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desertcart.com: Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon: Laurel Canyon, Covert Ops, and the Dark Heart of the Hippie Dream (Audible Audio Edition): David McGowan, Bill Fike, Headpress: Audible Books & Originals Review: An eye-popping look at the LA music scene of the 1960's ... and more - I discovered this fascinating book in an oddly roundabout way. I became very interested in Cass Elliot (I just love her! She was a great singer, and one of the sweetest people and kind to a fault), read her biography, and started to notice that there were some strange and curious aspects to her early life after high school when she was in NY and Alexandria, Virginia (a place mentioned often in this book). Eventually, I heard that Michael Caine said he was introduced to Charles Manson (!) by Cass at a party in her home - in Laurel Canyon. Cass was famous for her parties and “non-judgmental” atmosphere (which I believe led to her very suspicious early death at 32 in 1974). Cass’s entourage was populated by a few notorious drug dealers and criminals. I branched out and started reading CHAOS by Tom O’Neill (highly recommended), and then this excellent overview of LA’s most interesting (notorious?) neighborhood. By the way, Cass lived on Woodrow Wilson Drive not far from Abigail Folger and Voytek Frykowski. Cass knew everyone, and everyone knew Cass … I found the section on Cass’s former bandmates, John and Michelle Phillips, to be very curious and eye-opening. In this breezy, relatively short book, the late Mr. McGowen gives us a series of facts about the musicians who curiously migrated, almost simultaneously, to the LA suburb of Laurel Canyon. We meet Frank Zappa, Lizard King Jim Morrison, members of the The Byrds, The Mamas and the Papas, Arthur Lee and Love, Dennis Wilson, David Crosby (approach with great caution), and many others, including famous actors dating back to the silent era. The book ends with a fascinating look at Harry Houdini and serial killer Rodney Alcala (who had strange links to Laurel Canyon celebrities). I won’t spoil the book, but I will give three takeaways: 1) The Laurel Canyon death list is staggering! These are not people who die peacefully in their sleep at a nice ripe old age. The murders, suicides, and strange demises of so many young stars (and their family members) are shocking when listed before you. I’m even more curious at how many regular folks wound up meeting a grim demise via Laurel Canyon. 2) The family backgrounds of so many of the Canyon celebrities involving the military industrial complex, elite bloodlines, diplomatic corps, and/or the occult, is mind boggling. What are the odds??? These links pop up so often, this gets to be an in-joke in the narrative. Off the top of my head I can list John Phillips, Jim Morrison, David Crosby (careful …), Gram Parsons, Stephen Stills, and Frank Zappa (a very strange man …) as hailing from prominent military families, or families with very elite bloodlines (Crosby and Parsons). 3) It’s well known that many of the famous Laurel Canyon musicians could not play or sing well at all. Many of the musicians playing on their famous albums are studio professionals like the famous Wreckin’ Crew. So, why did so many of these young men from elite or military backgrounds, decide to fall into the counterculture, grow their hair, pick up an instrument, and head to LA to wallow in debauchery on a Marquis de Sade size scale? It’s also curious that many of them had an initial batch of classic songs that established their legacy early, and almost none of them ever came close to equaling in quality. The book will often leave you scratching your head, or staring out into space thinking “what the …” Read it and you’ll never listen to many of those 1960’s and 70’s hits with quite the same reverence. Review: In the Wonderland Zoo - A follower of the original "Inside the LC" webseries, I expected Weird Scenes to be that plus some additional material (and with greater narrative continuity). And if that were the case, I'd give the book 4 stars, no problem. But what we have is a quite beautiful book that deserves shelf-space between The Collected Works of Charles Fort and Thos. Pynchon's Inherent Vice. "Conspiracy literature" in a broad sense, but McGowan's sense of humor - and *story* - distinguishes him from many such writers/researchers. And, really, there is plenty for those of a non-conspiratorial bent to chew on: Weird Scenes functions as a Rock History - documenting a particular scene - with keen insights (such as the splitting up of the folk-rock movement). The Arthur Lee chapter alone is vital for anybody who ever, well, *loves* Love. And "Brianistas" will recognize the names Jack Rieley and Tandyn Almer -- Right-wing and/or intelligence connections? It would be far from the strangest thing to happen in the Beach Boys universe. And that's where McGowan gets his hooks in: there is so much thoroughly documented Weirdness associated with the L.A. music scene that it begs for at least the beginnings of a STRUCTURE. Those looking for a neat "the Illuminati/Space Lizards did it" type explanation will be disappointed: like Charles Fort, the author brings forth information and asks the questions that pretty much nobody has thought to ask. The book is filled with possible