Hollywood Eden

January 15, 2021
Vivid look at the burgeoning Los Angeles rock-and-roll scene of the late 1950s and early '60s. The exuberant music created by groups like the Beach Boys with upstart record producers like Phil Spector reflected "a time and place [that] felt like it had been made for teenagers," asserts veteran rock writer Selvin. Far from the established music-business center in New York City, kids barely out of high school basically stumbled into the record-making process through their love for rhythm and blues and the growing sense that they were part of a special culture. Avatars of this culture identified in the first chapter include blond, handsome Jan Berry, a rebellious rich kid whose taste for fast cars would later be voiced in the songs of his duo, Jan and Dean; and his University High School classmate Kathy Kohner, whose ecstatic diary entries about breaking into the male-dominated world of surfing inspired her screenwriter father to write a bestselling novel (later made into a movie) titled with her nickname: Gidget.Berry and Kohner were among those who created a "modern mythology...unique to the inspirations and aspirations of California," writes Selvin. Unfortunately, they are also only two of the deluge of names he showers on readers in the first few chapters--fly-by-night record companies, songwriters, A&R men, shady managers, et al.--in such abundance that only the most fanatical rock history aficionado could keep them all straight. The confusion eases as the narrative progresses through such paradigm-setting hits as "Surf City" and "He's a Rebel," and Selvin's less-than-elegant prose works well to capture the seat-of-the-pants brio of California record production. As the political and cultural mood darkened in the mid-'60s, songs like "Eve of Destruction" reflected a new seriousness and curtailed the sun-and-fun phase of California rock. The author uses Berry's cataclysmic 1966 car crash, followed by recovery to an altered, more limited life, as an emblematic finale. Could be more lucidly presented, but Selvin's depth of knowledge is impressive and his enthusiasm contagious.

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May 1, 2021

Although Hollywood quickly wrested the title of movie capital of the world from New York, it was decades before the music industry achieved a similar presence on the West Coast. When the California sound finally caught on, it took the nation by storm, and popular music hasn't been the same since. Many will associate the music of California with the Beach Boys, Dick Dale, and the Byrds; however, the always engaging Selvin (Fare Thee Well: The Final Chapter of the Grateful Dead's Long, Strange Trip) posits that Jan Berry (of Jan and Dean fame) was the spark that ignited the California sound. Selvin persuasively argues that when Berry and others applied late doo-wop and R&B to California surfing and car culture, they produced the music that most embodied the hopes and dreams of postwar American youth. The book is full of fascinating, larger-than-life characters such as R&B musicians Sam Cooke and Tina Turner; producers Phil Spector, Lou Adler, and Herb Alpert; devious record moguls, agents, and hangers-on; fresh-faced young stars; and the mighty presence of one verifiable genius, Brian Wilson. And Selvin follows the trajectory of Jan and Dean, who, in Jan's case, emulated their hit "Dead Man's Curve" far too closely. VERDICT Behind the scenes it wasn't always fun, fun, fun, but fans of late '50s and '60s pop will feel like they've caught the perfect wave.--Bill Baars, formerly with Lake Oswego P.L., OR

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