• Laurel Canyon

  • The Inside Story of Life in L.A.'s Legendary Rock and Roll Neighborhood
  • By: Michael Walker
  • Narrated by: Lloyd James
  • Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (823 ratings)

Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.
Laurel Canyon  By  cover art

Laurel Canyon

By: Michael Walker
Narrated by: Lloyd James
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $13.22

Buy for $13.22

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Laurel Canyon was the neighborhood perched above the clubs and record companies of Sunset Strip where Joni Mitchell, Jim Morrison, Graham Nash, Cass Elliot, Carole King, Don Henley, and Peter Tork, just to name a few, lived and collaborated to make an indelible mark on our music and our culture. This is the story of an important period in rock music, but also of the harsher results of the sixties, as hard drugs and easy sex began to take their toll and the gruesome Wonderland murders signaled the end of the era.
©2006 Michael Walker (P)2006 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"Laurel Canyon is hilarious and true and bittersweet. Michael Walker catches the mood in the air, and gets it right....The interviews are wonderful....It's a beautifully written document of that time and place when the personalities were as big as those stony dreams that fueled some of the greatest masterpieces in rock." (Cameron Crowe)

What listeners say about Laurel Canyon

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    418
  • 4 Stars
    239
  • 3 Stars
    120
  • 2 Stars
    26
  • 1 Stars
    20
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    346
  • 4 Stars
    174
  • 3 Stars
    66
  • 2 Stars
    16
  • 1 Stars
    4
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    344
  • 4 Stars
    171
  • 3 Stars
    72
  • 2 Stars
    12
  • 1 Stars
    8

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting book. Poor reader.

As a history of change during the cultural and counter-cultural heyday in Los Angeles, this book is a fascinating tale. Laurel Canyon becomes the stage on which events transpire as well as the abyss in which "the scene" evolves and devolves. Anyone interested in Los Angeles, rock and roll history, the sixties, drug culture, crime and mayhem, will indulge in this story. The only drawback -- and it is quite a major one -- is the reading, which is flat and lacks a sense of pacing. The fatal flaws are repeatedly misplaced pauses that break sentences into dissociated fragments. Nonetheless it is still a worthwhile and valuable "read."

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

OK

The book was alright. I was expecting quite a bit more and hoped for a deeper insight into the goings on of the time. I did find the vocabulary that the writer used to very often be unnecessarily loquacious which repeatedly sent me scurrying off to my thesaurus.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

An interesting flashback to the 60s and 70s

Now I can go through my old Joni Mitchel albums and line up the songs with the back ground happenings in Laurel Canyon. The author is not as talented a writer as the people he writes about. He uses the biggest words he can find in the dictionary to say the simplest things. It reminds me of the long winded papers I wrote in grad school. Aside from that, it is an interesting read for the baby boom generation.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Journey Down Memory Lane

Being 20 yrs. old in 1967, I was a part of it all, but on the San Francisco side. I made a few visits to LA during that time, but never got to know the real scoop, of course, and this filled the gaps -- it was a fun, easy read. This is a sixties time capsule nugget.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

easy listening social history

a very enjoyable listen, for this baby boomer at least. It goes beyond pop culture to capture some of the social history of the time.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Fairly Good Book...Hard to Follow in Places

I thought the stories in this book were really good. I would definitely recommend it. The biggest issue I had was that it was hard to follow at certain times. In large part this is due to the fact that this is a compilation of different stories about the canyon. Since this is an audio book, (obviously) if you lose track of who is talking at any point, you can't easily look back and see the name of the narrator. It can make it hard to follow in certain instances...especially if you get side tracked in the middle of a story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Ugh! Reads like a poor PhD manuscript

I watched Echoes in the Canyon snd since I’m 68. That was my time. So I searched and found this book. Ugh what a disappointment. It was too wordy and when the author got wound up his “story” seemed like a treatise in college.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Give it some time

Really good rock bio about a unique hippie neighborhood in LA and it’s significance with rock music. The language is a bit over-descriptive but I just love the information!! Took me a few chapters before I could commit.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Interesting for us oldies!

If you're like me and still listen to 60's and 70's music you won't be dissapointed.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Took me back to where I've never been.

Excellent historical account. I'm no authority, but the writing and the reading made me believe this is well-researched and loved. I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of this book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful