Courtesy of Henry Diltz.
Happy New Year everyone Today marks singer/songwriter and guitarist extraordinaire Stephen Stills’ 69th birthday. Cameron has interviewed and profiled Stephen quite a few times over the years with Rolling Stone, Crawdaddy and Creem magazines. Both as a solo artist and as part of Crosby, Stills, Nash (and Young). Check them out below:
Cameron, Philip Seymour Hoffman & Patrick Fugit. Photo by Neal Preston.
In celebration of a recent screening of Almost Famous at the Alamo Drafthouse, Cameron spoke to Todd Gilchrist of Bad Ass Digest about the film. Here’s the interview:
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images
We’ve got a brand new Journalism addition to the site today as Cameron profiles the rock group Boston in this lengthy interview for Rolling Stone. Boston was on top of the world and dominating the charts and sales, but feeling the sting of being a critical after thought. Topics include the bands history and the pressure on founder/leader/perfectionist Tom Scholtz to deliver their sophomore album…
Boston: The Band From the Platinum Basement
THE PHONE RANG AT SIX IN THE morning, early in 1975.
Twenty-eight-year-old recordman Paul Ahern grumbled into the receiver: “Who the fuck is this? This better be good!’ “It’s McKenzie. You gotta hear this, PA….”
As employees in Warner-Elektra-Atlantic’s regional office several years earlier, Charlie McKenzie and Paul Ahern were the young lions of Boston-area promotion. McKenzie had the ear, Ahern the rap. They became buddies with all the jocks and, one golden month in 1972, broke Yes and the J. Geils Band and placed thirteen company singles and album cuts on the Top Thirty playlist of Bostons WRKO. They had dreamed of finding the band that would take them off the street and make them “the idle rich,” but their era passed. Ahern moved to L.A. for a better job with Asylum Records. McKenzie left WEA but continued to work for other record companies in Boston. And he hung on to the dream…. You gotta hear this,” he was saying that early morning” in ’75. “Local guy, Tom Scholz … the group has no name. The whole tape is like this!”
Cameron shared his Greatest Rock Movies Ever with Premiere magazine back in March, 2004. With recent docs like The Swell Season and new films such as Inside Llewyn Davis coming out soon, it might be time to revisit, but let’s check it out.
Gary Lewis and the Playboys
Cameron shares some personal stories on how he learned about sex for the October, 1975 issue of Rolling Stone. You’ll recognized a few of these anecdotes as they made their way into Almost Famous.
How I Learned About Sex
About What?
Tom Petty’s birthday is coming up this Sunday, but let’s get a head start by celebrating today. If you dig into the Journalism section you’ll find Rolling Stone stories from from April, 1978 and October, 1978 . Also, don’t forget about Cameron’s liner notes for Tom’s 2000 greatest hits collection, Anthology. One last thing, Cameron’s first directorial job was Heartbreaker’s Beach Party for MTV and you can view a snippet below of Cameron over at Tom’s house.
There’s been a lot of PJ20 activity these past few weeks, huh? As Pearl Jam gets set to release its new album Lightning Bolt, Pearl Jam Twenty will air on VH1 as part of their Rock Docs series this Saturday, Oct. 12th. Lightning Bolt is released worldwide on Tuesday, October 15th.
(Photo by RB/Redferns)
Jackson Browne turns 65 today and we thought we’d look back at some of his collaborations with Cameron. First up is the LA. Times interview from early 1974, followed by the more in-depth Rolling Stone cover story from May, 1974. Lastly, there’s the Running on Empty liner notes from the remastered version that was released in November, 2005. Enjoy!