scenarios supported by hard fact: a speculative history because there's really no official history of all these people/events to measure it against (Graham Nash's recent memoir? he truly loved Joni, is still miffed at Neil, next slide *please* ..). Like the mysterious "factory" in P.K. Dick's A Maze of Death - or the monolith in 2001 - sits Laurel Canyon's Lookout Mountain Laboratory, a honest-to-god military facility in the heart of hippiedom. McGowan doesn't dwell too much on it, because it's one of those uncanny things that, once you hear, you never forget: it's the hum in the background when you discover that Frank Zappa learned much of his studio wizardry from a former missile engineer. There are some who will shake their heads at the last two chapters, one on Houdini's intelligence connections and the other on the Spook-ridden Copeland clan and the late 70's/80's music scene. I thought these worked remarkably well in terms of providing some outside-the-Canyon *context*. To wit, what if the 60's/70's Laurel Canyon scene was simply a concentrated form of Weirdness that can be shown to be at work in other places, at other times? Well, we as readers would want examples, naturally. The Houdini material is illustrative of the sometimes nexus of the Entertainment world and intelligence work. Coming at the end of the book, the author can stand back and let the reader make connections (a delight for any devout reader of Mysteries). For example, the story of a Dr. Crandon and leagues of "disappeared" children called to mind the CIA/"Finders" cult that was news, briefly, in 1987. Other readers, with a different store of experiences, will have other revelations. What makes Weird Scenes so rewarding is that it invites revisiting: the Mystery remains open ..
J**O
An eye-popping look at the LA music scene of the 1960's ... and more
I discovered this fascinating book in an oddly roundabout way. I became very interested in Cass Elliot (I just love her! She was a great singer, and one of the sweetest people and kind to a fault), read her biography, and started to notice that there were some strange and curious aspects to her early life after high school when she was in NY and Alexandria, Virginia (a place mentioned often in this book). Eventually, I heard that Michael Caine said he was introduced to Charles Manson (!) by Cass at a party in her home - in Laurel Canyon. Cass was famous for her parties and “non-judgmental” atmosphere (which I believe led to her very suspicious early death at 32 in 1974). Cass’s entourage was populated by a few notorious drug dealers and criminals. I branched out and started reading CHAOS by Tom O’Neill (highly recommended), and then this excellent overview of LA’s most interesting (notorious?) neighborhood. By the way, Cass lived on Woodrow Wilson Drive not far from Abigail Folger and Voytek Frykowski. Cass knew everyone, and everyone knew Cass … I found the section on Cass’s former bandmates, John and Michelle Phillips, to be very curious and eye-opening. In this breezy, relatively short book, the late Mr. McGowen gives us a series of facts about the musicians who curiously migrated, almost simultaneously, to the LA suburb of Laurel Canyon. We meet Frank Zappa, Lizard King Jim Morrison, members of the The Byrds, The Mamas and the Papas, Arthur Lee and Love, Dennis Wilson, David Crosby (approach with great caution), and many others, including famous actors dating back to the silent era. The book ends with a fascinating look at Harry Houdini and serial killer Rodney Alcala (who had strange links to Laurel Canyon celebrities). I won’t spoil the book, but I will give three takeaways: 1) The Laurel Canyon death list is staggering! These are not people who die peacefully in their sleep at a nice ripe old age. The murders, suicides, and strange demises of so many young stars (and their family members) are shocking when listed before you. I’m even more curious at how many regular folks wound up meeting a grim demise via Laurel Canyon. 2) The family backgrounds of so many of the Canyon celebrities involving the military industrial complex, elite bloodlines, diplomatic corps, and/or the occult, is mind boggling. What are the odds??? These links pop up so often, this gets to be an in-joke in the narrative. Off the top of my head I can list John Phillips, Jim Morrison, David Crosby (careful …), Gram Parsons, Stephen Stills, and Frank Zappa (a very strange man …) as hailing from prominent military families, or families with very elite bloodlines (Crosby and Parsons). 3) It’s well known that many of the famous Laurel Canyon musicians could not play or sing well at all. Many of the musicians playing on their famous albums are studio professionals like the famous Wreckin’ Crew. So, why did so many of these young men from elite or military backgrounds, decide to fall into the counterculture, grow their hair, pick up an instrument, and head to LA to wallow in debauchery on a Marquis de Sade size scale? It’s also curious that many of them had an initial batch of classic songs that established their legacy early, and almost none of them ever came close to equaling in quality. The book will often leave you scratching your head, or staring out into space thinking “what the …” Read it and you’ll never listen to many of those 1960’s and 70’s hits with quite the same reverence.
