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

Great overview of at least part of what was going on at that place in time - A very enjoyable read.

This is a good book. Well researched. Well thought out. And a good way for those of us who grooved to those songs on our at-home stereos but didn't know all that much about the people behind the faces on the album covers to get a look behind the door. I especially enjoyed the sections on Joni Mitchell and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. There is obviously a lot of material here. So much so, that it appears the author left some things out to make room for others while doubling back yet again to cover the same ground from a different angle. This faintly disjointed style of writing can leave the reader with a touch of whiplash at times but overall...the stories were rich enough, the detail satisfying enough and the writer's integrity impeccable enough that I found this book both a quick and satisfying read. I highly recommend it.

Great read. I myself moved from Detroit to Hollywood in 1976. I followed a local rock band of friends to California as their roadie. The band desolved after a couple years and they moved back to Michigan. But I stayed and lived next door to grandpa Walton (Actor Will Geer was our landlord) and started my career as a stage lighting designer.Another transplant friend and I would smoke weed and drive around the canyon all the time. Being from very flat Michigan, just checking out all the narrow roads around the hills was amazing. We knew of all the musicians that lived or had lived up there, but I wish we had known all that I've recently learned from this book! Great stories to say the least.I may never return to that area again (I moved to Tennessee in 1984) but I'm sure even in 2023 you can still smell the eucalyptus as you drive all the roads mentioned in this book. And I'd love to visit the Canyon store on last time...I'm sure my age helps recall all the magic I remember from the mid 70s, but I'm sure even a 20 something would find the story fascinating. I enjoyed it.

In the summer of 1972 forces that had been building for decades coalesced to give us the opening strains of the Eagles' "Take It Easy" and Country-Rock went from being a musical undercurrent to being a pop phenomena that affected music, fashion and the culture of young adults for the rest of the '70s. Strangely, in the early '80s this musical phenomena vanished much more quickly than it had appeared leaving little to mark its passing until the Eagles reunion in 1994. Now, over 30 years later there are any number of books telling the story of how Folk, Country, Rock and (to some extent) Blues all came together in LA's Laurel Canyon to make LA the musical promised land which bred this phenomena. Likewise, these books explain how it all collapsed into a heap as cocaine inflated egos clashed and creativity was overtaken by monetary concerns and other realities.Of the books I've read on the subject of the LA music scene in the '60s and '70s this one perhaps best explains the poisonous effects of cocaine and other vices on the whole scene yet he seems to resist the conclusion that the absolute freedom of the times opened the door to its eventual demise. Michael Walker refers to the culture of the '50s as if it were a nasty communicable disease and he seems genuinely surprised that the free spirits of Laurel Canyon weren't able to change the world to their liking and eventually they too had to conform to reality just as their forebears did.This brings me to my greatest problem with this book, it seems to be written from the viewpoint of someone who wishes he was there and feels as if he missed out. While he is honest in pointing out that drug-related crime and prostitution surfaced in spite of the tidal wave of idealism that existed at that time he seems to write from a viewpoint of wistful nostalgia for something he never actually was a part of. He seems to believe in the fantasy even though he is chronicling its failure. Accounting for the fact that the author is a Chicagoan that relocated to Laurel Canyon helps to explain this; at least to me. The author (and this book) seem divided; one foot rooted in the past "glories" of the era he writes about while the other foot cautiously treads the reality of the present. It's as if part of the author is wishing that some of the old crew would show up in his yard and start partying while the other half of him would call the police in a heartbeat if they did.I wouldn't warn anyone off of buying this book, it is in fact very informative, but it is nonetheless uneven. It is a book I would recommend to a true afficinado of the subject but not as a sole purchase if you want to read about Country-Rock. A few other books you might enjoy are:  Desperados: The Roots of Country Rock , Hotel California: The True-Life Adventures of Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, Mitchell, Taylor, Browne, Ronstadt, Geffen, the Eagles, and Their Many Friends  and  To The Limit: The Untold Story Of The Eagles .

Very good book of Laurel Canyon and what went on in the late 60s. Recommended read.

Being a person who'd spent some time in Laurel Canyon, I was happy to come across this book. It's like having a key which opens up the parallel universe between Laurel Canyon today and the Laurel Canyon of yesterday. For the most part, the emphasis rests on the era of the 60s-70s, and a touch of 80s. If you are a fan of the bands of that era (Crosby, Stills & Nash, Frank Zappa, The Beach Boys), then this book makes a wonderful companion piece to your listening pleasures. The stories are fun, and informative. For instance, I was amused to learn how Joni Mitchell once slept in the basement of the Canyon Country Store. I recall once, using the restroom at the market, located in the basement, and can't help but to think of the reckless abandonment which may (or may not) have taken place in that setting. All in all, a very entertaining read of a particular time stamp in Los Angeles.

great insight to a residential area that became a haven for music in the late 60's

Walker produced a well-researched history of the glory days of Laurel Canyon and allowed to to evolve, along with the denizens, into something tragic as coke and sex devoured art and community. In the end a tragedy of sorts, but only because they all once flew so high.

bought as a present - the recipient loved it

Excelente descripción de un momento único en la historia de la música popular

A very well-written, time-travelling tour of the spirit and people of Laurel Canyon. If you enjoy music history then this book is not to be missed!

Der Laurel Canyon in LA war und ist eine beliebte Adresse für Rockmusiker. Michael Walker lebte selbst in der Gegend und erzählt mit viel Liebe zum Detail über die wilden 1960er. Recht nett zu lesen.