Canyon of Dreams

 

  Canyon of Dreams by Harvey Kubernick came out this Tuesday, Oct 6^th. It’s a history of Laurel Canyon and it’s residents from the very beginnings of Hollywood, when it was a remote hideaway for stars at such hotels as The Garden of Allah, opened by one of Rudolph Valentino’s wives, it proves that sex and drugs and wild times existed before Rock ‘n’ Roll.

 The book primarily details the stories of the famous residents of the Laurel Canyon, and The Doors had an early presence. In his foreword, Doors keyboardist, Ray Manzarek recounts his first experience in the canyon with Dick Bock, Pacific Coast Records owner, who signed and recorded Manzarek’s first band, Rick and The Ravens, and recommended to Ray, the Maharishi’s yoga class where he met John Densmore and Robby Krieger which rounded out the final lineup of The Doors.

There’s a couple of first glimpses at native Los Angelites, the underage John Densmore getting into a jazz club with a fake ID he procured in Tijuana and spending nights listening and watching the jazz musicians. There’s also a glimpse of Robby Krieger playing under his name at Club Lingerie.

The book is divided into easy to read chapters with a resident of the canyon relating anecdotes about the time period he lived in Laurel Canyon. The book is divided into very readable subchapters one of which is about The Doors. Robby and John were the first to move there, then Jim Morrison came along. Morrison liked to watch the denizens of the canyon and immortalized them in the song, Love Street. John had dinner parties followed by games of pool and Robby seems to have been a big part of the scene when he lived there, and perhaps gives a reason why Frank Zappa may have had the animus towards The Doors he had in later years. It seems Frank wanted to produce The Doors but they considered him “a weirdo” (Robby’s quote), and The Doors didn’t think it would work out.

Henry Diltz, who took the pictures for The Doors, Morrison Hotel album plays a major role in the narrative describing how he went from member of a folk band to rock photographer.

This is a great book on the history of Laurel Canyon, it’s formatted in a scrapbook style loaded with pictures and paraphernalia of the times, I urge anybody who’s interested whether they’re a Doors fan or not to get the book. There’s something in there for anybody who’s interested in the time period, in rock history, jazz history, or someone looking to get a feel for the times. Click the link if you would like to read my full Amazon Review of Canyon of Dreams.

Like what you’ve read? Click "Subscribe" next to my picture above and receive an email notifications when I post a new article.

Previous articles The Doors Live in New York Review, The Doors in  the Comics, John Densmore, Quiet Activist