REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN LAUREL CANYON
'Just Married' - New Work In Progress.
I grew up in Los Angeles, in a house just off Mulholland Drive, where daily I'd travel down Ventura Boulevard and up through the sinuous hills of Laurel Canyon, passing streets with names like Lookout Mountain, Mount Olympus and Wonderland Avenue. I knew every twist and turn by heart, and never a day went by when I didn't feel fortunate, happy to call it home; but it wasn't until many years later that I became aware of the pivotal role this relatively short stretch of highway played in the cultural landscape of my city.
Jim Morrison's 'Love Street House' shrouded in bougainvillea
Winding through the canyon I'd pass such 60's landmarks as Frank
Zappa's notorious 'Log Cabin' and The Canyon Country Store, which to me always felt
better suited to San Francisco than Los Angeles. Adjacent to each sat The Cat & Fiddle
Pub, a once favourite Brit hangout of the 80's that served a wicked apple
cider. Jim Morrison and Pamela Courson's
coined 'Love Street House,' was nestled behind the two, just down the road
from the estate of magician, Harry Houdini, with its hidden tunnels and
sprawling gardens; although the exact location of the original mansion is
fabled in ambiguity, having fallen victim to fire in 1959, thus rendering the property's
true history as mysterious as its owner.
The Canyon Country Store
Laurel Canyon in the late 60's and early 70's was home to a
commune of artists largely responsible for the birth of California's burgeoning
folk and country rock scene. Joni
Mitchell lived in the canyon, as did the Byrds' Jim (Roger) McGuinn and prolific
songwriter, Gene Clark, CSNY's David Crosby and ex-Hollies' Graham Nash.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - (photo Henry Diltz)
The Byrds - Laurel Canyon (photo Michael Ochs)
John and Michelle Phillips called the canyon home, as did Linda Ronstadt, Carol King, James Taylor and the
Monkees' Peter Tork and Mickey Dolenz. Canadian
Neil Young made the trek all the way from Toronto to join Texan Stephen Stills
and Ohioan Richie Furay in creating Buffalo Springfield.
Chris Hillman & Gram Parsons
In 1968, Chris Hillman hooked up with Floridian, Ingram Cecil Connor
III (Gram Parsons), who steered the Byrds toward his passion for real country music, before fleeing the coop to form The Flying Burrito Brothers and Gram Parsons and The Fallen Angels, making his mark as the founder
of 'Cosmic American Music,' - a fusion of country, soul, rock and rhythm and blues.
Each of these iconic musicians, as well as the talented behind-the-scenes groups of studio musicians, such as 'The Wrecking Crew,' left their musical footprints on this
small patch of the hills of LA, forming, regrouping and following the creative
muse wherever she took them.
As with music, it sometimes
happens that artistic inspiration will form much like a tapestry of multiple layers
of influences seeking a cohesive vehicle for expression...
'Just Married' - underpainting
A coveted print of Dorothea Lange's migrant
father holding his child sits on my wall, as I contemplate the desperate lyrics of Merle Haggard's 'California Cottonfields', noticing how ironically they mimic this
haunting vision, the combination making me reflect on our everlasting pursuit
of the land of milk and honey.
Photo - Dorothea Lange
I'm listening to the pedal steel guitars of 'The Bakersfield Sound,' Buck Owens, Jean Shepard, and Merle Haggard singing...
I'm listening to the pedal steel guitars of 'The Bakersfield Sound,' Buck Owens, Jean Shepard, and Merle Haggard singing...
'I've been from coast to coast a hundred times or more, and I ain't found one single place I haven't been before.' - White Line Fever -
Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
'Trouts' - Bakersfield, CA
I'm thinking about nomadic truckers snaking their way through California's Grapevine,
toothpick eyes, fueled on amphetamines and cheap diner fare. I'm thinking it's not like me to listen to
country music, so what is it that keeps my attention? I consider that at the heart of any good music of any genre, there lies one common thread - authenticity. It's keeping me...because it feels real.
My composition
'Just Married' was inspired by all of the above. It could be set in 1956. The backdrop is old Las Vegas. On the radio, the Everly Brothers are singing
'Bad Boy, Sad Girl,' or perhaps it was Elvis - the larger than life idol of so
many who followed, including Gram Parsons and Tom Petty (RIP). It could
describe an impetuous elopement, a moment of contrition, or just as easily, a
precious life savings squandered in a flash of invincibility at the Golden
Nugget. Anticipation or regret ? It
doesn't really matter.
We are always on the
move somewhere, driving, forever searching for something - the characters in
our lives falling in and out of view, blurred with time like the night-blooming
jasmine that leaves its scent through the winding hills of Laurel Canyon. We remember the faces, but the memories
change. They say it's not the destination but the journey that matters…
So the next time I am asked, 'what inspires you?', the only conceivable reply shall always remain, 'What doesn't?'
My musical inspiration for this painting:
Blue Eyes - Uncle Tupelo
Break My Mind - The Flying Burrito Brothers
Buckaroo - Buck Owens
California Cotton Fields - Gram Parsons
Folsom Prison Blues - Merle Haggard and the Strangers
Hearts On Fire - Gram Parsons
Here Without You - Gene Clark
Hickory Wind - Emmylou Harris
I Still Miss Someone - The International Submarine Band
I still Miss Someone - Johnny Cash
Kansas City Southern - Gene Clark and Gram Parsons
Love Hurts - Emmy Lou Harris - Gram Parsons
Luxury Liner - The International Submarine Band
Making Believe - Emmylou Harris
Sing Me Back Home - Merle Haggard
Six Days On The Road - Earl Green
Sleepless Nights - Emmy Lou Harris - Gram Parsons
So You Say You've Lost Your Baby - Gene Clark
Sweetheart of the Pines - Emmylou Harris
The World Turns All Around Her - The Byrds
Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down - The Flying Burrito Brothers
Tried So Hard - Gosdin Brothers
Tried So Hard - The Flying Burrito Brothers
White Line Fever - Merle Haggard
Your Tender Loving Care - Susan Raye and Buck Owens
Tom Petty (1950-2017)
In the upcoming weeks I'll be back exploring more of the seamier side of 60's Soho in an interview with Stewart Home about his friendship with infamous 60's beat author Terry Taylor - Baron's Court, All Change.
And on that note...I am asking all of my
readers to please pitch in, in the effort to prevent Taylor Wimpey's further gentrification of London. It's easy to help…
Click this link: http://www.fieldsintrust.org/
An interview is coming soon with Mary Refoy of Spacemen 3, Spiritualized and Slipstream, who've just released a new album.
Artist/film director Matt Mahurin's long awaited interview is happening in the next couple months...
There is a possible cover collaboration brewing with Melbourne's 'The Paper Kites'...
And lastly, Artwalk Season is just getting underway in the City of Palm Desert. New American Noir originals are coming soon to El Paseo's
A Gallery!
A Gallery!
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