Behind the music
A musical journey

Behind the music

Cameron Crow’s Almost Famous is a great segue into the life and amazing times of Rolling Stone writer Ben Fong-Torres. Almost Famous follows a young kid in sort of a Hollywood-version biography of the young Cameron. What is so amazing about that film is we get introduced to a young Ben Fong-Torres who is basically running the music section of Rolling Stone magazine. Ben saw the magic with words and the enthusiasm Cameron had for new music. This Netflix documentary is more than just following a young, now old, journalist Ben Fong-Torres; it’s about a time, a time of change, a cultural revolution through music.

In this documentary we find out that Ben Fong-Torres came of traditional Chinese roots but was born in America where he was the only Chinese kid in his school growing up. Once Ben went into college, he began to see more folks like himself. The interesting part is that because he was an outsider later on in his career; like through the early years of Rolling Stone Magazine he would find his interest in the inside world of the music industry, something that drew talent towards him.

Ben found out that by just getting into creative conversations with musicians they would begin to open up and give their views on life. His looking from outside the glass made them feel at home and they’d tell him all kinds of stories. As I watched this documentary it reminded me of what it was like growing up in Aspen during the 70s and 80s which I cover in my book Growing Up Aspen - Adventures of the Unsupervised. We had lots of famous folks mostly there to get away from the big industry stress to either hike or ski. We had folks like George Hamilton, Lucille Ball, Buddy Hackett and later on Jimmy Buffet and Jack Nicholson. Jack would use Aspen as a wind up or wind down before or after a new movie gig. So as locals, we’d get to meet Jack when he was away from work and ready to play.

Ben Fong-Torres soon found himself as the person that most musicians trusted and wanted to hang out with, and talk philosophy of music and story. Ben soon developed a style of writing that was both interview and observation; it was a creative weave that he wove much like Hunter S. Thompson. Which I have to say, it was nice to see local Aspen artist Tom Benton’s poster of Hunter for Sheriff which was prominently featured at the Rolling Stone offices and in this documentary.

What I enjoyed most about this film was how Ben created family around him. He felt like his parents had a hard time understanding him until much later in his life. What I noticed from all the fellow workers at Rolling Stone was that Ben seemed to be the culture that gave Rolling Stone the push it needed. He was able to go places that corporate journalists could not. He was a down to earth guy that was a human encyclopedia of the music industry and did not play favorites; he loved all kinds of music.

I attend the Telluride Film Festival almost every year and am amazed that this documentary slipped through the judges’ eyes. This film is a true insight into a young music industry and shows the true character behind each musicians he interviewed. I have had a film at Heartland Film Festival and am so glad they put this in their Truly Moving Pictures category.

This documentary is very current; although it’s about the past, it could not be more present. It is documentaries like this that show us how far we have come and yet how far we need to go. Ben’s journey is not just about him but the world of music. It was his interviews that connected fans with their favorite bands, their ups and downs in the reality of the music industry. This film really shows the corporate financiers vs the truly creative. Without the money we would have no albums but without the talent we would have no music. Ben documented this industry struggle and made Rolling Stone the king of music magazines. If you are a music fan and want an inside scoop then check out this amazing documentary from Netflix.

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