"Hollywood Eden" by Joel Selvin (Anansi)

 

I always found Southern California to be a fascinating landscape. One can do pretty much what they want to do if they have the talent, or perhaps even more critical, the skill of a hustler. Joel Selvin's "Hollywood Eden" is a collection of tales I know of. Still, now they are clearly explained to the reader. Being a citizen of Los Angeles, I knew the existence of Jan and Dean and aware of them as an essential presence in the California myth, which I think is true, by the way. The weather is a huge aspect of living outdoors, and a car, especially in the 1950s and a touch of the 60s, fits perfectly well into the landscape. Jan and Dean, especially the brains of the outfit, Jan Berry, had an instinct about the inside business of making music and records. 

Jan, a Californian rich kid, used his family's garage as a recording studio where he experimented with sounds and singing. His partner in crime, Dean Torrance, was symbolically a partner but fitted in the image of two guys sharing cars, the surf, and girls. The book is a narrative that starts in 1958 and ends in 1966. Besides Jan Berry, the other key figures in this tale of Californian hustle and art are Kim Fowley, Lou Adler, Nancy Sinatra, Terry Melcher (the son of Doris Day), Bruce Johnson, The Mama and Papas, and of course, Brian Wilson. Although Jan had the talent, good looks, and brains, he didn't have Brian's brilliance. Jan inspired Brian, but the student (Brian) left the master (Jan) in the dust. 

Kim Fowley had the talent to be in the right place and at the right time. Beyond that, it was mostly luck that connected him to the outskirts of the music business. Everyone knew him, but except Bruce Johnson, few admired or liked him.  Fowley, I think, fed on that resentment that led him to endless hours hustling people to make records or money. For the pop fan, Fowley is famous mainly for managing and co-writing songs for The Runaways, but there is no mention of life after 1966 in this book. I think the strength of "Hollywood Eden" in being focused on a specific time frame. 

Everyone in this book can have a fascinating full biography. Selvin is a skilled journalist and writer. He knows how to tell the tale without losing himself or the reader with too much history or baggage. It reads like a Southern California noir novel than anything else. The details about the kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr are something that I never knew about. Still, I had a faint impression that there was a Jan and Dean connection to the crime. It seems Dean knew the kidnapper and was told about it, but he didn't believe it until it became apparent to him. The Nancy Sinatra narrative is also of great interest in how she slowly emerges from being the daughter of Frank and becoming her own artist with the assistance of Lee Hazelwood.

"Hollywood Eden" is very bittersweet because we know that some of these participants in the book did not have a happy future. For example, there's no mention of the Manson Family problem that Melcher had, and like Fowley's Runaways, there is no need to bring it up in this book. This is very much a page-turner for those who love the early Surf-Car-teenage pop of Southern California, but the characters themselves are solid and cinematic. Not all of them are likable, but they did contribute something unique to Southern California's mix or cocktail. A burst of bright sunshine with Noir's presence.