Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Laurel Canyon’ On Epix, A Docuseries About The Woodsy LA Neighborhood Where A Rock Revolution Began

Laurel Canyon is a neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills that’s just a short hike from the bustling Sunset Strip. Starting in the mid-’60s, the woodsy environment with funky bungalows became a haven for musicians, who ended up becoming a thriving community that lasted into the 1970s. Laurel Canyon is a 2-part EPIX docuseries, directed by Alison Ellwood, that takes a look at how the community developed, and how it became an incubator for folk and rock acts. Read on for more.

LAUREL CANYON: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: “Happy Together” by The Turtles starts playing. We see video of woods, old footage of a tiny car climbing the hills, and a map of Los Angeles.

The Gist: The story of Laurel Canyon is told through mostly archival footage and interviews, and photographs provided by Henry Ditlz and Nurit Wilde, who were interviewed on camera in the first episode.

The reason why the area became so popular with musicians is because it was centrally located, a short distance from clubs like The Troubadour and Whisky A-Go-Go, but it felt secluded and woodsy. Most of all, it was cheap. We hear from members of members of The Byrds like Roger McGuinn, David Crosby and Chris Hillman, who were among the first to take up residence in Laurel Canyon. Peter Tork and the rest of the Monkees were also early residents. The members of the psychedelic rock band Love managed to also make their way up there.

But the series isn’t just about the canyon, and its almost camp-like atmosphere of collaboration and socialization, it’s about the music that came out of that hilly, bucolic area. Soon we hear from the members of The Mamas & The Papas, The Doors, Buffalo Springfield and more. We get an idea of the strange way Buffalo Springfield formed, for instance, and why Neil Young decided to leave the band. We heard about the various affairs that tore apart The Mamas & The Papas, with John Phillips cheating on his wife Michelle, and Cass’ infatuation with Denny Doherty.

We find out about how Love, not happy with how Elektra was promoting them, pushed them to sign The Doors in order for Love to sign a better contract elsewhere, only to have the label sign The Doors, keep Love, and then shift all the promotional resources towards Jim Morrison and company. We also hear about how the Vietnam and other protests of the era starting about 1966 shifted the perspective of the musicians who lived in Laurel Canyon from the bubble they were in to making message songs. Finally, part one leaves us just after Woodstock, where the newly-created supergroup of Cosby, Stills, Nash & Young made their live debut.

Our Take: There’s something about Laurel Canyon that’s as otherworldly and bucolic as the area of Los Angeles the series is about. Instead of a ton of talking-head interviews, archival interviews serve as narration, with the photos from the time, the music of the time, and drive-bys of the neighborhood serving as the visuals. It almost lulls you to sleep, but not because it’s boring, but because it’s more like a warm bath after a hard day.

To my wife, whose parents came of age during the late ’60s, the music in the first episode served as a comfort to her, as she told me. And that sounds about right. If you’re familiar with the history of these bands and the community that formed in Laurel Canyon, many of these stories won’t be new. But to a new generation, or maybe a generation like mine that heard many of these stories second and thirdhand, the series gives fascinating insight into just how this area inspired so many great musicians to be a part of a movement that still resonates a half a century later.

Some of the greatest fun of the first episode was seeing and hearing about different huge stars hanging out and learning from each other. Like Peter Tork hanging out with Buffalo Springfield or the band Alice Cooper (whose lead singer, Vincent Damon Furnier, would also be known as Alice Cooper) going to Frank Zappa’s house at 7 AM to audition, when Zappa meant for them to come a 7 PM. A story about Eric Clapton, who just came from England with Creem and knew virtually no one in the Canyon, watching Joni Mitchell play guitar and being dumbstruck was riveting to listen to (as was the photo of him, Mitchell and Crosby just hanging out drinking beer at Cass’s backyard barbecue, while Micky Dolenz took 16mm film of it all).

The stories they tell, of how bands broke up and others formed, about romances and drugs and everything else you’d expect from the time period, was more than enough to keep our attention. The second part is going to focus on how the Manson family killings almost ruined the vibe up there, but the ’70s brought another set of artists to the Canyon, from Jackson Browne to the Eagles and more.

Sex and Skin: Surprisingly, nothing.

Parting Shot: We see a car’s perspective of driving up the road to the canyon. Crosby talks about the good feelings after Woodstock, that wouldn’t last long, as we get a glimpse of the women in the Manson family.

Sleeper Star: Crosby started in The Byrds but didn’t want to be a secondary player. Then he played Monterey Pop with Buffalo Springfield. Finally, he managed to find vocal alchemy with Stephen Stills and Graham Nash. It’s amazing how much of the Laurel Canyon scene ran through Crosby.

Most Pilot-y Line: The lack of talking heads does get a tad monotonous, as does the constant identification of each voice speaking, but it’s a small price to pay for the fascinating stories that were collected from the archival interviews.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Laurel Canyon really evokes the magic of the late ’60s and early ’70s and the area that generated so much fantastic music. We almost want to move there, except we suspect that we can’t afford to live there now.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company.com, RollingStone.com, Billboard and elsewhere.

Stream Laurel Canyon On Epix.com