Trailer for new documentary about the 60s-70s Laurel Canyon music scene featuring Tom Petty, Cat Power, Jackson Browne, Norah Jones

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/04/04/trailer-for-new-documentary-ab-2.html

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Whenever people discuss the Laurel Canyon scene they never mention that Zappa had his house there, or that Beefheart and the Magic Band composed/rehearsed “Trout Mask Replica” in Laurel Canyon, but I can understand it, they weren’t part of that bigger, “pop” scene.

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Seeing Norah Jones in the description threw me for a bit. Then I realized it includes younger artists influenced by the scene and music created in the '60s and '70s.

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holy crap, i didn’t know there was a documentary like this coming out about Laurel Canyon. i can’t wait. it’s funny, they mention Buffalo Springfield, but only show Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, and Neil Young, and never mention CSN(Y) by name, and no David Crosby in the trailer. i also feel it’s quite a slight not to feature Joni Mitchell, because she was a huge, huge part of that scene.

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I’m too young and too musically untalented to have experienced the '60s and '70s Laurel Canyon scene first-hand in any way. When I was a teenager, though, I was up there frequently at the houses of friends and classmates whose parents had been part of the scene and still lived there. It was still a unique vibe, one that likely persists to this day.

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I saw David Crosby in the credits. Didn’t spot Joni Mitchell.

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if you’re looking for a Laurel Canyon rabbit hole to go down, one with the seedy uunderbelly exposed and coated in a wash of paranoia, Dave McGowan is your man.

the entire thing is quite long but it’s told in complete chapters. I’m not really even into the LC scene but this story sucked me in completely. But take it with a whole shaker of salt.

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Yeah, Neil was there:

Well, I hear that Laurel Canyon
is full of famous stars,
But I hate them worse than lepers
and I’ll kill them
in their cars.

from Revolution Blues.

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Ah, thanks so much for sharing this. In the Jim Jarmusch Stooges documentary Iggy makes a very, very veiled reference to the Laurel Canyon scene and it’s ilk and how it presented a mellowed rebellious alternative to some of the more reactionary hippies/rock n roll bands, etc and he hinted that there may have been behind the scenes forces at work. It was a really quick reference but the way Iggy said it (with both a wink and a nod, seemingly very serious and yet maybe not serious at all) immediately intrigued me. Skimming through this piece (gonna read the whole thing now) I can immediately tell this is likely where Iggy got that theory and why he made the comment.

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Every time they should but don’t mention Van Dyke Parks, take a drink.

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Maybe Joni chose not to participate.

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This is amazing, but I think I’ll take it with two full shakers since one of the authors other big pieces is on the moon landing being a fake.

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If " location" had anything to do with it, Zappa and Van Vliet were Lancaster boys and collaborated there. (I’ve worked in the high desert there… and I can tell you that Lancaster/Mohave indigenous human life is… unusual.)

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i was hoping that if she’s not included it’s because of health reasons, because she has had some recently. but tom petty’s in it, and he’s DEAD. she was super integral to that Laurel Canyon scene, so it would be a pretty deep omission if she wasn’t included.

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yeah… the guy writes well and he’s done a ton of research, but he’s got a couple of kinks in his cable.

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wow, that thing is Illuminati/Lizard People levels of conspiracy-crazy. he lost me the moment he didn’t bother to check how to spell Monterey.

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Well…wow…I read all the way through Part IV…thinking “Yes, many military brats became peacenik hippie rebels & many people on a very druggy scene died young of drug overdoses & many hippie dudes were macho men & carried sidearms…”

But then I remember Cookie Mueller’s story ( in Walking Through Clear Water In A Pool Painted Black) about encountering the Manson family & experiencing genuine evil incarnate…

…& maybe after all I understand why Joni might not want to participate.

Conspiracy aside, what’s left out of many histories of the era is how very very genderqueer the hippie scene was. The long hair & flowers & bearded drag were not just about being deemed unfit for military service…there was a genuine rejection of the hetero norm. The hippie movement was the gay liberation movement. Any accurate history has to acknowledge both the flaming homosexuality, & the vicious homophobia, of the times.

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jonimitchell.com says that she will be among the artists featured in the film.

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This looks great. I can’t wait.

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is it by Christopher Guest?

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