Hollywood Eden: An Absorbing Look at California Rock in the Early-Mid 1960s

There are a plethora of stories regarding the music that exploded out of the California pop/rock scene from the late 1950s through the mid-1960s, which was one of the more fertile periods in rock and roll history. Author Joel Selvin has written a unique and insightful chronicle of the singers, songwriters, producers, impresarios and (sometimes) shady hangers-on that inhabited the recording studios, bars, concert venues and nightclubs during that bygone era, which brought us unforgettable music from groups like The Crystals, Jan and Dean, The Beach Boys, and The Mamas and The Papas. Hollywood Eden: Electric Guitars, Fast Cars and the Myth of the California Paradise weaves a riveting, inter-connected tale of these artists, beginning at the point where a number of them first crossed paths in their high school years, where they first became obsessed with fast cars, girls and rock and roll music.

Hollywood Eden features fascinating details about the creation of songs like “Surf City” and “He’s A Rebel,” but the book isn't just about the music, it also tells the colorful stories of the people behind the songs. Selvin’s narrative features in-depth portraits of Phil Spector, Nancy Sinatra, Kim Fowley, Herb Alpert and teen idol Tommy Sands. Others float in and out of the compelling narrative, including Kathy Kohner, the real-life inspiration for Gidget, Jill Gibson (who briefly replaced Michelle Phillips in the Mamas and The Papas) and Barry Keenan, who engineered the kidnapping of Frank Sinatra, Jr. There’s a lot less than six degrees of separation between many of these supporting characters and Brian Wilson, Jan and Dean, Glen Campbell and Herb Alpert  than you might think, and Selvin connects the dots in compelling fashion.

Not everyone in Hollywood Eden comes off looking like a great guy, or gal. Some of the movers and shakers featured in the book would fit comfortably into the cast of a film noir flick. There's a dark side to the sun-dappled California dream, and Selvin's absorbing chronicle doesn't shy away from those details, while saluting the genius of musical innovators like Brian Wilson and Lee Hazlewood. Selvin has written extensively about rock and roll and the music business in previous books such as Here Comes The Night: The Dark Soul of Bert Burns and the Dirty Business of Rhythm and Blues, and Fare Thee Well: The Final Chapter of the Grateful Dead's Long Strange, Trip, and he really knows his subject matter. 

As the decade of the 1960s moved forward, songs like Barry McGuire’s “Eve of Destruction” and the music of The Byrds helped steer rock and roll in new directions. Artists, songwriters and producers began to adapt their work to the evolving times. Selvin notes these changes, marking a turning point in the era with Jan Berry's life-changing 1966 car crash, which occurred not far from the location of Jan and Dean's hit song "Deadman's Curve." This insightful, revealing and powerful book will open your eyes to both the light and the darkness inherent in the California dream, and the business of rock and roll. Hollywood Eden: Electric Guitars, Fast Cars and the Myth of the California Paradise (which will be released on April 6) is an engrossing history of the pre-psychedelic California rock scene, and it's a must read for fans of the genre.

Thriller's Uncanny "The Grim Reaper"

The 1950s and 1960s were a golden age for fantastical anthology shows on TV. Series such as The Twilight Zone, Science-Fiction Theater, Way Out, and The Outer Limits told memorable stories within the science-fiction, horror and fantasy genres. Even Alfred Hitchcock Presents dipped its toe into the horror end of the pool on occasion. One of the best shows of this type was Thriller, hosted by Boris Karloff, which ran on NBC from 1960-62. Thriller started out telling tales of suspense, crime and murder (akin to the Hitchcock series), but later in its first season the show took a sharp left turn, emphasizing tales of horror and the supernatural, adapting tales by Edgar Allan Poe, Richard Matheson, Cornell Woolrich, August Derleth and Robert E. Howard, and airing haunting original stories as well. While Thriller had a brief life on broadcast television, the series made a lasting impression on many viewers with its dark and intense stories, and gained a new generation of fans when reruns of the show aired in syndication on local stations. That’s where I first discovered the series in the 1970s, as a young science-fiction and horror fan.

One of the best episodes of Thriller is The Grim Reaper, the final entry in the series’ first season. The story grabs you right from the start: the prologue is set in the 1800s, when the father of a missing painter discovers that his son has killed himself after completing a very lifelike painting of that spectral harbinger of death, The Grim Reaper. After a sardonic introduction by Karloff, which ends with him walking towards the camera brandishing a scythe (!) the episode moves forward in time to the present. The story opens at the estate of the successful mystery writer Beatrice Graves, who is visited by her nephew, Paul. She introduces Paul to her new husband, a much younger man named Gerald, and her assistant, Dorothy. The wealthy Bea has a ghoulish sense of humor, having bought a hearse to use as her preferred mode of transport. She’s also re-christened her home with the name Graves End. Bea shows Paul her latest acquisition, the very painting of The Grim Reaper we saw in the prologue!

