Almost Famous

[sodascouts]

I've never seen Almost Famous, but I was reading an article where they say the Hammond character is based mostly on Glenn Frey. Anybody who's seen the movie want to tell me what about that character is reminiscent of Glenn?


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[Z]

I saw the movie, but didn't realize that was who it was loosely based on. I'll have to see it again and watch more closely. Where did you see that article, soda?

[sodascouts]

I came across it in a roundabout way. I was reading a review of a show starring Jason Lee, and they mentioned he was in Almost Famous, which featured a character based mostly on Glenn Frey. Of course I perked up and did a Google search. I discovered it was the character of Russell Hammond played by Crudup that was based on Glenn Frey at least in part. Here's what Crowe said in one interview I found:

"There's a lot of Glenn Frey [of the Eagles] in Russell, but there's bits of every person who felt like a role model of cool, hung out with me, made me feel like a part of the circus. I always liked the ones who would say, Hey man, write what you see, I trust you. But implicit in that was, Make us look cool. Which Glenn Frey actually said to me."

- from "The Uncool: Cameron Crowe Discusses the Making of Almost Famous."



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[sodascouts]

Ooh, found a better one - an interview of Cameron Crowe by Rolling Stone:


Who is Russell Hammond, really?


I saw Glenn Frey at a dinner party recently, and I realized that so much of Russell is Glenn. He was the coolest guy I had ever met in 1972. I was backstage at a concert interviewing everybody - the Eagles, King Crimson, Ballin' Jack, Chaka Khan. In the Eagles' dressing room, everyone's talking about Glenn - the one guy who isn't there. He's out looking for babes. Everyone's like, "The thing about Glenn," "Oh, one time Glenn and I..." And then, like a one-act play, Glenn appears. He walks in a little buzzed, he's got a long-neck Bud, and he's like, "How ya doing'?" Just classic. That whole thing of "Tonight, friends - tomorrow, the interview" was him. And there's one line he really did say to me: "Look, just make us look cool." He was also the first guy who told me about crafting a buzz long before I could ever enact it.


The recipe, please.


OK. He's like, "If you want to craft a buzz correctly, you walk into a party, you drink two beers quickly. Then you drink a beer every hour and fifteen minutes after that. You'll always have a buzz and you'll never get too embarrassing." I was like, "Uh... yeah, I know that." Meanwhile, I'm furiously writing it down.



- from "A Boy's Life"




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[Molly]

The most obvious thing that will make you think of Glenn is a physical resemblence - similar hair, big mustache (but then again so many rock stars had a similar look).


There are Eagles references throughout the movie. There is a Glyn Johns reference. I've read the manager (played by Jimmy Fallon) is loosely based on Irving.


If you go into the movie looking for similarities (which I did since I had read the articles you referenced, soda, before I saw the movie) you probably can find them.


Russell is certainly a charmer - but he has a lot of character flaws. Not always such a great guy. I confess, I did want to be the Kate Hudson character after I saw the movie, though!

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Hi all - First of all, it's great to be back home and I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Personally, I love this movie. I think it very much captures the 70's - the good, the bad, and the ugly, as they say. I watched it a couple of times before I ever read those quotes from Cameron Crowe. Of course, after reading what Cameron said about Glenn, I have gone back and studied it very closely numerous times. The physical resemblance is definately there. The article also mentions that the "tonight friends" thing was Glenn. Then, there is the scene that simulates the Eagles poker games. Another uncanny resemblance is the management change - the "David Geffen-like" character to the "Irving-like" character.


My guess is that the Russell Hammond character is probably very much a profile of Glenn in the '70's (as well as many other rock stars). Most of the character flaws were just a sign of the times - but deep down, Russell is a good, decent, and caring person.


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I'm just a hired hand working on the dreams I plan to try. The days go by...

[sodascouts]

OK, just finished. Clever movie. And considering that despite all of Russell's flaws, he still seems like the coolest guy in the room... I can definitely see that as Glenn-like! BTW, did you guys see that Peter Frampton is billed as a technical consultant? For some reason that strikes me as funny!


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[Thirsty&Hot]

OK, just finished. Clever movie. And considering that despite all of Russell's flaws, he still seems like the coolest guy in the room... I can definitely see that as Glenn-like! BTW, did you guys see that Peter Frampton is billed as a technical consultant? For some reason that strikes me as funny!


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yeah Peter Frampton actually wrote the Stillwater songs that are played in the movie as well.

[Thirsty&Hot]

I have loved Almost Famous since I saw it when it first came out...but I never knew until last week or so that Russell Hammond was based on Glenn!
and so I rewatched my Almost Famous dvd of course!

right on..I see it..and I've read that same cameron crowe article that was quoted earlier.
I love Glenn's little tip for keeping a buzz!

a screenshot I took from Almost Famous:

Russell Hammond or Glenn Frey?

[Outlawman13]

Wow!!!! I had no idea that the movie was based on Glenn Frey. I haven't seen that movie in a long time and may need to watch it once again. Tiffany, that screenshot does look like Glenn from behind. I wonder when it is on tv again.