It felt somewhat appropriate writing a review of the documentary ‘ECHO IN THE CANYON‘ (dir Andrew Slater, 82 mins, 2018), aboard an aeroplane, appropriate in the sense of the film being essentially a love letter from Jakub Dylan (son of Bob) and director Slater to the audacious new music that seeped out of Los Angeles during the mid-60s.
Most of the artists responsible for this new wave of groundbreaking rock lived in the Laurel Canyon neighbourhood of the city, hence the title, one of the finest examples being ‘Eight Miles High‘ by The Byrds – a song hard to shift from your mind when flying across the sky, the ground below obscured by clouds.
The intention of the film is two fold; those who were there at the time as members of either The Byrds, The Beach Boys, The Mamas & the Papas or Buffalo Springfield (Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, Brian Wilson, Michelle Phillips, Stephen Stills), offer insight into this era of extraordinary creativity – while others, Jackson Browne, Tom Petty, Eric Clapton, John Sebastian, Ringo Starr and Graham Nash, explain to young Dylan how they were inspired by the musical alchemy they heard.
Aligned to this is Dylan and a host of his equally enamoured contemporaries, (Regina Spektor, Beck, Fiona Apple, Norah Jones, Jade), at first discussing and then performing a selection of period material at a Los Angeles concert in 2015.
The significance being it marked fifty years since release of The Byrds’ ‘Mr Tambourine Man‘ – the opening 12-string guitar chords, played by McGuinn, effectively the starting pistol for all the stunning music LA would shortly produce.
In what is for the most part an enjoyable watch, both aspects serving the piece well. Dylan and his young pals show great reverence toward songs such as ‘It Won’t Be Wrong,’ ‘In My Room,’ ‘Monday Monday,’ ‘Questions,’ and ‘Expecting to Fly.’
The most pertinent observations on the scene come from McGuinn and Crosby (who fifty years later appear to have reached agreement on why the latter was fired from The Byrds), Browne and Petty – who is captured on film for the last time before his death in October 2017 and to whom it is dedicated.
The inclusion of Nash in the film does slightly confuse the narrative as during the years (1965-67) in question he was a member of The Hollies, his move to Laurel Canyon to join forces with Crosby and Stills not occurring until 12 months later.
What he says is interesting enough, but belongs more to the next chapter of 1968-1972, which presumably is why there is no reference in ‘Echo In The Canyon‘ to those other notable Canyon residents, Joni Mitchell and The Doors.
Nobody is in any doubt, however, on the role played by The Beatles in how the folk-rock sound so identified with LA evolved, their influence on The Byrds and The Beach Boys clearly profound. Yet in time, as Stills points out, inspiration also began heading in the opposite direction.
‘Suddenly there was this huge transatlantic melting pot,’ he says, ‘this incredible cross-pollination of ideas between The Byrds, The Beatles and The Beach Boys.’
There is also widespread agreement on what a seminal album The Beach Boys made with ‘Pet Sounds‘.
‘At the time I was too young to appreciate it,’ muses Browne, ‘but in time realised just how sophisticated it was. I know it had a huge influence on Sgt. Pepper – imagine that a band influencing The Beatles.’
‘I heard ‘Rubber Soul’ by The Beatles,’ says Beach Boy and ‘Pet Sounds‘ creator Brian Wilson, ‘and thought I can’t believe this album. It made me write ‘Pet Sounds.’
Quick also to extol Wilson is Petty. ‘I don’t see anything in Mozart that I don’t see in Brian Wilson,’ he remarks, ‘but that period was blessed with a circle of great artists who all had the attitude of ‘how can we make a record as good as that one.’
In the 18 months after ‘Pet Sounds‘ (May 1966) came a welter of albums, ‘Younger Than Yesterday‘ (The Byrds), ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band‘ (The Beatles) and ‘Buffalo Springfield Again,’ all monumental in scope and feeding off each other, while at the same time furnishing one another with ideas.
Those who travelled from all over – bringing their dreams and diverse musical backgrounds with them – to make Laurel Canyon their creative base camp (only The Beach Boys and Browne grew up in Los Angeles), also served to establish LA as the rock music capital of North America.
Strangely enough something similar occurred in the 70s, when emigres Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles would become the two artists most closely associated with the soft rock sound of Southern California.
Interspersed through ‘Echo In The Canyon‘ are scenes from the 1969 film ‘Model Shop.’ Filmed on location in Los Angeles, it provides an effective backdrop to the innovative sounds and expressive lyrics emanating from the recording studios of Sunset Strip and Hollywood Boulevard – songwriters such as Gene Clark (The Byrds), Stills and Neil Young (Buffalo Springfield) quickly progressing from three minute pop songs to pieces with greater structure and complexity.
In many ways a prequel to the excellent 2010 ‘Legends of the Canyon‘ documentary (although a slightly inferior telling of the story), the most pertinent moment of ‘Echo in the Canyon’ arrives when Crosby tells Dylan:
‘These were big steps that were being taken,’ he remarks, ‘and what was also happening is that we were putting great poetry on the radio.’
With the sun beating down on the distant sprawl of LA behind them, Crosby begins reciting: ‘To dance beneath the diamond sky/With one hand waving free/Silhouetted by the sea’ – I mean, how do you come up with lines like that?‘
There is little else he and Dylan can do other than exchange a wry smile, the notion of Laurel Canyon being a mid-60s vortex of astounding musical invention never better emphasised – or echoed.
Hello – hope you enjoyed another exclusive production from SAMTIMONIOUS.com
In order to create the best experience for when you drop by to read a page or two, those with the power to ordain such things (me, actually), have decided to remove all external advertising from the site – in other words articles will no longer be subject to intrusive pop-up ads. BUT – and ain’t there always one – should you wish to make a donation toward the on-costs of the most entertaining and original blog-site around, please press on the – ‘DONATE’ – button below. It will be greatly appreciated.
Stay safe everyone and thanks for dropping by – best wishes Neil
SAMTIMONIOUS.com – films, football and fabulous music at The Dominion of Opinion
NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of ‘MONTY’S DOUBLE‘ – an acclaimed thriller now available in paperback and as an Amazon Kindle book.