ECHO IN THE CANYON
Doc on 60s LA Music Scene Opens LA Film Fest
Talk about an acid trip down memory lane. A musical documentary about the Southern California Folk Rock music scene during the 60s and 70s is the opening night film at the 2018 LA Film Festival.
Andrew Slater‘s Echo in the Canyon takes a nostalgic look at the many creative musicians and poets in iconic bands like The Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield (above), The Mamas and the Papas, and The Byrds, during their fledgling days while living in the canyons above West Hollywood. Anyone familiar with the origin of folk rock is aware of the hippy musicians living in Laurel Canyon and Lookout Mountain in the mid 60s. In fact, it was in 1965, with the release of The Byrds first album and their cover of Bob Dylan‘s “Mr Tamborine Man,” when the whole migration to the canyons began. The folk-rock scene was born, with the melodic residents living together, creating together, taking lots of drugs together, and making some of the best music at the time, perhaps of all time.
Although there isn’t a trailer yet for this movie, we found a recording of what you can expect, audibly, from the film. Check out the music video, above, featuring Jakob Dylan and Cat Power performing “You Showed Me,” an early hit tune by The Turtles written by The Byrds’ Roger McGuinn and Gene Clark.
As for the movie, we’re hoping to see the young, beautiful faces of those huge stars like Joni Mitchell, Graham Nash, Mama Cass, John and Michelle Phillips lazing about the mountainous areas, smoking pot, and having jam sessions with other musically inclined members of the hippy generation. What we will see are fascinating interviews with the late Tom Petty, Ringo Starr, Lou Adler, Eric Clapton, Jakob Dylan, Norah Jones, Beck, Regina Spektor, as well as former residents of the canyons including Brian Wilson, Michelle Phillips, Crosby Stills and Nash, Jackson Browne, and Roger McGuinn.
Echo in the Canyon premieres on September 20th at the Film Independent’s 2018 LA Film Festival.
