Nearly two decades ago, when Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous was coming together, the director originally simply had called the movie Untitled, a nod to the actual article William Miller was trying and failing to write about Stillwater throughout the film. However, the studio didn't like the original title, and sent Cameron Crowe back to the drawing board. Apparently, he got some help from none other than Jimmy Fallon, and Crowe recently shared a mock-up of possible titles that Fallon suggested. You can check it out, below.
Among the choices are I'm With The Band, which also just so happens to be the name of the famous Pamela Des Barres memoir about her time as a groupie in the 1960s and 1970s--the same period in which Almost Famous is set. Some of the comments are funny, as Jimmy Fallon suggested The Vinyl Years, also asking if The Wonder Years' Fred Savage was available. I also enjoyed his The Volleyball Incident suggestion, even if it would come with reshoots. There are some winners and some funny moments, but there may be a dud or two in there, too.
As you can see above, Jimmy Fallon was not the person behind the name Almost Famous. Later, in the same Twitter thread, Cameron Crowe also noted that it was actually longtime record executive David Geffen who came up with the final title for the film, although an Untitled director's cut also eventually made it onto Blu-ray. According to Crowe,
It was David Geffen's idea... but it wasn't his first choice. He really liked "My Opening Farewell"...
Formerly, Cameron Crowe had revealed some of the other titles he had been working on after Untitled was nixed by the studio. At that time, he had said that Tangerine was a potential option for the movie, along with My Back Pages, Original Cover, Coda, and more. Eventually, he was able to settle on Almost Famous, a title which totally encompasses what the movie was about, on different levels--which is exactly what Untitled would have also done.
As for Jimmy Fallon, The Tonight Show star had a memorable turn in Almost Famous, playing the mustachioed Dennis Hope, a professional touring manager who attempts to take Stillwater from being a minor player into the big leagues. Just a few short years later, Fallon entered the late night circuit, leaving Almost Famous as one of his lasting movie legacies. Perhaps one day Cameron Crowe and Jimmy Fallon will work together once more. If it does happen, we really hope that Fallon comes up with a funny short list of titles again.
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