Laurel Canyon, by Michael Walker

Laurel Canyon undoubtably has the reputation for being one of Los Angeles' most bohemian neighborhoods, and Michael Walker is the best man for the job of telling the story of its residents. The stories of Laurel Canyon unfold, alternately relaying the history and paying tribute to the artists who occupied the Canyon in the late 1960s – a time when folksingers suddenly became rock stars.

Pros

Cons

The stories Walker recounts in this book are funny, shocking, exciting, entertaining and horribly sad all in one breath. Although it doesn't seem like he's trying too hard to pay tribute to the neighborhood, the profiles of the artists and their homes serve as a wonderful salute to the energy and poignancy of the music that came from the artists in the Canyon.

Imagining the opening scene of the story – where David Crosby, Steven Stills, and Graham Nash have gathered in Joni Mitchell's living room for a jam session - is, in itself, electrifying. The events that follow continue with the same enticing electricity and zeal.

Walker follows each of the Canyon's major players – Crosby, Chris Hillman, Frank Zappa, and Cass Elliot, to name a few – and shares an endearing view of what it felt like in the folk and rock communities when folksingers started becoming rock stars.

Although there are several moments when a chapter starts and the reader may feel disoriented and unsure of what era the narrator is discussing now, chances are that's how it felt to be in Laurel Canyon in the mid-to-late 1960s. Once you find your way, you begin to appreciate the depth and audacity of the story and the artists it portrays.

There are more fluid reads when it comes to the story of the folk-rock scenes of the 60s and 70s, but Walker does a fantastic job of telling this particular story in a way befitting of its colorful characters.