Michael Walker (2) (1957–)

As music books go, this was all right. Not fantastic, not earth-shaking, but all right.

As many other reviewers have noted, while it purports to be the "inside story of rock and roll's legendary neighborhood" it does take far too many detours out of Laurel Canyon and into the offices of music companies, or into LA, or wherever.

It started out strong, and I will say I quite enjoyed the first half, and I think if Walker had simply focused on Laurel Canyon up to, say, the Manson murders, and gone more in depth on the musicians in the canyon, and more about their songwriting and collaborations and inspirations, this would have been a far more interesting read.… (mehr)

Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock-and -Roll’s Legendary Neighborhood by Michael Walker is a 2007 Farrar, Straus and Giroux publication.

During the 1960s a group of people who would later become household names, made their home in Laurel Canyon. The neighborhood then became legendary- but is mostly mythologized. It had a reputation for having a commonality, a peace and love, 'my door is always open' atmosphere.

Until...

The Manson family murders, that is.

Suddenly, all those open doors were slammed shut and locked up tight. The murders, along with the disastrous Altamont concert are often blamed for killing the mood in the late sixties, but as we look back, all that ‘brotherhood’ stuff was mostly an illusion to begin with.

As these musicians began to reap financial rewards, cocaine became a status symbol, without the accusation of having commercially sold out. Once the drug took over it was truly the end of an era.

This scene fizzled out eventually, as these things often do, when times and taste change- as well as the darker side of the lifestyle takes over, and goes too far, causing people to wake up - or in many cases, finally grow-up.

Still, Laurel Canyon, for many, remains romanticized and nobody dares to dispute that. It has its place in pop culture history, much the same as Haight-Ashbury, during the 1960s.

As to this book, though, it starts out strong, but continues far, far too long. The author moved out of Laurel Canyon before the halfway mark, it seems, and proceeded to explain how rock became bloated, how punk popped that bubble, and how all those early sixties artists had moved out, the famous landmarks closed, and cocaine, murders, and decadence burned it out, sometimes literally, leaving only idealistic, nostalgic memories in its wake.

Towards the end of the book, I was skimming over the material, because I’d either heard it before, or found it boring, or the author quoted people I’d never even heard of, didn't care about, or had nothing to do with Laurel Canyon, really- and because it had moved past the decades I had wanted to read about in the first place.

Eventually, the author returns to the Canyon to close the book with another infamous mass murder that killed any semblance of innocence that might have remained.

Most of this stuff can be found if one is willing to do the research, read a few biographies, or comb through the interviews given during this time. But, I'm not sure I'd ever much care about long forgotten rock groupies and most of the history presented here is not news to me, so ultimately, the book became a snooze-fest.

2 stars… (mehr)

One of my favorite old albums is Coolidge's "Anytime. . . Anywhere." I didn't know a lot about her except that she was married to Kris Kristofferson in the 70s. Now I know her story, in her own words: how she knew and sang with (and sometimes romantically involved with) some of the best known artists of the time: Joe Cocker, Eric Clapton, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, Leon Russell. . .and eventually Kristofferson. She wrote songs (and didn't always receive credit), and songs were written about her. But we also glimpse her home life too--her strong ties to her parents and siblings (especially sister Priscilla), her desire for children, and her struggle to balance motherhood with her career.… (mehr)