"Echo In the Canyon" (2018 release; 8 min.) is a documentary about the "southern California" sound that emerged in the mid-60s with bands like the Byrds, the Beach Boyes, the Mamas and the Papas, and so on. As the movie opens, we watch Tom Petty and Jacob Dylan talking guitar shop, and Richenbackers in particular. Next we are at the "Orpheum Theater, Los Angeles, 2015", where former Capitol Records CEO Andrew Slater explains that 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of the 1965 emergence of the Byrds and other bands resident in Laurel Canyon, and what better way to commemorate the occasion than to play the songs from that era? With that, we go back to an early rehearsal at someone's house, where Beck, Regina Spektor, Cat Powers and Dylan are looking at vinyl records from the 60s and trying out some songs...
Couple of comments: this documentary seems to be a labor of love from Andrew Slater (who directs and produces) and Jacob Dylan (who stars and executive-produces). The documentary does a good job switching on the one hand the concert and rehearsal footage with on the other hand interviews (by Dylan) of the big names from that era. Members from the Byrds, the Mamas and the papas, the Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield and others (such as Ringo Starr. Eric Clapton, Jackson Browne, and others) get significant screen time, and brings wonderful stories from "back in the day". As to the Orpheum Theater concert footage, something seemed not quite right with the sound, at least in the theater where I saw this film, in that the sound came across thinly. Still it was fun to see the elusive Fiona Apple again (on 2 songs), along a slew of other guests. And then, all of the sudden, the movie ends, as if they either ran out of money or out of ideas, but at not even 80 min., the end titles started rolling.
"Echo in the Canyon" premiered last Fall to good acclaim, and it finally reached my art-house theater here in Cincinnati this weekend, and I couldn't wait to see it. The Sunday matinee screening where I saw this at was, much to my surprise, PACKED. Holy cow! Who knew there was such a large interest in this film? Or were they there to escape the scorching heatwave outside? Either way, if you have any interest in the history of rock, I encourage you to check out "Echo In the Canyon", be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.
Couple of comments: this documentary seems to be a labor of love from Andrew Slater (who directs and produces) and Jacob Dylan (who stars and executive-produces). The documentary does a good job switching on the one hand the concert and rehearsal footage with on the other hand interviews (by Dylan) of the big names from that era. Members from the Byrds, the Mamas and the papas, the Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield and others (such as Ringo Starr. Eric Clapton, Jackson Browne, and others) get significant screen time, and brings wonderful stories from "back in the day". As to the Orpheum Theater concert footage, something seemed not quite right with the sound, at least in the theater where I saw this film, in that the sound came across thinly. Still it was fun to see the elusive Fiona Apple again (on 2 songs), along a slew of other guests. And then, all of the sudden, the movie ends, as if they either ran out of money or out of ideas, but at not even 80 min., the end titles started rolling.
"Echo in the Canyon" premiered last Fall to good acclaim, and it finally reached my art-house theater here in Cincinnati this weekend, and I couldn't wait to see it. The Sunday matinee screening where I saw this at was, much to my surprise, PACKED. Holy cow! Who knew there was such a large interest in this film? Or were they there to escape the scorching heatwave outside? Either way, if you have any interest in the history of rock, I encourage you to check out "Echo In the Canyon", be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.