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53rd out of 699 books
—
477 voters
Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock-and-Roll's Legendary Neighborhood
by
Michael Walker (Goodreads Author)
In the late sixties and early seventies, an impromptu collection of musicians colonized a eucalyptus-scented canyon deep in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles and melded folk, rock, and savvy American pop into a sound that conquered the world as thoroughly as the songs of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones had before them. Thirty years later, the music made in Laurel Canyo...more
Paperback, 304 pages
Published
May 1st 2007
by Faber & Faber
(first published May 1st 2006)
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Apr 20, 2013
David Schwan
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
kathy
A fascinating look at the LA music scene from the early 1960's through the end of the 1970's. I initially saw this book at the Getty Center in LA. This book provided reference material for an exhibit at the Getty on the LA music scene.
While the book "Summer of Love" by Joel Selvin covers San Francisco's Haight Ashbury neighborhood, this book covers Los Angele's Laurel Canyon. Many notable people lived in Laurel Canyon including Jodi Mitchell, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Frank Zappa. The author...more
While the book "Summer of Love" by Joel Selvin covers San Francisco's Haight Ashbury neighborhood, this book covers Los Angele's Laurel Canyon. Many notable people lived in Laurel Canyon including Jodi Mitchell, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Frank Zappa. The author...more
What I enjoyed most about this was book was how it put the legendary Laurel Canyon music scene in context – not necessarily within the world at large, but within itself. The evolution of, and (in more detail) the demise of, the brief, geographically-confined era that gave the world some of its most beautiful folk/rock music is explored in a variety of interesting ways. Walker focuses on the scene through numerous lenses, from groupies to drugs (the latter particularly well-done for its look at w...more
1 like · like · see review
I've been listening to this book in my car to and from work and found it interesting for the most part. I'm not a big fan of CSN, The Byrds, Joni Mitchell and the gang from the L.A. mid-sixties folk/rock scene, but do appreciate their place in pop-culture history. There is some padding in the book, with asides about Altamont, Woodstock, Charles Manson, cocaine and Led Zeppelin groupies. Groupies as a whole do not make for interesting subject matter and the ones sourced for this book seem to have...more
Michael Walker has written an engaging narrative about hallowed rock and roll geography. Like many histories of a cultural era, momentum gathers and crests early and the rest of the book reads more as a post-mortem. Still, the voices ring out clear, particularly those of the less famous denizens of the canyon. The comments of more famous residents seem to be culled from other published sources rather than from interview with Walker. Walker includes more voices of women than is usual in accounts...more
Michael Walker delves into the Los Angeles music scene of the 1960s/1970s based out of the Laurel Canyon neighborhood and gives us a lively history of bands, musicians, groupies, managers, record company employees, music venues and other subjects hooked into this wild scene from the era. I'm a music history nerd--especially rock music--so, I'm an easy mark for this one. If you like The Byrds, Frank Zappa [although I wanted more about Zappa in this], Crosby Stills and Nash, Jackson Browne and the...more
Careless and pointless retelling of the Los Angeles country/rock n roll scene in the 1960's and 1970's, which centered around a group of singer-songwriters (Joni Mitchell, Stephen Stills, John Phillips, et al.) taking residence in the rundown cabins of Laurel Canyon, a neighborhood north of Hollywood in the hills. The author's argument is that Laurel Canyon's free and hippie-ish environment nurtured and inspired an entire generation of music and changed the course of the popular music business....more
Midway through "Laurel Canyon," I realized that I was reading the literary equivalent of a VH1 "Behind the Music" episode: It's fun and breezy and there are lots of famous people mentioned, but after a while you realize that it's fairly poorly constructed and that there's no there there. The book is purportedly a profile of a neighborhood in which lots of incredibly creative musicians--Joni Mitchell, CSN, Frank Zappa, Jackson Browne, the Eagles, the Mamas and the Papas--lived and worked, but the...more
1 like · like · see review
While I liked the content material of the book and the stories involved I thought the vocabulary was way too high for the average reader. How wonderful this book would have been if it was written so you could devour the tales and imagine the comings and goings of all the stars as they traveled through their lives in Laurel Canyon. Instead, you needed a dictionary beside you or just glossed over fancy words hoping to get the gist of it. But I doubt that was the author's intention. What author wri...more
I liked it but I've read a few books now on this topic and topics like it and you're basically reading it for gossip on musicians and celebs although in this one it's not so much gossip as the feeling of the Laurel Canyon area and how it transformed and morphed over the decades into something different and yet, pretty much the same. The biggest changes for Laurel Canyon and Los Angeles in general were the Manson murders and cocaine. After those introductions everything had a different tone. It's...more
I loved this book for the anecdotes and the information on the LA music scene in the late 60s/early 70s, which is of course the time I should have been in my early 20s instead of now. Any time Walker tried to do some deeper analysis of the times or the impact of the music on the broader culture and future generations, he floundered, but that's not what I came for so I skimmed past those parts and went straight to the stories about the Whisky-a-Go-Go and Zappa's house.
