Russell Hammond Quotes in Almost Famous (2000)

Russell Hammond: [Russell grabs phone away from William] Hey, mom! It's Russell Hammond. I play guitar in Stillwater. Hey, how does it feel to be the mother of the greatest rock journalist we've met? Hello? Hello...? Look, you've got a really great kid here. There's nothing to worry about. We're taking good care of him, and you should come to the show sometime - join the circus...

Elaine Miller: Hey, hey, listen to me, mister. You're charm doen't work on me - I'm on to you. Of course you like him...

Russell Hammond: Well, yeah...

Elaine Miller: He worships you people. And that's fine by you as long as he helps make you rich.

Russell Hammond: Rich? I don't think so...

Elaine Miller: Listen to me. He's a smart, good-hearted fifteen year old kid with infinite potential.

Russell Hammond: [Russell is stunned]

Elaine Miller: This is not some apron-wearing mother you're speaking with - I know all about your valhalla of decadence and I shouldn't have let him go. He's not ready for your world of compromised values and diminished brain cells that you throw away like confetti. Am I speaking to you clearly?

Russell Hammond: Yes - yes, ma'am...

Elaine Miller: If you break his spirit, harm him in any way, keep him from his chosen profession which is law - something you may not value, but I do - you will meet the voice on the other end of this telephone and it will not be pretty. Do we understand each other?

Russell Hammond: Uh, yes, ma'am...

Elaine Miller: I didn't ask for this role, but I'll play it. Now go do your best. Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid. Goethe said that. It's not too late for you to become a person of substance, Russell. Please get my son home safely. You know, I'm glad we spoke.

[Elaine hangs up]

Russell Hammond: [Russell stands holding phone in stunned silence]

Russell Hammond: If something should happen... maybe I never said this enough. I love all of you.

Dennis Hope: I once hit a man in Dearborn, Michigan. A hit and run. I hit him and just kept on going. I don't know if he's alive or dead... but I'm sorry. Not a day goes by I don't see his face.

Leslie: Oh my God!

Dick Roswell: Look, I love you all too. You're like a family to me. Especially since Marna left me. And listen, fellas... I just want you to know, if I took an extra dollar or two here and there... it's because I knew I'd earned it.

Russell Hammond: Yeah. I slept with Marna, Dick.

Jeff Bebe: I did too.

Larry Fellows: I waited until you broke up with her, Dick. But me too.

Jeff Bebe: [to Russell] I also slept with Leslie, when you were fighting.

Russell Hammond: [to Leslie] You slept with Jeff?

Leslie: Yeah, but it didn't count. It was the summer we decided to be free of all rules.

Russell Hammond: [to Jeff] And you say you love me!

Jeff Bebe: I don't love you, man. I never did. None of us love you. You act above us. You always have.

Larry Fellows: Finally, the truth.

Jeff Bebe: You just held it over us, like you might leave. Like we're lucky to be with you. And we had to live with it, man. I had to live with you, and now I might die with you, and it's not fucking fair!

Russell Hammond: Please, enough!

Jeff Bebe: And I'm still in love with you, Leslie.

Leslie: Oh, I don't wanna hear any more. Shut up, Jeffrey!

Dick Roswell: It's all happening.

Russell Hammond: What the fuck! Whatever happens, Bebe, you're dead.

Jeff Bebe: Don't be self-righteous, Russell. Not now, man. You were sleeping with Penny, that fucking groupie, last summer up until yesterday. Why don't you tell Leslie that?

Russell Hammond: Shut up!

Dennis Hope: I quit!

Russell Hammond: I'm gonna kill you!

Dennis Hope: I quit!

William Miller: "That groupie"? She was a Band-Aid! All she did was love your band. And you used her, all of you! You used her and threw her away! She almost died last night while you were with Bob Dylan. You guys, you're always talking about the fans, the fans, the fans; she was your biggest fan, and you threw her away! And if you can't see that, that's your biggest problem. And I love her! I love her!

William Miller: Do you have to be depressed to write a sad song? Do you have to be in love to write a love song? Is a song better when it really happened to you? Like "Love Thing," where did you write that and who was it about?

Russell Hammond: When did you get so professional?

[Finally getting his interview with Russell Hammond]

William Miller: So Russell... what do you love about music?

Russell Hammond: To begin with, everything.

Russell Hammond: And you can tell Rolling Stone magazine that my last words were... I'm on drugs!

[crowd cheers]

William Miller: Russell! I think we should work on those last words!

Russell Hammond: I got it, I got it. Last words - I dig music.

[a few claps]

Russell Hammond: [beat]

Russell Hammond: I'm on drugs!

[crowd cheers]

Russell Hammond: From here on out, I am only interested in what is real. Real people, real feelings, that's it, that's all I'm interested in.

