Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon

Laurel Canyon, Covert Ops, and the Dark Heart of the Hippie Dream

By: David McGowan

Narrated by: Bill Fike

Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

The very strange but nevertheless true story of the dark underbelly of a 1960s hippie utopia. Laurel Canyon in the 1960s and early 1970s was a magical place where a dizzying array of musical artists congregated to create much of the music that provided the soundtrack to those turbulent times.

Members of bands like the Byrds, the Doors, Buffalo Springfield, the Monkees, the Beach Boys, the Turtles, the Eagles, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, Steppenwolf, CSN, Three Dog Night, and Love, along with such singer/songwriters as Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, James Taylor, and Carole King, lived together and jammed together in the bucolic community nestled in the Hollywood Hills.

But there was a dark side to that scene as well. Many didn't make it out alive, and many of those deaths remain shrouded in mystery to this day. Far more integrated into the scene than most would like to admit was a guy by the name of Charles Manson, along with his murderous entourage. Also floating about the periphery were various political operatives, up-and-coming politicians, and intelligence personnel - the same sort of people who gave birth to many of the rock stars populating the canyon. And all the canyon's colorful characters - rock stars, hippies, murderers, and politicos - happily coexisted alongside a covert military installation.

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What a blast!!!

Would you listen to Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon again? Why?

This is a spooky and dark (though down right fun) collection of unexplained murders, strange coincidence, and bizarre facts. Though the writer suggests that there might be a more nefarious network of conspiracy theories that exist beneath the surface, he does not waste time proposing theories that can't be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. That said, he is not subtle when it comes to pointing out their possible existence. The writer has a Jim Marrs ("Alien Agenda," "Crossfire," "Our Occulted History," and "Population Control") appreciation for a good story, even if that story might be slightly more urban myth than actual fact, though, in due respect to the writer, he does point those differences out.

What other book might you compare Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon to and why?

I have not read or listened to the book (which can also be found on Audible) myself yet, but the writer spends a lot of time quoting from "Hotel California" by Barney Hoyskns. This book reportedly covers the same territory, and is on my list to be listened to soon. I suspect that Hoyskns book might be taking a more balanced approach to the subject at hand.

Which scene was your favorite?

There are so many that I can't decide upon a particular favorite. I guess what I kind of like the most about this book is how the music scene in Los Angeles (and specifically Laurel Canyon) sort of suspiciously and mysteriously developed overnight, and how basically untalented a majority of these legends were to begin with. Most also came from military related backgrounds and were given credit for launching a major counterculture movement that many of them had no real sense of or involvement with. For most of them, they were just party hungry and sex fueled young men, who got themselves mixed up with some pretty nasty sociopaths and psychopaths (Charles Manson and company).

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I absolutely had difficulty stopping this audible presentation, that is because it is too much fun under the darkened California sun. For someone who spent thirty three years in Los Angeles and much of that time in the entertainment business itself, this book is sweet revenge on those who want to believe that social movements in this country come from the people themselves and not the power brokers of the manipulating status quo.

Any additional comments?

This book leaves me wanting more. The "City of Angels" has always had an extremely dark shadow about it, which Mike Davis covered in "City of Quartz," Kenneth Anger in "Hollywood Babylon," and William J. Mann in "Tinseltown." Though rolling around in the dark is fun at times, make sure one takes a break in the sunlight too.

conspiracy reality- ban CIA

I wonder for Dave McGowan's early death. It reveals the satanic take over and control of America

RiP Dave McGowan/the canyon lives on

The Doors, CSNY, Zappa, Mammas and Poppas, The Beach Boys, Manson and the freaking CiA...

seemed like wild speculation

I felt like there was not enough substantiation of the claims in the book. it it seemed that much of it was speculation and very little supporting information.

great read for the conspiracy minded.

loved it, was lengthy at times, but it really was worth it on the end.

Did Publisher Tamper With Story?

Wierd scenes inside the canyon, a really good book, however, he was talked into using a publisher (which he did not need) but whom now gets a percentage of the mega sales, and control of sales (self audit) and whom I personally think to be real scumbags.

Then the author mysterious dies a year after publication, (leaving full control to publisher?) so that author's child must trust the accounting of the publisher?)

And so the version being sold now has some way out of place (story line & geographic) little propaganda shots at, you guessed it, whitey.
I suspect these anti-caucasian jabs were not in the original version prior to the author's death.

if not for those, would have given 5 stars.
If you get past those, it is a great book, demonstrating who really runs the propahanda machine's music department and our "intelligence" agencies in general, (and it isn't us)

I suspect the secret movie studio was used for porn, snuff, and moon landing scenes.

Thank you

Loved it so much , got the book in print also. Making everyone who I can , read it

Shocking

Great listen. I have listened to it twice. Will definitely listen to it again. Going to check out Programmed to kill.

mind blowing!

Most people understand the hippie/rock and roll movement as one thing. revolutionary. this book makes you think twice about that.

Rambling but ultimately entertaining

I’m not sure what all the “coincidences” the author implies about people with similar backgrounds/interest arriving in LA in Laurel Canyon when it started growing. These include, “these guys went to the same school!” “These folks are cousins!” “These people played in different bands together!” The same could be said about, say, Nashville: “country singers end up there!” “Johnny Cash married June Carter of the famous Carter family!” Must be MK Ultra or something sinister, couldn’t be that humans were being humans and connecting with similar folks.

That said, the book is an interesting romp through a specific time and place where folk rock got started and the colorful characters, wanna-bes, got-to-bes, agents, businesses, criminals, drug dealers, etc., intersected. The author did some deep research for sure. Just enjoy the history and the “vibe” of that time rather than expecting a point to it.