Weird Scenes and Weird Meanderings
Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon will interest anyone who lived through the music scene of the late 1960s and the 1970s. As the author states, the number of strange coincidences regarding the artists who were part of the Laurel Canyon music scene is astounding. Likewise, it seems there were some cover-ups regarding the Manson cult and its leader ... who was quite close to such figures as Dennis Wilson, Neil Young, and Terry Melcher. Interesting, to say the least.
However, the book is so poorly organized and written that I almost threw it across the room several times. There is often too much detail that not relevant to the author's main points, and a lot of hopping around in time and space, to the point of confusion.
A much better book about the whole Manson phenomenon was Chaos, by Tom O'Neill. Much better organized, and it was written later, and so it has more detail about the topic of Manson. However, O'Neill's book doesn't talk much about the music scene, which was what this reviewer was primarily interested in.
With Neil Young's recent hissy-fit against Joe Rogan and the big reveal that he has sold most of his oeuvre to Black Rock, I was interested in finding out more about his links to the Deep State, etc. That, along with the revelation (early in this book) that none of the musicians of the Laurel Canyon crowd was ever drafted or sent to Vietnam, was what intrigued me into finishing the book.
McGowan, may he Rest In Peace, wrote a highly flawed book, due to his writing style, his insertion of himself into the narrative at inappropriate times, and his penchant for irrelevant detail. However, I would like to see a book treating the themes he touches on by a better writer.
