The cut ‘Almost Famous’ scene Cameron Crowe was desperate to keep in: “This song will change your life”
Cameron Crowe decided to make a movie that focused on the dream of millions of kids when he made Almost Famous.
For many of us, the idea of living through those electrically charged days of classic rock and roll in close proximity to all of the opulence and chaos is a mere pipedream. We think back to those 1970s bands like Led Zeppelin and imagine drunken nights filled with partying, sex, drugs, late nights, and ridiculous clothes and hair—most of us will never know what it was like to be involved in that world.
Yet for filmmaker Cameron Crowe, his teenage years were spent interacting with some of the most hedonistic and wild rockstars, observing groupie culture, drug addiction, and fan worship while working as a journalist for Rolling Stone. He became the youngest-ever contributor to the magazine, interviewing most of the decade’s biggest musicians. His time spent with the Allman Brothers Band helped to inspire the idea for Almost Famous, his 2000 film.
The band in the film, Stillwater, were inspired by various other bands, too, like Led Zeppelin and Lynyrd Skynyrd, with Patrick Fugit playing a fictionalised version of Crowe called William. The teenager manages to convince his mother to let him go on the road with Stillwater, where his life is forever changed by the people he meets and the lifestyle he is exposed to.
It’s a great coming-of-age tale that is perfect for all classic rock fans, with Crowe’s real-life experience of being a teenage journalist who toured with bands making the film feel even more enjoyable. The film feels incredibly authentic, from the outfits to the soundtrack, and for two hours, viewers can completely immerse themselves in a world of Afghan coats, extensive facial hair, and ‘70s rock.
Naturally, Crowe had to cut out certain scenes that were filmed so that the runtime wasn’t too long and the pacing remained intact, but he was sad to have to remove one specific scene involving Led Zeppelin’s classic track ‘Stairway to Heaven’. Talking to Spliced Wire, Crowe revealed that he initially wanted to include the entire scene where William tries to convince his mum, played by Frances McDormand, to let him join Stillwater’s tour. This would mean showing him forcing her to listen to the classic song “in its entirety.”
He explained, “I always love the shot in Goodfellas where Scorsese follows Ray Liotta through the entire back of Copacabana, and they go forever. I was coming into this movie and I thought, I don’t have a Copacabana shot, but I do have an eight-minute long scene where Frances McDormand has to listen to ‘Stairway to Heaven’!”
Naturally, keeping the whole song in the film would force audiences to sit and watch the drawn-out moment in real-time. “And she’s incredible in it, and the kid says, ‘This song will change your life. It’s made by blazing intellectuals…’ and he makes her listen to it. But it stopped the movie because you’re so ready for the kid to get out on the road. You don’t have time to sit there and listen to ‘Stairway to Heaven.’”
The chance to showcase perhaps one of the defining songs of the decade in order to mirror his hero, Martin Scorsese, was perhaps too good an opportunity to turn down. Crowe clearly saw his wildest dreams coming true within a single scene, but sadly, it wasn’t to be. Crowe would use his connections to ascertain rights for the majority of the music in the movie, but one band were always going to be a stickler.
Led Zeppelin refused the rights for the song to be used in the movie and dashed the hopes and dreams of Crowe’s perfect shot on the shore. The quartet are famously tough on who they let use their music, but there is a good chance that they rejected this one based on the song selected. After all, School of Rock was given permission to use ‘Immigrant Song’. It might just have been that ‘Stairway To Heaven’, a track much maligned, was simply a step too far.
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