Russell Hammond: Your mom kind of freaked me out.

William Miller: [places hand on Russell's shoulder] She means well.

Jeff Bebe: "Rock 'n' roll can save the world"? "The chicks are great"? I sound like a dick!

Russell Hammond: [to himself] You are a dick.

William Miller: [on meeting Stillwater] Russell. Jeff. Ed. Larry. I really love your band. I think the song "Fever Dog" is a big step forward for you guys. I think you guys producing it yourselves, instead of Glyn Johns, was the right thing to do. And the guitar sound... is incindiary. Incendiary. Way to go.

[He turns to leave. The band members regard one another for a moment]

Russell Hammond: Well, don't stop there!

Jeff Bebe: Yeah, come back here! I'm incendiary, too, man!

Russell Hammond: Hey William, we showed you America. Did everything but get you laid.

[William looks out the window and smiles]

Russell Hammond: No! Yeah?

All in car: No!

Russell Hammond: [high on acid; laughingly, to Dick] Look at him, he's taking notes with his eyes.

[Violently grabs William and shouts to his face]

Russell Hammond: How do we know you're not a cop, huh? The enemy! Stop fucking looking at me!

Dick Roswell: [calming Russell] He's your guardian angel, alright?

[to William]

Dick Roswell: Don't worry, he only means half of what he says.

William Miller: [to himself] Which half?

Russell Hammond: I am a golden god!

Russell Hammond: You, Aaron, are what it's all about. You're real. Your room is real. Your friends are real. Real, man, real. You know? Real. You're more important than all the silly machinery. Silly machinery. And you know it! In eleven years its going to be 1984, man. Think about that!

Aaron: Wanna see me feed a mouse to my snake?

Russell Hammond: Yes.

[Russell is on the phone with Penny]

Russell Hammond: Give me your address. I'm coming to you, this time.

Russell Hammond: [upon entering William's bedroom] So... This is where the enemy sleeps.

Russell Hammond: Oh, my God. Holy shit. Fuck! I grew up with that lampshade. I love this kitchen. I fucking love this kitchen!

Russell Hammond: I'm never as good as when you're there.

Russell Hammond: I hurt the flower.

Russell Hammond: And you can tell Rolling Stone magazine that my last words were... I'm on drugs!

William Miller: Russell! I think we should work on those last words!

Russell Hammond: I got it, I got it. Last words: I dig music. I'm on drugs!

Topeka Kid: You're Russell from Stillwater.

Russell Hammond: Well, yeah, on my better days, I am Russell from Stillwater.

Russell Hammond: You know, I think we both wanted to, uh, to be with her. I guess she wanted us to be together.

Jeff Bebe: We have got to control what's happening! There's a responsibility here.

Russell Hammond: Excuse me, but didn't we all get into this to avoid responsibility?

Jeff Bebe: I can't say anymore with the writer here.

Russell Hammond: No, no, no. You can trust him, you can say whatever you want.

Jeff Bebe: I work just as hard or harder than anybody on that stage. You know what I do? I connect. I get people off. I look for the guy who isn't getting off, and I make him get off.

Jeff Bebe: [to William] Actually, *that* you can print!

Russell Hammond: I never said I was a golden god... or did I?

Russell Hammond: I'm telling secrets to the one guy you don't tell secrets to.

Russell Hammond: Write what you want.

[Regarding the t-shirt picture]

Russell Hammond: Can we just skip the vibe, and go straight to us laughing about this?

Jeff Bebe: Yeah, okay.

Russell Hammond: Because I can see by your face you want to get into it.

Jeff Bebe: How can you tell? I'm just one of the out-of-focus guys.

Russell Hammond: Don't worry, no one's getting hurt here. She knows Leslie's coming to New York tomorrow. This is the circus, everybody's trying not to go home. Stop looking at me like that.

Jeff Bebe: And I also slept with Leslie.

Russell Hammond: You slept with Jeff?

Leslie: Yeah, but it didn't COUNT! It was the summer we decided to be free of all rules!

Russell Hammond: I slept with Marna, Dick.

Jeff Bebe: I did too.

Larry Fellows: I waited until you broke up with her, but me too.

Russell Hammond: [inviting William to join the group before going on stage] Get the enemy!

Russell Hammond: They say you're dangerous. You see everything. Most people... are just waitin' to talk, but you listen.

Russell Hammond: it doesn't sound like music anymore, you know, it sounds like... lifestyle maintenance, or something.

Russell Hammond: Do you give a shit about a t-shirt?

Larry Fellows: I'm just hungry man; let's just go out and find some barbeque or something.

Russell Hammond: [on the airplane during an electrical storm] Doris, we miss you!