A new documentary called Echo in the Canyon, which deals with the pop music scene in Laurel Canyon in the mid-1960s, is set for wide release in June, following select screenings in May in New York and Los Angeles. Featuring Jakob Dylan (!) as narrator and host, the film features interviews and footage of major players in ’60s and ’70s rock music, including Brian Wilson, Ringo Starr, Michelle Phillips, Eric Clapton, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, Roger McGuinn and Jackson Browne. The film focuses on the contributions of bands like the Beach Boys, the Byrds, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Buffalo Springfield, and the Mamas and the Papas. Other musicians interviewed in the film include the late Tom Petty, Fiona Apple, Beck, Cat Power, Regina Spektor and Norah Jones.
At one notable point in the trailer, Michelle Phillips recalls overhearing Brian Wilson writing the songs from Pet Sounds in his notorious piano room full of sand. Elsewhere, Jackson Browne says, “This kind of thing could only happen in Laurel Canyon,” which might be the most on-the-nose thing that one could imagine happening in a documentary about Laurel Canyon’s music scene.
Echo in the Canyon premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival last year, and is set to screen again in the city on May 24, at the Cinerama Dome and Landmark. The movie will play at New York’s Angelika Film Center and Landmark on May 31. Watch the first trailer for the film below.
