An Oral History of Laurel Canyon, the 60s and 70s Music Mecca (2015) | Hacker News Reader

An Oral History of Laurel Canyon, the 60s and 70s Music Mecca (2015)

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33 pointstintinnabula16 comments

This argument came up during discussions of Amazon HQ2. Whether its better to distribute. Or concentrate talent all in one location to foment a collision of ideas and egos.

I think about The Eagles and Hotel California a lot. It took them 2 years to record that album. Their previous rock-country records went platinum. But Hotel California sold like 10M+. That's what 10X improvement looks like. And it's obvious the effect of having Jackson Browne, Tom Petty, Lindsay Buckingham, et al right next door or down the street to bounce around riffs and lyrics.

PBS doc Soundbreaking also has some great Laurel Canyon apocrypha:

https://www.pbs.org/show/soundbreaking/

Perhaps. They also had just completely changed their lineup, getting rid of Bernie Leadon and adding Joe Walsh.

And they had been surrounded by amazing musicians the whole time, Glen Frey lived above Jackson Browne before they formed, and they started out as Linda Rondstat’s backing band.

But hey it’s a good story.

Queen's best album was when Mercury was given complete artistic freedom and control. The other bandmembers did record their parts without even knowing how they'd end up in the finished album.

Same with The Who's Quadrophenia which was Townshends brainchild and though not the commercially most successful, still a brilliant album.

All this amazing music came out of one place. Is it possible part of that is connections in promotion? Especially in the gate keeper era? In other words there might be great music in many more places but unless it gets promoted by the right people no one ever hears it.

A bunch of very talented pop musicians moved there, and made pop music. That’s why you’ve heard it, and that’s why you like it. These people were very good at making music designed to appeal to you.

Seems to miss out John Mayall - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues_from_Laurel_Canyon

I'm 72 and nothing in my life has ever touched me like the music of that era. It breaks my heart that I'll never experience anything like that again.

I have a few musician friends who lived in laurel canyon in that era and swear by that article. Sounds like it was truly a magical place and time

When I think of Laurel Canyon in the 60's and early 70's, I always think of Frank Zappa and Joni Mitchell.

Plus the miles and miles of tape they produced that has yet to drop as a compilation or make it to air (figuratively).

To me, they always seemed to be more at the center of those artists who were at the center of things creatively.

I love that album Joni did with Jaco Pastorius. Coyote is a beautiful song and the bassline is one of the most melodic I've ever heard. It's really difficult to describe how amazing it really is...

Agree. I saw her live in '79 at the Coliseum in Portland. Backed up by Jaco and Pat Metheny, both of whom performed separate solos that featured them playing against loops recorded in the moment.

Similiar to Dovydas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsOCQFRWUng

She released a live album in 1980 that featured some of these performances. I think there's video on youtube of the Santa Barbara shows.

For me, FZ's Black Napkins guitar solo, live at the Palladium in 1977, ranks as one of his best. It's included in his movie "Baby Snakes." Watermelon in Easter Hay is another that makes you put the pen down and listen.

The real story of Laurel Canyon was written by Dave McGowan and it goes into great detail of how the hippie counter culture and music scene was completely created by the MIC. Anything saying anything else is just propaganda.

What is the MIC?

Military Industrial Complex

I was sold on McGowan's piece until I read his work on the moon landings, which was utter raving nonsense. I was much less sold after that.

But I think it's still fair to question the extent to which psychedelia and pro-peace (as opposed to anti-war) culture was deliberately seeded and manufactured - in the same way that abstract art and music were promoted to intellectuals by the US primarily for nationalistic and political reasons.

It's always important to know when someone is out of their specialty. The researcher I practically worship on a particular subject once wrote a defence of something I personally know to be complete nonsense because I was there and know what happened.

Dave's Laurel Canyon piece is meticulously researched and he's in his specialty. He's wrong about the moon landings.

Doesn't matter how meticulously researched it is if the conclusions are just plain bonkers.

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