Director Cameron Crowe is best known for films such as Vanilla Sky, Say Anything..., and the semi-autobiographical Almost Famous, all of which feature iconic soundtracks. The critical role music plays in his film work is no accident. Indeed, the journalist turned director claims in his captivating memoir, "The marriage of film and music would soon be my favorite part of writing and directing films."
In The Uncool, Crowe depicts his unlikely journey from gawky high schooler in the 1970s to rock journalist chronicling some of the biggest and most influential musical acts of the day. His foot in the door came via an introduction, from his incomparably cool older sister Cindy, to an anti-Nixon paper that was "feeling hopeful that the mild corruption of begging for record-company ads from the Man might also help pay for the revolution." Through them, he wrote music reviews and then interviews. The rest of Crowe's family is also lovingly and poignantly depicted, including his other sister, Cathy, who died by suicide, indelibly marking the family.
The book's early chapters paint an arresting picture of Crowe's precocious start as a freelance music journalist. A kid who skipped a couple years in school, he wasn't at ease socially there, and was instead obsessed with music, eager to throw himself into that scene.
Much of Crowe's memoir details his encounters with the musical titans of the era as he got tapped to write for ever more significant publications. Crowe's depiction of the travels and interviews he did with musicians brings both them and the era vibrantly alive. He recalls sitting down with legends such as Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Joni Mitchell, the Eagles, and countless others. There's a chilling encounter with a very paranoid Gregg Allman in which the musician confiscated all of 16-year-old Crowe's interview tapes, before relenting and returning them once his mood shifted: "It was like a scene from a bad crime show, one where the snitch has been caught--me--and the next scene would begin with me in a body bag." That experience aside, Crowe seemed to possess an extraordinary ability to connect with rock stars as well as other journalists (like Lester Bangs and Jann Wenner) not as gods or tastemakers, but as complex, flawed human beings. It was a skill infused with warmth and genuine curiosity that would later serve him well in the world of filmmaking.
This is a remarkable and moving memoir, with an engaging and unforgettable cast of characters, that will resonate well beyond fans of celebrated '70s music. The Uncool is a celebration of the passionate, often awkward and chaotic, journey to find one's place in the world. --Elizabeth DeNoma, executive editor, DeNoma Literary Services, Seattle, Wash.
Shelf Talker: The Uncool is a captivating insight into the tumultuous young rock critic days and development of director Cameron Crowe.