Laurel Canyon : A Place In Time | Docuseries Episode 1 | 2020

 

presents

A Documentary that pulls back the curtain on a mythical world and provides an up-close look at the lives of the musicians who inhabited Laurel Canyon. It paints an intimate portrait of the artists who created a music revolution that would change popular culture.

Laurel Canyon is a legendary, wooded neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. Famous as the epicenter of the 1960s and 70s folk-rock movement, it offered musicians a serene, rural sanctuary just a 10-minute drive above the Sunset Strip.

The 1960s & 70s Music Mecca

Laurel Canyon is most famous for the explosion of folk and psychedelic rock. Its remote, winding streets provided privacy and affordability, attracting artists who formed a tight-knit creative community.

Key Residents: Joni Mitchell, Jim Morrison, Frank Zappa, Neil Young, Cass Elliot, and members of The Byrds, The Eagles, and Fleetwood Mac lived and collaborated in the canyon.

The Country Store: The Laurel Canyon Country Store was—and remains—a central hub where artists regularly gathered to socialize and buy groceries.

Notable Landmarks & Geography

Nestled between West Hollywood, Hollywood, and Studio City, the canyon is structured around its main thoroughfare, Laurel Canyon Boulevard.

Lookout Mountain Avenue: A prominent road in the neighborhood's lore, historically home to the iconic Castle (where Frank Zappa once lived) and other artist retreats.

Wonderland Avenue: Infamous for the 1981 Wonderland murders, a dark chapter in the canyon's history that shifted its "peaceful hippie" aura.

Artists who lived in Laurel Canyon describe it as an idyllic, woodsy sanctuary that offered a "slice of nature hidden behind a neon sign". They remember the community as a highly collaborative and free-spirited creative hub that fostered all-night jam sessions and deeply personal songwriting.

Musicians have shared several memorable sentiments about their time in the Canyon:

Jackson Browne described it as a "place that gave you the permission to ask who you were... and not be scrambling for some regimented job in a regimented society".

Joni Mitchell, who famously lived on Lookout Mountain, summarized the canyon's quirky, tight-knit vibe by saying, "Ask anyone in Laurel Canyon where the craziest people live and they'll say Lookout Mountain".

Carole King, who moved there from New York and experienced a major artistic reinvention, noted that the Canyon gave her a "feeling of freedom and a sense of being".

Glenn Frey, after moving to California and seeing the Canyon's community first-hand, recalled, "Laurel Canyon had the cross-breeding of folk with psychedelic rock and created some of the greatest music ever made".

Lou Adler, a legendary producer who worked closely with many Canyon artists, called it "too good to be true," praising the seclusion that artists craved.