In celebration of Empire magazine’s 300th issue, Cameron shared his original notes as he contemplated the many possible titles for Almost Famous. As you know, the movie was Untitled for quite awhile (and was Cameron’s original choice). Check out Cameron’s introduction and all the various alternative titles below:
The James Gang in 1972. L to R (Jim Fox, Dale Peters, Domenic Troiano and Roy Kenner)
In 1972, Cameron sat down with (one of the many configurations) of the James Gang in this lengthy interview for the San Diego Door. There’s some interesting discussion around the music business, life without Joe Walsh (who left the band the prior year) and their recent albums, Straight Shooter and Passin’ Thru. We hope you like it!
James Gang Rides Again
Not unlike those James Brown records that constantly remind us all that he of “the hardest working man in show business,” those James Gang biographies always seem to emphasize that the James Gang is “the hardest working band in show business.”
Danielle Russell (Grace) – Hickam Air Force Base, Tracy & Woody’s House – November 11, 2013
The latest behind the scenes Untitled Hawaii picture from Cameron is presented above. The young actress is Danielle Russell and her character in the film is Grace. Stay tuned for more!
Neal Preston is one of rock’s most celebrated and iconic photographers. Neal’s relationship with Cameron nearly goes back to the beginning of his illustrious career. We chatted with Neal on location in Hawaii about his career, his new iBook Led Zeppelin: Sound and Fury and much more.
When did you first meet Cameron? I know you guys worked together at Circus magazine and Rolling Stone, but had you met earlier while he was writing for the San Diego Door or Creem?
You know, I actually don’t recall the very first time we met — but I know that around the time we met he was definitely writing for the San Diego Door. I remember my girlfriend Bobbi (who was a publicist with rock p.r. agency Gershman, Gibson and Stromberg) shoving a copy of the Door in front of me, virtually demanding that I “read this kid’s stuff!! He’s only 14 years old!!!!”
Yeah, he could write, but what was far more astounding to me was that he was a really good ping pong player. There was a ping-pong table in the rec center where he lived. I was 5 years older than him, yet he probably beat me 80-90% of the time. I hated losing to him, more than he ever knew. In fact I’m still upset about it.
A new addition to the site today is Cameron’s liner notes for Josh Ritter’s Golden Age of Radio reissue. Enjoy!
Nothing quite beats the power of a song that arrives perfectly. It can be the melody from a distant window, a guilty-pleasure piece of pop fluff or even the exquisitely wrong song at the wrong time. The fact is that life can be the best d.j. of them all. A song or an artist can land in your life in the most profound and mysterious ways and from that moment on that record defines an afternoon, a season, a city or a life. Such it is with Golden Age of Radio, an album that casts a spell from first note to last. Josh Ritter had already made a record before it, but Golden Age was his first as a fully-committed, this is my life and there’s no heading back recording artist. The album arrived with a suitcase full of promise, bags packed perfectly. The music has the assurance and the sly commitment of a writer capturing exactly the mood he was chasing.
Anthony Quinn Stage – Sony Pictures Studios – March 28, 2014
Here’s a recent behind the scenes pic from Untitled Hawaii as they work on the sound mix. Of course, that’s Emma Stone as Allison Ng.
Deep in the Vanilla Sky archives…
As you might have heard, Vanilla Sky was scheduled for release on Blu-ray later this month. Cameron and the crew at Vinyl Films have been working hard on some long promised additional extra features and Paramount has generously provided some extra time to make sure this will be the definitive release of the film.
Rachel McAdams. “Untitled Hawaii.” Editing room, Feb 18, 2014.
Here’s the latest “Untitled Hawaii” picture (from the Editing room) courtesy of Cameron! We hope you like it.
