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.