Laurel Canyon is a neighbourhood in Los Angeles that was a magnet for counterculture activity and music in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Auckland University ethno-musicologist Dr Kirsten Zemke grew up in the area. She talked to Jesse Mulligan about the musicians that lived there and the music that came out of this short-lived but productive era in popular music.
“It was this enclave, for Aucklanders I’d compare it to Titirangi, a place where you can pretend you are living in the country but you are in the city, but Laurel Canyon was even closer to the actual city than Titirangi is, it was a five minute drive to the Sunset Strip which was a famous street in Los Angeles."
The strip had many legendary night clubs and hotels such as The Troubadour and the Whiskey A Go Go, and famous hotels like the Chateau Marmont.
The iconic Canyon Country Store where Cass Elliot once lived in the basement. Photo: Mark Stout
“So you could be an entertainer and live up the hill in Laurel Canyon and have your beautiful home and trees but then you’re five minutes away from the centre of business and the music industry.
"So, it was like the perfect spot for these hippies."
And so who were these hippy scenesters?
The musicians who were part of the Laurel Canyon scene included Cass Elliot from the Mamas and the Papas, Joni Mitchell, Frank Zappa, Jim Morrison, Carole King, The Byrds, Neil Young, David Crosby, Brian Wilson and Linda Ronstadt.
"It was just this bizarre confluence of people that slept together, married each other, divorced each other made albums together, produced and wrote for each other."
Songs played:
The Byrds ‘Turn! Turn! Turn!’ 1965
The Byrds were pioneers of the folk rock sound that came to characterise Laurel Canyon.
"They lived there and one of their members, David Crosby, becomes an icon of the scene and he’s considered the perfect hippie. His look, the way he was he’s politically active and he brought people to the scene."
The Mamas & The Papas ‘Monday, Monday’ 1966
The Mamas & The Papas (Cass Elliot, Michelle Phillips, John Phillips and Denny Doherty) were the next big group that lived there - Cass Elliot had a house in the Canyon which was famous for its wild parties.
"The Mamas and the Papas weren’t together very long, like the Laurel Canyon scene, these things burst into flames."
Mamas and the Papas Photo: [CBS Television - Public Domain https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22471915]
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young ‘Our House’ 1970
Perhaps the first super group made up of former members of Buffalo Springfield, (Stephen Still and Neil Young) The Byrds (David Crosby) and the Hollies (Graham Nash)
"The legend goes they were jamming in Mama Cass’ lounge and someone says you guys should record together."
Stone Poneys ‘Different Drum’ 1967
Linda Ronstadt sings on this Mike Nesmith tune.
Ronstadt was part of a strong female musical presence in the canyon, Zemke says.
"Carole King lived there, Carly Simon, Bonnie Raitt and Joni Mitchell."
"The end of the scene was when it became a boys’ club, it wasn’t this more egalitarian open space which it had been from '67 to '74"
Joni Mitchell Photo: supplied
Joni Mitchell ‘I Had a King’ 1968
During this time Mitchell was living with Graham Nash from CSN&Y - Nash wrote 'Our House' about their time together.
Love ‘Everybody's Gotta Live’ 1972
Lead singer of Love, Arthur Lee, was one of the few African Americans on the Laurel Canyon scene.
Neil Young 'Old Man' 1972
Jackson Browne 'Doctor My Eyes' 1972
Crosby, Stills and Nash, Los Angeles, CA, 1969 Photo: ©Henry Diltz/courtesy of Morrison Hotel Gallery
