Stillwater

Cameron Crowe's 2000 movie, Almost Famous, left some wondering if Stillwater was a real band or not. The answer is yes, but the band featured in the movie was completely fictional and based on several groups that Crowe covered for Rolling Stone during the early '70s (namely the Eagles and Led Zeppelin, among others). The "real" Stillwater was an obscure multi-membered Southern rock band that featured the triple guitar team of Mike Causey (guitar), Bobby Golden (guitar, vocals), and Rob Walker (guitar), plus Jimmy Hall (vocals, percussion), Allison Scarborough (bass, vocals), Bob Spearman (keyboards, vocals), and Sebie Lacey (drums). Originally formed in Georgia during 1973, Stillwater issued a pair of albums during the late '70s — 1977's self titled debut and 1979's I Reserve the Right! — and narrowly missed scoring a Top 40 hit single with the track "Mind Bender."

Between the near-hit single and steady opening gigs for the Atlanta Rhythm Section and the Charlie Daniels Band (the latter of which was riding high at the time with the monster crossover hit "The Devil Went Down to Georgia"), Stillwater seemed to be on the right track for breakthrough success. But when their record label, Capricorn Records, hit upon hard times, Stillwater found themselves without a label, and broke up soon thereafter. Several live tracks from 1978 were included on the 1997 Alive Down South multi-artist collection, which was followed by a Stillwater reunion the same year. A new album, Running Free, was released a year later, and the group began to play live shows once more. Just before shooting began on Crowe's Almost Famous, the director had to clear the use of the name "Stillwater" with the band, which they agreed to after reading the script.