Editing River Phoenix (section)

==Music==
Although Phoenix's movie career was generating most of the income for his family, it has been stated by close friends and relatives that his true passion was music. Phoenix was a singer, songwriter and accomplished guitarist. He had begun teaching himself guitar at age five and had stated in an interview for ''E!'' in 1988 that his family's move to Los Angeles when he was nine was so that he and his sister "could become recording artists. I fell into commercials for financial reasons and acting became an attractive concept". Before securing an acting agent, Phoenix and his siblings tried to forge a career in music by playing cover versions on the streets of the Westwood district of LA, often being moved along by police because gathering crowds would obstruct the sidewalk. From the first fruits of his film success, Phoenix saved $650 to obtain his prized possession: a guitar with which he wrote what he described as "progressive, ethereal folk-rock".<ref name=Tribune/>

While working on ''[[A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon]]'' in 1986, Phoenix had written and recorded a song, "Heart to Get", specifically for the end credits of the movie. 20th Century Fox cut it from the completed film, but director William Richert put it back into place for his director's cut some years later. It was during filming that Phoenix met [[Chris Blackwell]] of [[Island Records]]; this meeting would later secure Phoenix a two-year development deal with the label. Phoenix disliked the idea of being a solo artist and relished collaboration; therefore he focused on putting together a band. [[Aleka's Attic]] were formed in 1987 and the lineup included his sister Rain.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3209145.stm|title=Entertainment: A decade without River Phoenix|work=BBC News|date=October 31, 2003|access-date=August 24, 2010}}</ref>

Phoenix was committed to gaining credibility by his own merit and maintained that the band would not use his name when securing performances that were not benefits for charitable organizations. Phoenix's first release was "Across the Way", co-written with bandmate Josh McKay, which was released in 1989 on a benefit album for [[PETA]] titled ''Tame Yourself''.<ref>{{cite book|title=They Died Too Young: The Brief Lives and Tragic Deaths of the Mega-Star Legends of Our Times|year=1996|publisher=Smithmark Pub|isbn=0-765-19600-X|page=76|editor=Hall, Tony}}</ref> In 1991, Phoenix wrote and recorded a spoken word piece called "Curi Curi" for [[Milton Nascimento]]'s album ''TXAI''.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/allmusicguidedef00bogd/page/920 |title=All Music Guide: The Definitive Guide to Popular Music |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |year=2001 |isbn=0-879-30627-0 |editor1=Bogdanov |editor-first=Vladimir |page=[https://archive.org/details/allmusicguidedef00bogd/page/920 920] |editor2=Woodstra |editor-first2=Chris |editor3=Erlewine |editor-first3=Stephen Thomas |editor-link3=Stephen Thomas Erlewine}}</ref> Also in 1991, the Aleka's Attic track "Too Many Colors" was used in the film ''[[My Own Private Idaho]]'', which included Phoenix in a starring role.

Aleka's Attic disbanded in 1992, but Phoenix continued writing and performing. While working on the film ''[[The Thing Called Love]]'' in 1993, Phoenix wrote and recorded the song "[[Lone Star State of Mine]]", which he performs in the movie. The song was not included on the film's soundtrack album. In 1996, the Aleka's Attic track "Note to a Friend" was released on the 1996 benefit album ''In Defense of Animals; Volume II'' and featured [[Flea (musician)|Flea]] of [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]] on bass. Phoenix had collaborated with friend [[John Frusciante]] after his first departure from Red Hot Chili Peppers and the songs "Height Down" and "Well I've Been" were released on Frusciante's second solo album ''[[Smile from the Streets You Hold]]'' in 1997.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Karemo |first=Tuomas |date=2018-10-01 |title=There's no more me – the history and love story behind John Frusciante's Niandra LaDes |url=https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2018/10/01/theres-no-more-me-the-history-and-love-story-behind-john-frusciantes-niandra |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=yle.fi |language=en}}</ref> Phoenix was an investor in the original [[House of Blues]] (founded by his good friend and ''[[Sneakers (1992 film)|Sneakers]]'' co-star [[Dan Aykroyd]]) in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], which opened its doors to the public after serving a group of homeless people on Thanksgiving Day 1992.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9y9KAAAAIBAJ&pg=3101,4159902 |title=The Vindicator – Google News Archive Search |access-date=December 21, 2013}}</ref>