(Oh, but damn you, Joni Mitc...more
(Oh, but damn you, Joni Mitc...more
A wonderful book about a neighborhood and an era. Laurel canyon in Los Angeles was a place where musicians like Zappa, Crosby Stills and Nash, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, The Eagles and many others called home beginning in the 1960's. The writer describes this place and its people well. The book is also a journey through pop culture history as we read about how rock n roll develops from innocence in mid 1960's through dram stage of late 1960's on to the creative excess of the 1970's and finally c...more
May 07, 2011
Thomas
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Fans of California music of the 1970s.
Recommended to Thomas by:
Found it on a shelf at the local Café
I really enjoyed the flow of this book as it told of the Los Angeles music of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s as it pertained to the musicians who made Laurel Canyon their home. In addition there was a lot of insight on the drugs present in the music over these periods - some incredibly harmful to the musicians and how they affected their music. I liked the authors take on one style of music being overtaken by another and why - I agreed with his opinions. I liked the optimism, honesty, and his knowin...more
For pop-culture hounds, this book is indispensable. I mean, other than Abbey Road and Haight-Ashbury, Laurel Canyon is one of the seminal 60s and 70s petri dishes of hippie culture. The author explains in detail the Mecca of SoCal hippiedom, and does it with the precision Occam's Razor, such that all the myth and starry-eyed fandom is removed. What's left is the reality of a place that, while immortalized by both fans and stars, in reality is a dangerous, out-dated, over-priced, criminal-infeste...more
Was not a big fan...but was interested in his struggles. Too bad most of his life was drinking, but he did overcome and has set up facilities where others can be helped.
Found it curious how much of a womanizer he was, it may have been part of that time that men thought that way. I felt he was quite full of himself as he expected his so called girlfriends to deal with his carrying on and put up with all his behaviors.
I do admire his respect for his music and as it appears to me, his disdain for...more
Found it curious how much of a womanizer he was, it may have been part of that time that men thought that way. I felt he was quite full of himself as he expected his so called girlfriends to deal with his carrying on and put up with all his behaviors.
I do admire his respect for his music and as it appears to me, his disdain for...more
I more or less grew up on the music of the Laurel Canyon and though I know the CSN(Y) catalog by heart, I didn't really know much about the history of the music and the artists, and so I found this book incredibly engaging. Though it was a bit of a fluff read, it was really fascinating to me. This book might be boring if you don't already have an emotional connection to the music. It's also kind of depressing - the beginning of the artistic movement in Laurel Canyon is so inspirational and reall...more
A spooky read that traces the rise and fall of what used to be one of the most vibrant neighborhoods in Los Angeles. In many respects it parallels the evolution of Haight Ashbury in San Francisco. In the 60s it's all peace and love and grooy vibes. Joni Mitchell is shacking with Graham Nash, writing ballads about "The Canyon", assorted characters from the Byrds, the Buffalo Springfield, the Stone Ponies, the Eagles and other laid back LA country folk types are lounging around getting high and li...more
I really enjoyed this, even though I wasn't familiar with about half the players (record execs, mostly.) It follows the history of the canyon from about The Byrds in the early 60s to the Wonderland murders in 1979, with a teeny bit about 80s and 90s. It was so decedent, now I am interested in learning more about the groupies, from Pamela des Barre to Sable Starr. I can't wait to carve out some time to listen to my Joni Mitchell and CSNY albums again. Hey did you know Peter Tork was a party anima...more
I read in another review that this book was mostly gossip - that would have been an improvement. It turned out that this was mostly a look at the sociology of LA in the '60s and '70s. That was an era when some of the best rock music of the last several decades was produced, but instead of a book about the music and the musicians who produced it, we were treated to a shallow look at the culture of the time. Not really worth the time it takes to read it unless you are seeking an advanced degree in...more
Mar 20, 2013
Freya Erickson
marked it as to-read
The first half of Laurel Canyon, the half that deals primarily with the 60s, is a great read, truly evocative of the era. The second half, the 70s, starts off OK with it's discussion about the so-called cocaine cowboys, but rapidly disintegrated into third-rate writing, as the author seems to start dabbling into genres of music he is not familiar with or singers who are barely connected to the LA scene (Lou Reed and NY Dolls, anyone?).