Paul tells his aunt that the painting is the reason for his visit. It has a cursed history, and many of its previous owners have died under mysterious and violent circumstances. He insists she should get rid of it, and informs her, Gerald and Dorothy that in the past, the painting has started to bleed just before its previous owners met their ends. Bea scoffs at the notion of a curse, and tells Paul she only bought the painting for the publicity, much like her hearse. Her nephew touches the painting, gasps, and turns back to the group, holding up his fingers, which are wet. There’s blood on the scythe! Is the painting really cursed? Is Bea fated to be its next victim? Before this chilling episode has ended, there will be some murderous twists to the tale, several of our main characters will be dead, and the grim visage of The Grim Reaper just hangs there, looking down on everyone….or does it?

The Grim Reaper has an eerie and claustrophobic feel, thanks to the excellent cinematography by Bud Thackery, as well as the taut direction by television and film veteran Herschel Daugherty. Most of the story takes place inside the house, and there’s a palpable sense of dread whenever the unearthly painting is onscreen. Thanks to the inventive camera work, it really does seem like it’s alive throughout the story. The dark and moody tone of the episode is aided immeasurably by Jerry Goldsmith’s atmospheric music score, one of the veteran composer’s very best efforts. The teleplay for The Grim Reaper was written by Robert Bloch, author of Psycho. Bloch adapted the story “The Black Madonna” by Harold Lawlor. He updated the original tale, changing the character in the title painting, as well as adding some of his trademark macabre humor. It’s one of his best efforts in both television or film.

The cast for the episode is excellent. If you only know Natalie Schafer from her role as Mrs. Howell on Gilligan’s Island, you’re in for a surprise. Schafer is terrific in The Grim Reaper, giving a superb performance that is filled with equal portions of humor and pathos, topped off a touch of élan. William Shatner, who plays Paul, is quite good as well, and his scenes with Schafer crackle with energy. There’s just a touch here of the “Shatner-isms” we’ve all come to know and love, but he chooses those over the top moments well. There’s a scene (spoiler ahead) where he gets to turn on a dime and is revealed to villainous, and it’s some of his best work as an actor. The fine supporting cast includes Elizabeth Allen as Dorothy, Scott Merrill as Gerald, genre stalwart Robert Cornthwaite as a lawyer, and veteran actor Henry Daniell, who portrays the father of the ill-fated painter in the prologue. Allen also appeared with Shatner in The Hungry Glass, an earlier episode of Thriller which was also scripted by Robert Bloch.

The Grim Reaper really draws you in with its slow burning sense of impending doom. Along with several other celebrated tales, such as “Pigeons From Hell,” “The Cheaters” and “A Wig for Miss Devore” and the aforementioned “The Hungry Glass,” it’s one of the strongest episodes of Thriller, a show that aired some of the most frightening tales of terror ever to grace a television screen. The show both creeped me out and delighted me when I first viewed the series in my younger days, and it remains one of my favorites. Thriller is definitely a series that’s worth digging into, especially if you haven’t seen it before, The show is currently available on Hulu, and there’s also a wonderful box set of the entire series that came out a while back, which is still available at retailers like Amazon. This post is part of The 7th Annual Favourite TV Show Episode Blogathon, hosted by A Shroud of Thoughts. Follow this link for more information, and to check out all of the excellent entries by my fellow bloggers: https://mercurie.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-7th-annual-favourite-tv-show.html.

The Haunting of "The Only Good Indians"

Stories about the sins of a character’s past coming back to haunt them are commonplace in horror fiction, but they’re rarely as well-crafted as Stephen Graham Jones’s novel, The Only Good Indians. This dark and powerful book is an atmospheric tale of a group of Native American men who are pursued by an entity intent upon ending their lives. When they were younger, these four friends hunted elk in an area restricted to tribal elders, and their actions resulted in a tragic event. Years later, a relentless spirit hunts the men down, intent upon taking revenge upon them for their past misdeeds.

The main characters in the story are members of the Blackfeet tribe, and Jone's masterful writing illuminates modern Native American culture in insightful and fascinating ways. In addition to the spine-tingling horror elements inherent in the novel, Jones tells an enthralling story about the younger generations of Native American tribes, and how they're torn between honoring their traditions and finding a place in the modern world. In fact, ignoring a tribal tradition is what set these four friends on a path to their eventual death and destruction.

As the story progresses, the malevolent entity takes down the men, each in a more violent way, until there is only one of them left standing. The horror sequences in the novel are creepy and unsettling, and will send chills down your spine. Jones often draws out the tension until a scene explodes into a terrifying and violent conclusion. Even if you're a seasoned horror fan who thinks they've seen it all, there are some disturbing and truly surprising moments throughout the story. The novel's climax features a bravura showdown between the vengeful entity and one of the main character's daughters, which ends in a way you might not expect.

If you're a fan of tales of ghostly revenge and retribution like Peter Straub's Ghost Story, you should really enjoy The Only Good Indians. Jones has written several excellent novels, including Growing Up Dead In Texas, and The Bird Is Gone. This compelling book just might be his best work yet. If you're looking to get lost in a moody, deeply frightening novel featuring well-developed characters and an absorbing story, set in a world you may not be familiar with, check out The Only Good Indians. Highly recommended for horror fans.