Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon

Laurel Canyon, Covert Ops, and the Dark Heart of the Hippie Dream

By: David McGowan

Narrated by: Bill Fike

Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

The very strange but nevertheless true story of the dark underbelly of a 1960s hippie utopia. Laurel Canyon in the 1960s and early 1970s was a magical place where a dizzying array of musical artists congregated to create much of the music that provided the soundtrack to those turbulent times.

Members of bands like the Byrds, the Doors, Buffalo Springfield, the Monkees, the Beach Boys, the Turtles, the Eagles, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, Steppenwolf, CSN, Three Dog Night, and Love, along with such singer/songwriters as Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, James Taylor, and Carole King, lived together and jammed together in the bucolic community nestled in the Hollywood Hills.

But there was a dark side to that scene as well. Many didn't make it out alive, and many of those deaths remain shrouded in mystery to this day. Far more integrated into the scene than most would like to admit was a guy by the name of Charles Manson, along with his murderous entourage. Also floating about the periphery were various political operatives, up-and-coming politicians, and intelligence personnel - the same sort of people who gave birth to many of the rock stars populating the canyon. And all the canyon's colorful characters - rock stars, hippies, murderers, and politicos - happily coexisted alongside a covert military installation.

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Shocking

Great listen. I have listened to it twice. Will definitely listen to it again. Going to check out Programmed to kill.

mind blowing!

Most people understand the hippie/rock and roll movement as one thing. revolutionary. this book makes you think twice about that.

Rambling but ultimately entertaining

I’m not sure what all the “coincidences” the author implies about people with similar backgrounds/interest arriving in LA in Laurel Canyon when it started growing. These include, “these guys went to the same school!” “These folks are cousins!” “These people played in different bands together!” The same could be said about, say, Nashville: “country singers end up there!” “Johnny Cash married June Carter of the famous Carter family!” Must be MK Ultra or something sinister, couldn’t be that humans were being humans and connecting with similar folks.

That said, the book is an interesting romp through a specific time and place where folk rock got started and the colorful characters, wanna-bes, got-to-bes, agents, businesses, criminals, drug dealers, etc., intersected. The author did some deep research for sure. Just enjoy the history and the “vibe” of that time rather than expecting a point to it.

Wow!

It's a crazy web that cannot be believed when you're asleep to what's really going on. Fantastic book!

Jaw dropping information

This was a great book..kind of hard to believe some of what was written but all you have to do is look outside and you will see NOTHING is far fetched. Overall, I highly recommend this book. It put a lot of things together for me.

Very interesting

This book really makes you wonder how the music you love actually came to be.

Good for what it is.

After reading a number of negative reviews I decided to just go ahead and give it a try. I set my expectations rather low specifically on the authors style, and that was a good decision. Once I got past the fact it’s more of an encyclopedia and not a story that follows any pattern I enjoyed the content.

I will say I do question some of the liberties the authors takes with some of the “facts”, but historical accounts lend themselves to variations.

The narrator didn’t add to the experience, in fact I found it to be a big drawback to the entire book.

All on all there is a tremendous amount of information I probably wouldn’t have found in one spot anywhere. I’ve gotten worse on Audible….much worse.

Kick ass! I just wish there was a PDF with it.

Great book with so many references that I really want a PDF of it. Will have to give a second read with a notebook handy. Lots of really interesting stories, whether real, true, made-up or a mix of both. I found myself driving around just to listen to more of it. Wonderful stuff.

Wild ride!

Wow what a ride this was. The first place I lived when I moved to Los Angeles in 1996, was Laurel Canyon. Kirkwood drive to be more specific and it was so cool to hear mentioned several times in this book, my little street; Kirkwood drive! Brought me back to when I lived there, but also a great education of the history of the area before I was even alive. Well done!

Truth is stranger than fiction

forget what you know about the 1960s hippie counterculture and 1960s Rock and pop music. this book will completely demolish and unravel everything that you know about the formation subjects. don't read this buck and don't listen to this audiobook unless you are prepared to want to know the truth because It'll make you rethink everything