Echo

Echo in the Canyon

Andy Sleater

Greenwich Pictures

This documentary about the Laurel Canyon music scene of the mid 60s, pre-psychedelia, but still hippie, is great, for many of those still alive were able to share their stories: everyone from David Crosby, who's lucky to be alive and comes off as one of the best storytellers in the film, to one of Tom Petty’s last interviews.

My favorite story is where Michelle Phillips of The Mamas and The Papas reveals that “Go Where You Want To Go” is about her, and anything but hippie. It is also nice to hear a Beach Boys tribute, with Brian Wilson saying his piece, that glorifies the music and not his disability.

What isn’t so great is the tribute concert. This is the first thing I’ve really liked from Jakob Dylan, not to mention Beck, as Beck and the others just sing without being affected, but the tributes are too reverential. The songs would’ve benefited from being a little looser and riskier. In that sense the soundtrack is better, as songs not included in the film are on it, some being the best of the bunch, like Love’s “No Matter What You Do,” and Dylan and Neil Young harmonizing on the Beach Boys' “I Guess I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times.”

But don’t let the concert stop you from seeing the film. Some of the best music of the 60s was made in that scene, and much of it’s enduring and influential. The Beatles wouldn't have sounded the way they did without that scene.

It also prefigured the Laurel Canyon scene of the 70s with Joni Mitchell and Carole King. So if you want some good rock history, and good fun, see this film.

Andrea Weiss