Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock'n'Roll's Last Stand in 60s Hollywood with author Domenic Priore and special guest Michael Stuart-Ware. At Booksmith Sanfrancisco, Ca 7/6/07

Priore shows how this legendary scene (the Byrds, Doors, Buffalo Springfield, Mothers of Invention, etc...) came together, burned briefly but brilliantly, and then fell apart after the Summer of Love. Domenic Priore's remarkable new book evokes a raucous, revolutionary time in American culture. Joining Priore for this special event is Michael Stuart-Ware of LOVE, one of the Los Angeles bands profiled in the book.

blurb : On the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles in 1965 and 1966, an electrifying scene appeared out of nowhere, exploded into creativity, and then, just as suddenly, vanished. The nightlife was a heady mix of modernist design, pop art, and beat aesthetics, and Sunset Strip nightclubs nurtured and broke The Doors, Love, Buffalo Springfield (featuring Neil Young and Stephen Stills), Frank Zappa's Mothers Of Invention, Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, The Turtles, The Mamas & The Papas, and many others. Folk-rock and psychedelia were born there, and it was a favourite hangout and inspiration for The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Them, The Velvet Underground, and The Yardbirds. Pop art and rock'n'roll combined, and the new fusion quickly permeated television, animation, and New Hollywood's indie cinema. This book tells the story of that astonishing time. Lots of photos (b&w)

Same old rise-and-fall-of-psychedelia story, but I actually watched the cheesy movie for the first time recently, which does include some good footage of the Standells and especially the Chocolate Watch Band.
- alex 8-13-2007 3:38 am [add a comment]