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Almost Famous 20th anniversary super deluxe

5CD box set of the soundtrack to the film

By Paul Sinclair

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Rock ‘n’ roll excess – and that’s just the price…

Universal Music are to release a five-CD super deluxe edition of the soundtrack to Cameron Crowe’s film Almost Famous (released in 2000).

The semi autobiographical comedy drama follows the exploits of a young Rolling Stone journalist as he tours with the (fictional) band Stillwater. It was well-received at the time and won plenty of awards including a Best Original Screenplay Ocscar for Crowe.

The Almost Famous soundtrack included artists such as Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, Cat Stevens and more plus six songs by the movie’s make believe band, Stillwater.

The new five-CD super deluxe version includes 102 tracks (songs/dialogue/score etc.) and features some unreleased cuts, including Elton John‘s ‘Tiny Dancer’ newly mixed with the cast members singing alongside the song (as featured in the film) and The Who’s ‘Amazing Journey / Sparks (Almost Famous Version)’, which was newly remixed & edited.

Neil Young‘s ‘Cortez the Killer’ wasn’t on the original soundtrack at all (since the audio featured in the movie was taken from the bootleg of a 1999 show), but Young recently unearthed it from his archive and newly mixed from the original multi-track analogue tape for this release.

The Almost Famous 5CD super deluxe edition (click image to enlarge)

The reissue of Almost Famous includes film dialogue, Stillwater demos & jams and original score tracks by Nancy Wilson.

Physical items in the super deluxe include a William Miller cover story on Stillwater as a ’73 Rolling Stone, a book, concert tickets & poster.

This all sounds quite groovy until you see the price for this box set. The bean-counters at the label seem to have embraced the theme of Seventies rock excess, since UMC are asking £120 for five CDs and some bits of paper.

An alternative is the original 17-track soundtrack which is also being reissued as a 2LP vinyl set with some unreleased photos to “enhance the packaging”. There’s also D2C version presented in a ‘tip-on’ vintage-style gatefold jacket with unique cover art & photos plus a massive storyboard poster.

The 5CD super deluxe of Almost Famous has been pushed back to the 20 August although the 2LP set will be reissued on 9 July 2021. A 4k UHD blu-ray edition of the film is also due in the summer.

Tracklisting

Music From The Motion Picture ‘Almost Famous’ Various Artists / 5CD super deluxe

    • CD 1
      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 (San Diego)”
      19.  Fever Dog – Stillwater
    • CD 2
      1. Every Picture Tells A Story – Rod Stewart
      2. Small Time Blues (Acoustic) – The Hyatt Singers
      3. Something In The Air – Stillwater*
      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, Stillwater & Cast*
    • CD 3
      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
    • CD 4
      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
      1. Love Comes And Goes (Early Version)*
      2. Fever Dog*
      3. Love Thing*
      4. Chance Upon You*
      5. Love Comes And Goes*
      6. Hour Of Need*
      7. You Had To Be There*
      STILLWATER BACKSTAGE JAMS
      1. That’s The Way (Acoustic) – Larry Fellows & Ed Valencourt*
      2. Down By The River (Acoustic) – Larry Fellows & Ed Valencourt*
      3. Fever Dog (Acoustic) – Stillwater*
    • CD 5
      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*
      1. Cabin (Outtake 1)
      2. Moody
      3. Morocco
      4. Aurora
      5. Mood Swing
      6. The Teenager
      7. Borealis
      8. Strummy
      9. Tiny Dancer Intro
      10. Mando Swagger
      11. Cabin (Outtake 2)
      12. Love Stomp
      13. Function
      14. Aaron’s Real Room

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