23. Bron-Yr-Aur – Led Zeppelin
24. “What Do You Love About Music?”
25. Tangerine – Led Zeppelin
CD4
Stillwater
1. Fever Dog
2. Love Thing
3. You Had To Be There
4. Hour Of Need
5. Chance Upon You
6. Love Comes And Goes
Stillwater Demos
7. Love Comes And Goes (Early Version)*
8. Fever Dog*
9. Love Thing*
10. Chance Upon You*
11. Love Comes And Goes*
12. Hour Of Need*
13. You Had To Be There*
Stillwater Backstage Jams*
14. That’s The Way (Acoustic) – Larry Fellows & Ed Valencourt
15. Down By The River (Acoustic) – Larry Fellows & Ed Valencourt
16. Fever Dog (Acoustic) - Stillwater
CD5
Original Motion Picture Score
1. Prefunction*
2. Cabin By The River*
3. Lucky Trumble
4. Dapple Tree*
5. Cabin In The Air*
6. Dear Peggy*
7. Bye Bye Now*
Original Motion Picture Score Outtakes*
8. Cabin (Outtake 1)
9. Moody
10. Morocco
11. Aurora
12. Mood Swing
13. The Teenager
14. Borealis
15. Strummy
16. Tiny Dancer Intro
17. Mando Swagger
18. Cabin (Outtake 2)
19. Love Stomp
20. Function
21. Aaron’s Real Room