ISBN: 0471732737
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Avg Cusomer Rating: 3
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Summary: A fast, amusing, read
If you turn your nose up at early-'70s LA music, but really know more about the Eagles, Jackson Browne, Fleetwood Mac, etc. than you'd like to admit, then "Hotel California" is a recommended guilty pleasure.
On the other hand, if you've grown to admire the craftsmanship and durability of the songs that came out of that era, you probably deserve a more thorough and mature account of the "cowboy canyon" scene (to use Walter Becker's phrase).
Barney Hoskyns deftly covers a lot of historical ground in about 250 pages. But the quick pace leaves more than a few loose ends hanging. Early major players Barry Friedman and Mama Cass fade away fast, while Fleetwood Mac has its meteoric rise crammed into two pages. Disappointingly, Hoskyns spends more time on faves Gene Clark of the Byrds and Lowell George of Little Feat.
This leaves the usual chronicling of mega-players David Geffen, Irving Azoff, The Eagles, Linda Rondstadt, CSNY, Jackson Browne, et.al. At least novices will find out why JD Souther was so integral to the scene, even if his solo albums aren't well known.
That said, there is some bitchy fun to be had reading less-than-flattering accounts of Joni Mitchell (high-living snob), Gram Parsons (rich-kid hanger on) and even Neil Young (whose mercurial career changes seem less heroic than self-centered). These irreverant portraits are refreshing, if one-dimensional.
Wait until this comes out in paperback. Crack open a bottle of Cuervo and a few other refreshments from the era and enjoy a frivolous afternoon.
Summary: It's All Here
The definitive book on the California sound from the Laurel Canyon 60s to the cocaine addled 70s, it's all here. Special emphasis is paid to David Geffen's venture from agent to music record company owner and his specific group of artists, Jackson Browne, Eagles, JD Souther and Linda Ronstadt. The rest of music history also is here like the singer/songwriter hangout, the Troubadour. This is a fascinating period that celebrates political upheaval and the influence of songs written with meaning vs. pop love songs. For anyone with an interest in popular music, American culture or Los Angeles specifically, this is worth the read and I strongly recommend it.
Summary: Better than you would think
Hoskyns new book isn't the masterpiece that his previous 'Waiting for the Sun' was but it's a fine job, nonetheless. The Laurel Canyon scene in the '70s is a much-derided smorgasbourg of drugs, sex and oh-so-mellow California rock whose major exponents (The Eagles, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, Crosy Stills and Nash, etc.) have been forgotten in the past few decades by those who never got past their punk obsessions. While not exactly considered "hip" in 2006 this music actually has a lot to offer.
Joni and Jackson were responsible for a succession of excellent singer songwriter LPs spread out amongst the entire decade. The Eagles were perhaps the biggest selling US band of the time. Linda Ronstadt--the most popular female rocker (if you can call her that) of the second half of the decade, never wrote her own material but recorded some better than average records which were unavoidable on '70s FM radio. Other luminaries such as J.D. Souther, Randy Newman, Van Dyke Parks and many others get generous coverage.
So pick it up. If this kind of music interests you at all you won't be dissapointed.
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