C**S
In the Wonderland Zoo
A follower of the original "Inside the LC" webseries, I expected Weird Scenes to be that plus some additional material (and with greater narrative continuity). And if that were the case, I'd give the book 4 stars, no problem. But what we have is a quite beautiful book that deserves shelf-space between The Collected Works of Charles Fort and Thos. Pynchon's Inherent Vice. "Conspiracy literature" in a broad sense, but McGowan's sense of humor - and *story* - distinguishes him from many such writers/researchers. And, really, there is plenty for those of a non-conspiratorial bent to chew on: Weird Scenes functions as a Rock History - documenting a particular scene - with keen insights (such as the splitting up of the folk-rock movement). The Arthur Lee chapter alone is vital for anybody who ever, well, *loves* Love. And "Brianistas" will recognize the names Jack Rieley and Tandyn Almer -- Right-wing and/or intelligence connections? It would be far from the strangest thing to happen in the Beach Boys universe. And that's where McGowan gets his hooks in: there is so much thoroughly documented Weirdness associated with the L.A. music scene that it begs for at least the beginnings of a STRUCTURE. Those looking for a neat "the Illuminati/Space Lizards did it" type explanation will be disappointed: like Charles Fort, the author brings forth information and asks the questions that pretty much nobody has thought to ask. The book is filled with possible scenarios supported by hard fact: a speculative history because there's really no official history of all these people/events to measure it against (Graham Nash's recent memoir? he truly loved Joni, is still miffed at Neil, next slide *please* ..). Like the mysterious "factory" in P.K. Dick's A Maze of Death - or the monolith in 2001 - sits Laurel Canyon's Lookout Mountain Laboratory, a honest-to-god military facility in the heart of hippiedom. McGowan doesn't dwell too much on it, because it's one of those uncanny things that, once you hear, you never forget: it's the hum in the background when you discover that Frank Zappa learned much of his studio wizardry from a former missile engineer. There are some who will shake their heads at the last two chapters, one on Houdini's intelligence connections and the other on the Spook-ridden Copeland clan and the late 70's/80's music scene. I thought these worked remarkably well in terms of providing some outside-the-Canyon *context*. To wit, what if the 60's/70's Laurel Canyon scene was simply a concentrated form of Weirdness that can be shown to be at work in other places, at other times? Well, we as readers would want examples, naturally. The Houdini material is illustrative of the sometimes nexus of the Entertainment world and intelligence work. Coming at the end of the book, the author can stand back and let the reader make connections (a delight for any devout reader of Mysteries). For example, the story of a Dr. Crandon and leagues of "disappeared" children called to mind the CIA/"Finders" cult that was news, briefly, in 1987. Other readers, with a different store of experiences, will have other revelations. What makes Weird Scenes so rewarding is that it invites revisiting: the Mystery remains open ..
R**.
Dave McGowan's research into the wicked world of 1960s counterculture's biggest acts is both revealing and extremely compelling to read. It's myth-shattering and eye opening. Highly recommended!
