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Echo in the Canyon


tbone_

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It was a hell of a scene. Lots of good shit about it in Graham Nash's book. 

 

I'm sure y'all have hear the story that Joni Mitchell often told.  It goes like this:

When I wanted to come to America, I asked, "where do the weird people live?".


"California", they said.

So, I went to California, and I asked "where do the weird people live?"

"Los Angeles", they said.

So, I went to Los Angeles, and I asked "where do the weird people live?"

"Laurel Canyon", they said.

So, I went to Laurel Canyon, and I asked "where do the weird people live?"

"Lookout Mountain" they said.

So, I bought a house on Lookout Mountain

Edited by Gil Bang
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  • 3 months later...

Good flick. Interesting stuff. Roger McGuinn and David Crosby spend a fair amount of time telling us how important they are. Lots of Jakob, but that’s ok. Worth watching. The Tom Petty interviews are pretty cool.

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I totally recommend seeking out this movie in your area, I really enjoyed it. I don't know why it made my laugh but, at 51 I was the youngest person in the theater. 

For a nice companion piece, check out the podcast "Rolling Stone Music Now" June 4 - Jakob Dylon. 

Edited by RiverwalkMiner
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  • 4 months later...

I saw this 2 nights ago. Always been fascinated with Hippie shit, 60s, Cali in the 60s, etc, so it was very interesting and I was thoroughly enjoying it until every single interruption for Jacob to play his renditions. After the first one I forwarded through all the remaining 17. You old shits are reminding me I should send it to my dad, he'd enjoy it.

I assume Michelle Phillips is the Mama that smashed both the Papas? That non-apology she gave for cheating on her husband because "that's just how she was, and still is really" was pretty head-scratchingly hilarious.

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2 hours ago, BurdineBandit said:

I saw this 2 nights ago. Always been fascinated with Hippie shit, 60s, Cali in the 60s, etc, so it was very interesting and I was thoroughly enjoying it until every single interruption for Jacob to play his renditions. After the first one I forwarded through all the remaining 17. You old shits are reminding me I should send it to my dad, he'd enjoy it.

I assume Michelle Phillips is the Mama that smashed both the Papas? That non-apology she gave for cheating on her husband because "that's just how she was, and still is really" was pretty head-scratchingly hilarious.

Yeah, I enjoyed parts of it too, but I never really thought "now's a great time to watch Cat Power sing a song".   Who the fuck is Cat Power, anyway?

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The idea of a documentary about Laurel Canyon's place in American music is great . . . but the execution sucked.  The focus was too narrow -- it was all Byrds, Mamas and Papas, and Buffalo Springfield.  No real focus on Jackson Browne or anyone else from the 70s.  That said, I did enjoy some of the Tom Petty, David Crosby and Stephen Stills interviews. 

As an aside, does anyone feel that Roger McGuinn must be one of the biggest D-bags in rock history?  The guy is unbelievably self-important.  I saw him and Hillman during the Sweetheart of the Rodeo reunion tour a few years ago, and he took a few shots at Gram Parsons between songs, which I found funny since Parsons was the driving force behind what is by far the Byrds' best work.    

 

 

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I enjoyed it -- could have been better, but it wasn't a waste of an hour and a half.  Jakob Dylan as an interviewer made me want to bang my head against a wall several times.  Best part of it for me was hearing all the old Byrds and Buffalo Springfield tunes that I'd forgotten about.

Michelle Phillips was a smoke show back then (and looks good for her age now).  The fact that she wasn't a fanatic about her marriage only adds to the intrigue.   

 

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Jakob Dylan’s renditions were horibad and it was too narrow like someone said. I enjoyed the real music and the interviews but a lot of them were pretty shallow, “yeah it was a crazy time, and a crazy place, the kinda place that made you wanna go over and play your guitar at your friends house, and write a song.” If I heard that basic line again... ugh. Shoulda focused on a broader range of the musicians there. Told more stories of debauchery and shit.

I did a deep dive on The Beach Boys after watching though, been a while since they were at the forefront of my mind musically. Crazy distinctive band for sure.

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12 hours ago, troph said:

Jakob Dylan’s renditions were horibad and it was too narrow like someone said. I enjoyed the real music and the interviews but a lot of them were pretty shallow, “yeah it was a crazy time, and a crazy place, the kinda place that made you wanna go over and play your guitar at your friends house, and write a song.” If I heard that basic line again... ugh. Shoulda focused on a broader range of the musicians there. Told more stories of debauchery and shit.

I did a deep dive on The Beach Boys after watching though, been a while since they were at the forefront of my mind musically. Crazy distinctive band for sure.

A serious Beach Boys documentary is way past due. It would be an epic undertaking, but it's amazing that a serious filmmaker hasn't taken it on the way it really should be done, there's so much material there to explore both musically and just the total weirdness that permeates the entire story of the whole band through the ages. The Endless Harmony doc was a decent stab at it back in the previous millennium, but it still just scratches the surface.

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  • 6 months later...
On 11/14/2019 at 7:18 PM, Ollie Slatt said:

The idea of a documentary about Laurel Canyon's place in American music is great . . . but the execution sucked.  The focus was too narrow -- it was all Byrds, Mamas and Papas, and Buffalo Springfield.  No real focus on Jackson Browne or anyone else from the 70s.  That said, I did enjoy some of the Tom Petty, David Crosby and Stephen Stills interviews. 

As an aside, does anyone feel that Roger McGuinn must be one of the biggest D-bags in rock history?  The guy is unbelievably self-important.  I saw him and Hillman during the Sweetheart of the Rodeo reunion tour a few years ago, and he took a few shots at Gram Parsons between songs, which I found funny since Parsons was the driving force behind what is by far the Byrds' best work.    

 

 

Well, they were much bigger acts than Jackson Browne.  The Byrds alone are one of rocks pantheon of rock groups.  Jackson Browne is more famous for beating his girlfriend Daryl Hannah repeatedly in my opinion, than for his music.  The genesis was the 60's not the 70's.

Edited by Onboard 2.0
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