Echo in the Canyon (2019)

This 90-minute music documentary takes a nostalgic and rather uncritical look back at a special time and place in the emergent history of folk rock — the section of Los Angeles called Laurel Canyon that was a counter-cultural ground zero for musicians from about 1965 to 1967. Bob Dylan's son Jakob interviews a long and stellar list of key players who reflect on those bygone days of creative chemistry: the Mamas and the Papas, the Byrds, Tom Petty, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Brian Wilson, Graham Nash, Stephen Stills, Jackson Browne, and on and on. Back in the day, Laurel Canyon homes were the venues for legendary parties, impromptu jam sessions, and all manner of creative collaborations. The interviews with the luminaries are interspersed with archival footage and photos from that period. But is Brian Wilson really on par with Mozart as Tom Petty suggests?! This film opened the Los Angeles Film Festival.

Dan Clendenin: dan@journeywithjesus.net