Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock-And-Roll's Legendary Neighborhood

I spent a great amount of time in Laurel Canyon in the late '60's and the early part of 1970. This is the best account I've read of what it was like. Nobody I knew realized that we were at the epicenter of cultural and musical events that over time were going to become mythologized. We were young and extremely excited about each other and what was going on around us. Money and human greed changed everything. I left in 1970 because, after Manson and some people's growing affection for extreme stimulants,everything changed. It got real hard and real cold---and in some cases---real lethal. But for a short period of time,it was truely exceptional.

I grew up less than 5 miles from that area during this time and never realized what was going on there. I remember driving through Laurel Canyon to go out to the San Fernando Valley to visit my cousins and to find out about these singers living in that area was amazing to me. The book is so good that my employees at work are reading it. There is a list of people of who gets it next. I have never had a book where so many people have wanted to read it after I finished with it.

The 1960's music scene in Los Angeles comes vividly alive in this account of the rock world that thrived in Laurel Canyon. This is a must-read for anyone (like me) who grew up listening to CSN & Y, Frank Zappa, the Mamas and the Papas, Joni Mitchell and others. It's amazing to think that all this talent and more converged in one place at one special time. Michael Walker provides a thorough accounting of the birth and death of Laurel Canyon as a rock colony in a captivating and insightful way. You can almost smell the marijuana wafting from the book! These truly were the good old days, probably never to be seen again. A great read!

My thanks to Michael Walker. As I read Laurel Canyon I fell into the sixties and it felt great to be twenty something again. All those talented wonderful sidemen...this book was a far better read than Hotel California. I bought two copies to give as gifts. I loved it. D.S

If you are looking to explore popular music history, particularly focusing on the 60s and 70s, this is one of the books you must read. The book loosely divides in to two parts, 60s and 70s. But frankly, the charm and fame of music history is centered in the 60s when the first American answer to the Beatles, the Byrds, were becoming a force in the development from American folk to Rock and Singer/songwriter music. All the stars are here and describe how this unique canyon with homes made of wood and no real requirement of heat or air conditioning allowed a bohemian lifestyle with hippies sleeping on the floor and in caves. Surprising influential stars are named like the Turtles and their influence (Volman) but more importantly, Cass Elliot particularly and the Mamas and Papas generally. But then it all changed after the Manson murders, Woodstock and Altamont. Hippies wandering unknown into homes became worrisome as the utopia dream of Peace and Love were shattered. This led to the hedonistic, cocaine influenced 70s when it all fell apart. If any criticism could be offered in would be that the book does not focus on the title, Laurel Canyon, but rather moves to the Strip and the Troubadour on the south side of the Santa Monica Mountains in West Hollywood. This is a must read for any music fans and you will learn a lot and have many songs to research. The 60s were a unique experience in American history and this book focuses on the musical influences and how they touched the country. Great job to the author. After reading this book I picked up Hotel California and while it covers the same period and has good overlap, I recommend it also as a companion purchase as they both cover one of the most important periods in American music.