T**I
Thoroughly good read
F**U
Seit seinem wunderbar klugen Online-Buch "Wagging the Moon-Doggie" zur Frage: "Waren "Wir" nun auf dem Mond oder nicht?" :-) bin ich ein Fan von David McGowan, und seiner unbeschädigt klaren Art, zu hinterfragen und zu recherchieren. Gewohnheitsmässig kolportierte "Wahrheiten" -und Darstellungen davon- durchleuchtet er elegant und intelligent und mit unbeirrbarer Findigkeit sammelt er Hinweise, Zeugnisse und Belege und puzzelt geduldig ein Bild zusammen, dass am Ende vielleicht weniger wohlig oder erfreulich ist als das geliebte Klischee... aber eben der Realität der Sache näher ist... Wer ist dabei? Zum Buch: Wer wusste, dass verehrte Kultfiguren und (angebliche) Vertreter der "68er"- "Gegen"-Kultur (Anti-Establishment) wie Jim Morrison, Frank Zappa, Jackson Browne, Jimmi Hendrix, David Crosby etc. Kinder von hochrangigen "above Top Secret"-Militärs bzw. erlesenen High-End-Society Familien waren, die allesamt auf die eine oder andere Weise in Verbindung mit CIA Psy-OPS standen? Wer wusste, dass einige dieser "Idole" -eigenen Aussagen (Crosby, Hendrix) und Indizien entsprechend- in Spezial-Einheiten des Militärs aktiv waren ? (prä-Vietnam) ...dass dieses Grüppchen angeblich "alternativer Hippies" sich (bevor sie "Stars" wurden) wie aus dem Nichts "zufällig" ausgerechnet in der speziellen Gegend des Laurel Canyon (zwischen LA und Burbank nach der Hollywood Bowl links rein) zusammengewürfelt hat- einer erlesenen Promi-Gegend, seit den 30er Jahren "a high class restricted Park for DESIRABLE people only"- ...und damit für aufmüpfige, anti-Establishment-Nobodies (wären sie das gewesen) definitiv gar nicht zugänglich... ...dass diese -ehemals von Stars wie W.C. Fields, Harry Houdini, Mary Astor, Fatty Arbuckle, Errol Flynn, Orson Welles, Robert Mitchum etc. bewohnte und befeierte -und über die Jahrzehnte von CIA und Sicherheitsdiensten Argus-äuglein-behütete- Gegend, seit Beginn der "Canyon-Szene" in den 20ern nachgewiesenermassen eine Drehscheibe von Filmindustrie, Geheimdiensten, Mafia- Kriminalität, KinderPornographie und satanistischen Kreisen war... (und das ist vielfältig belegt) ...dass (sicher nur ein Zufall) gleich mehrere der oben Genannten (und viele mehr) ein offen bekundetes Faible für Dinge wie, äh- Waffen... Satanismus... hatten und diese kleinen, eh- Schwächen innerhalb der Szene offen auslebten...- Mit "Peace & Love"... nicht so wirklich vereinbar, oder? ... dass der Laurel Canyon seit 1941 von einer (Ueberraschung) Top-Secret Air Force Militär-Basis auf dem höchsten Hügel des Canyon ("Lookout Mountain Laboratory") überragt wurde... (später stillgelegt und schliesslich 2012 an "Privat" verkauft: Okkultist Jared Leto) ...dass zahlreiche (!) der mehr (oder weniger) prominenten Canyon-Bewohner über die Jahrzehnte gewaltsam zu Tode gekommen sind (offiziell stets "Selbstmord" oder "Unfall", auch wenn Indizien klar dagegen sprachen) ...dass das satanistische "Manson-Massaker" -dass es damals (1969) wegen prominenter Opfer bis in europäische Medien geschafft hat- in dieser Gegend keineswegs ein Einzelfall war... im Gegenteil. Um Missverständnisse zu vermeiden: McGowan lässt offizielle Unterlagen, Zitate unmittelbar Beteiligter und belegte Tatsachen zu Wort kommen- Dies ist KEIN Buch mit "Verschwörungstheorie(n)", das einem einseitige Antworten auf ungeklärte Umstände vorzusetzen versucht.. Es ist ein sehr gelungenes Beispiel unaufgeregt geduldiger Puzzle-Arbeit, kluger Zusammenstellung auch weitgehend unbekannter -nichtsdestotrotz belegter- Aussagen und Umstände und der Anregung zum subjektiven Ueberdenken bestehender Vorstellungen über eine Zeit, die nicht nur die Kultur Amerikas verändert hat... Auch wenn ich meine Doors-Platten und CSN nach wie vor liebe, und die Auseinandersetzung mit den Fakten in diesem Buch teilweise schmerzhaft war... Es ist in meinen Augen das beste Buch über die "Hippie"- Aera. -sebst für jene nimmermüden "Easy Rider"s, die zwischen ihren Joints und Platten-Sessions mal Lust auf ein klares Bild haben... Meine einzige Kritik gilt dem Cover- Das macht zwar Sinn, wenn man das Buch gelesen hat, entspricht aber ganz und gar nicht der erfreulich unaufgeregten Art des Autors, die das Lesen -trotz sehr hartleibiger Substanz- interessant und inspiriert geraten liess. Ich konnte es kaum aus der Hand legen... Danke, David McGowan*****
A**L
Excellent livre, dommage qu'il ne soit pas traduit en français.
Y**E
Fantastic book. Music AND conspiracy. One of the best researched books I've read. At times opinionated, but the research!! The connections will get you shaking your head more than once.
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