There was a
new freedom for women, the women were being reborn in the 60s and 70s. (In the UK education for women began in the late 19th century and from
1892 Scottish universities admitted women students when St Andrews pioneered
with an arts degree. ) Then came the introduction of the The Pill - first approved in 1960 in the US - brought
tremendous gains for women’s freedoms and led them to feel they could achieve outside
the home.
In an
excellent Vanity Fear article in March 2015 with quotes from many of the
players of Laurel Canyon, it was interesting to read that the women were the
heart of this new movement in music in California. The core players were Joni
Mitchell and Mama Cass Elliott, when musicians descended on their homes. Joni
lived at first in a street called Lookout Mountain.
Other women
of the new movement were - Bonnie
Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, Michelle Phillips, Maria Maldaur, Carole King, Emmylou
Harris. According to Michelle Phillips said that ‘The women actually
held that whole scene up there together. ‘ The
Troubadour venue was also a main place to hang out.
The most
talented musician of them all was Joni Mitchell. David Crosby discovered
her singing in Florida and brought her back to California – he writes that she
was not only the best songwriter of them all, but also
the best musician.
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Joni Mitchell & David Crosby
The
California sound blended together a mix of folk and psychedelic rock. – of blues, rock n roll, Latin, country,
psychedelia, bluegrass, folk – and the forerunner of today's Americana sound. 'The
vibe of that music, the way it makes you feel when you’re driving in a car –
it’s a landscape. ‘ Adam Levine of Maroon 5.
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At this time
the draft for the Vietnam war sent many Americans up to Canada and brought the
Canadians down to the US – such as Neil Young and Joni.
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| The Mamas and the Papas |
The big guns
were the two talent scouts from New York – David Geffen and Robert Elliot who were
also young and hungry for the new scene here. Within a few years they started
Geffen-Roberts management and made 3m a year. Geffen began his record label
Asylum Records. Robert managed Neil, CSN, Joni.
When two
guys (Glen Frey and Don Henley) were asked to be Linda Ronstadt’s
backing singers on tour, they were busy watching, learning and taking notes of
the big guys Crosby Stills and Nash (CSN), Poco and others bands developing the
four part harmony country rock. They became The Eagles and were ultimately
bigger than anyone.
‘We
watched what they did right and what they did wrong.’ The Eagles were also about both the
music and the business.
In the end
movements shine only for a short time and the magic of the hillside canyon was
changed eventually.
First of all
by drugs – while pot and psychedelia had fuelled creativity but when they turned
to cocaine and heroin, everything changed.
According to
Phillips the summers of free love came to an sudden end with the Manson murders
in '69 – and after that everything changed. ‘The nail in the coffin of the
freewheelin, let’s get high, everybody's welcome – I never invited anybody over
to my house again after that.’
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| Carole King |
New artists
today influenced by and following on from these sounds – singer songwriter
Laura Marling, LA band Haim, Dawes, Wilco, Mumford, the Avett Brothers and others.
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Crosby, Stills & Nash
Scenes
aren’t meant to last. They sparkle with activity, flourish then burn out. The
California music scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s fell apart because of
drugs, money, success. Altamont, money, drugs, burnout and new musical trends.’
Vanity Fair. April 1015.
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| Judy Collins and Joni Mitchell |
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