Overall though, it is a good read, fun and sad in equal measu...more
Overall though, it is a good read, fun and sad in equal measu...more
Read as background for a current paper project. This is mostly a celebrity group bio. It turns out that lots of groovy people lived in Laurel Canyon and they did a lot of coke which fucked them up big time. Gosh. I seriously doubt that anyone I know would be tempted to read this. But if you are, don't. Look at Barney Hoskins' Waiting for the Sun instead.
I found this work to offer many anecdotes which together paint a clear picture of the life and times of some of rock's best known stars, and their entourages. That they came together at a particular time and place definitely influenced their music, and thus our lives. Walker also follows the decline, and attempted resurrections of the locale and the personalities. In this way, the book provides an ongoing history; not just a rosy, sentimental snap shot. Well researched and many revelations into...more
While Walker's obvious cynicism sometimes taints this otherwise well-written book, it's worth overlooking for his ability to use historical information and interviews and quotes from those who were there to bring to life an fascinating subculture with broad and lasting effect on the popular culture as a whole.
I was just out in Los Angeles visiting my aunt and uncle who live in Laurel Canyon and they suggested I run down to the Canyon Country Store and pick this up.
Definitely a good source of information on just how vital L.A. was to rock n' roll in the late 60s (everyone thinks it was all San Fran & New York).
Definitely a good source of information on just how vital L.A. was to rock n' roll in the late 60s (everyone thinks it was all San Fran & New York).
I drive through Laurel Canyon everyday and I have a new appreciation of what an amazing history it has. I loved reading about the musicians that gravitated here. It's a quick read and thoroughly enjoyable. If you have a chance to read THE WRECKING CREW as well, they make terrific companion pieces.
I always enjoy hearing the behind-the-scenes tales about how bands, albums, concerts, record labels, etc. come together, and there are plenty of these in this book. But I found Walker's writing style annoying and distracting, and there are many stories--even chapters--that strayed from what the book is supposedly about: a neighborhood that was home to a number of bands that found enormous success in a unique time and place.
I'm a sucker for music books, and this one was like peeking through the curtains of late '60s, early '70s rock stars. An interesting glimpse of the LA music scene in its heyday. Fans of Joni Mitchell, Crosby STills & Nash, and the Byrds will enjoy this book.
Interesting take on the 1960s and 70s as seen from Laurel Canyon in L.A. Walker includes a lot of anecdotes about the musicians who lived in the Canyon and the groups that came out that environment. A good read, though Walked does indulge in a few tangents. Recommended for anyone interested in the history of those decades
For those who continue to debate whether San Francisco or Los Angeles was the epicenter of 60s music, Michael Walker provides the answer. He skillfully paints a multidimensional mural of a fabled time period. Walker uses the unique perspective of a location as metaphysical as it is geographic to describe the musical culture of the 60s and 70s. The magic of those years is deftly captured in Walker's words. He leads us through the twists and turns the canyon takes in the 80s, portraying a location...more
Oct 22, 2012
Celticoracle
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
audiobook,
non-fiction
I never realized how much of the 60s music came out of Laurel Canyon. An interesting story of the evolution of the place in relation to the music and social evolution of the 60s and 70s, but also some lovely tidbits about the various players here (Joni Mitchell, Crosby, Stills and Nash, etc.)
Enjoyed the back-stories of the American music scene in the 60's and as it further evolved in the 70's. Loved learning of the relationships, friendships and personalities of America's early singer/songwriter's.
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Michael Walker is a Los Angeles-based screenwriter, author and journalist. His national bestseller,LAUREL CANYON: THE INSIDE STORY OF ROCK AND ROLL'S LEGENDARY NEIGHBORHOOD (Farrar Straus and Giroux), is in its eleventh printing and has spent seven months on the Los Angeles Times Book Review's bestseller list and continues to receive worldwide acclaim. His next book, ALL ACCESS, a pop-cultural his...more
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Jan 31, 2013 08:16pm