this book was an engrossing read that augmented barney hoskyns’ “waiting for the sun” - a book that gives a pitch-perfect overview of the history of the music business in california - with clarity and insight. in “hotel california”, hoskyns really zeroes in on the meat of it all—that period in the 70s where rock and roll was shifting away from hippie idealism/art and towards materialism and greed/money. to hear such lurid stories about the soundtrack of my childhood was beyond entertaining. i simply couldn’t put it down.

i kept hearing the songs in my head (the lyrics of jackson browne’s “here come those tears again” come to mind) and going over the lyrics with an “aha” every so often - “so THAT’S what he was singing about!” - that kept me on the edge of my proverbial seat.

i don’t know. maybe i didn’t need to know that graham nash wrote “our house” about his happy domestic life in that a-frame house in laurel canyon with joni mitchell, and that she was probably the love of his life. and vice versa. maybe i didn’t need to know that she dated his bandmate david crosby initially. and jackson browne. and james taylor. and that in 1974, rolling stone magazine awarded her “old lady (read: girlfriend) of the year”— but i’m glad that i do know the backstory, for all the songs that came out of these relationships/circumstances. it gives them that much more dimension, for better or worse. and it makes me want to listen to these songs i’ve been reading of.

i hope to high heaven that no one ever figures out what/who i’m writing about. heh.