production
Crowe used a composite of the bands he knew to create Stillwater, the emerging group that welcomes the young journalist into its sphere, then becomes wary of his intentions. ‘Stillwater’ was the name of a real band signed to Capricorn Records label, which required the film’s producers to obtain permission to use the name. In an interview, real Stillwater guitarist Bobby Golden said, ‘They could have probably done it without permission but they probably would have had a bunch of different lawsuits. Our lawyer got in touch with them. They wanted us to do it for free and I said, “No we’re not doing it for free.” So we got a little bit 5 of change out of it.” Seventies rocker Peter Frampton served as a technical consultant on the film. Crowe and his then-wife, musician Nancy Wilson of Heart, co-wrote three of the five Stillwater songs in
30
the film and Frampton wrote the other two. Mike McCready of Pearl Jam played lead guitar on all of the Stillwater songs. Crowe based the character of Penny Lane on the real-life Pennie Lane Trumbull and her group of female promoters who called themselves the “Flying Garter 6 Girls Group”. Various other women have been described as Crowe’s inspiration, for instance 7 Pamela Des Barres and Bebe 8 Buell. The character of William Miller’s mother, played by Frances McDormand, was based on Crowe’s own mother, who even showed up on the set to keep an eye on him while he worked. Crowe asked his mother not to bother McDormand, but the two 9 women ended up getting along. Alice in Chains’ guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell was Crowe’s first
