Overview

No city in the western world exerts such a fascination as the glamorous, debauched Los Angeles, and there is no city with more of a draw to musicians. Defined by the music of Brian Wilson, The Doors, Niggaz With Attitude, jazz, funk, soul, hip hop, and fulled by drugs, alcohol, sun, sex and surf, LA has seen it all. Barney Hoskyns tells the definitive story of L.A.'s post-war music scene and spent nearly a decade researching this account of music which developed into a culture of its own.

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9780747561804

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Reviews

'A hilarious, chilling, thoroughly scabrous history of post-war pop music in Los Angeles... fascinating' Los Angeles Times Book Review 'Beautifully written' Melody Maker 'Fabulously authoritative and grimly compelling' Sunday Times 'Magnificent... His enthusiasm for the subject is not only tangible but infectious, and will have you rifling through forgotten areas of your record collection with renewed passion' VOX 'A terrific, sprawling, hugely ambitious study of the city's rock 'n' roll history... Hoskyns skilfully straddles his role as detached historian and gushing enthusiast in this tremendous book' NME

LA, the mindless golden wonder of Southern California, the 'cyberpunk summer blockbuster', is the place where music happened, period. In this wide-ranging exploration of how the city of 'anything goes' became such a musical centre, Barney Hoskyns documents the evolution of the Los Angeles music scene. Jazzers such as Mingus and Art Pepper struck fame here. Rock and roll bopped in the clubs. When Capitol Records came on the scene, the LA music business was truly born. This market was dominated by predominantly white managers and musicians at the expense of blacks. Frank Zappa expressed disgust at the treatment of black musicians, but nothing could stop the white tide. Brian Wilson's Beach Boys dominated the business; he lived to better the Beatles. In the '60s the Monkees summed up LA; ersatz groups chasing money and TV appearances. LA was beginning to sour. At the Monterey pop festival came the birth of the rock industry and the end of innocence. The hippies were out while a New York business mentality was in. And drugs began to exact a terrible toll. Rock and roll had once been seen as a positive force for change; it cried out in protest at Vietnam, but corruption, drugs and murder created a fatal fault line and the volcano was soon to erupt. The Manson murders exposed LA's sordid underbelly, destroying the feelgood innocence of rock as managers, musicians and hustlers gravitated to LA in search of gold. Joni Mitchell sang songs of lost innocence, a requiem for the old times. Until now, the white tradition dominated and the business was insular, cut off from reality and what was happening on the streets. Glam rock and then Punk broke up the party, scaring the mainstream establishment as the yuppie greed of the '80s gripped the city. Now black gangsta rap, with its themes of violence and misogyny, has the stage. LA is an apocalyptic place, with an unnatural thirst for drama and self-destruction that Hoskyns captures vividly. Everyone's here in this breathlessly comprehensive survey of LA's golden years, so get out your old vinyl collection and check out the past. (Kirkus UK)

Author Information

Rock historian Barney Hoskyns is the author of nine books including SAY IT ONE TIME FOR THE BROKENHEARTED, PRINCE: IMP OF THE PERVERSE, FROM A WHISPER TO A SCREAM: THE GREAT VOICES OF POPULAR MUSIC and ACROSS THE GREAT DIVIDE: THE BAND AND AMERICA. He has written for numerous music publications such as NME, MOJO, as well as THE TIMES, VOGUE, ARENA, the NEW STATESMAN and the INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY. He lives in London.

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