author Barney Hoskins reading from and answering questions about his book, Hotel California: The True-Life Adventures of Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, Mitchell, Taylor, Browne, Ronstadt, Geffen, the Eagles, and Their Many Friends
reading:
- Joni Mitchell & Graham Nash, Stephen Stills, James Taylor
- while Joni was in Europe, wrote song “California”
- Judy Sill as the female Nick Drake
q&a:
- Who are the central figures of the book? David Geffen & Asylum records, Jackson Browne as a leader and the unofficial a&r for Asylum
- why choose this topic? I like the story of relationships between people. this is a “close-knit” “organic” group of people. Laurel Canyon scene. hung out at the bar at the Troubadour.
- why no Steely Dan? not really a part of this scene, they separated themselves, but they did write some of the best songs about Los Angeles
- Led Zeppelin obsessed w/ Southern California
- Linda Ronstadt—didn’t get respect because not a songwriter herself? but she was a great song picker and largely responsible for putting the Eagles together
- who didn’t you get to interview/talk to that you would have liked to? the Eagles, Neil Young, the people who aren’t alive anymore (Judy Sill etc.)
- is there such thing as modern singer/songwriters? is the genre lost? modern singer/songwriters who are good in L.A.: Beck, Elliott Smith
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[event details]
Monday, March 19, 7:00pm, FREE
Book Soup
8818 Sunset Blvd. [map]
W. Hollywood, CA 90069
Barney Hoskyns presents and signs Hotel California: The True-Life Adventures of Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, Mitchell, Taylor, Browne, Ronstadt, Geffen, the Eagles, and Their Many Friends
“In the late sixties and early seventies, Los Angeles was a hotbed of musical creativity—the home base of Joni Mitchell, the Eagles, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, among many others. Now, drawing on exclusive interviews with many of the leading players, music journalist Barney Hoskyns recreates the excitement, ferment, and energy of those years. We see the genesis of Crosby, Stills, and Nash at Joni Mitchell’s house in Laurel Canyon. We see the Eagles implode in backstage fistfights after the success of their huge hit album Hotel California. And we get the real story on David Geffen and the other money men who nurtured, bankrolled– and some say corrupted—the L.A. music scene. Filled with revealing anecdotes that chronicle the drug-fueled chaos, bed-hopping antics, and enduring musical achievements of the era, Hotel California is a must-read for classic rock fans everywhere.”