Independent Historian and Author, David McGowan on his book,
Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon: Covert Ops & the Dark Heart of the Hippie Dream

David McGowan on the thesis of his book:  To the extent that it has a central thesis, I would say that it is that the music and counterculture scene that sprung to life in the 1960s was not the organic, grassroots resistance movement that it is generally perceived to be, but rather a movement that was essentially manufactured and steered. And a corollary to that would be that for a scene that was supposed to be all about peace, love and understanding, there was a very dark, violent underbelly that this book attempts to expose.

Breaking News: David McGowan’s New Book, Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon: Laurel Canyon, Covert Ops & the Dark Heart of the Hippie Dream is now published!! You may also enjoy sneak peeks at the photos and a bit of trivia on his new facebook page!

Buy Weird Scenes on Amazon HERE.

This from Dave’s Site: (slightly edited and updated)

“No, this new book isn’t actually a new installment of the Laurel Canyon series. It is, instead, an explanation of changes and additions in the newly published book version of the series. There are, I can assure you, a number of new chapters that have been written – one on Frank Zappa and a couple of his more colorful discoveries (Captain Beefheart and Larry “Wild Man” Fischer), one on Arthur Lee and his band Love, one on John Kay and his band Steppenwolf, and one on Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. There are also a number of new additions to the Laurel Canyon Death List. And some supplemental material concerning the death of young Godo Paulekas.

There is also a new chapter that takes a look at the punk and new wave scene that, in the late 1970s, began replacing the sounds of Laurel Canyon on the radio dial. And a new epilogue that reveals that Charlie Manson wasn’t the only serial killer/mass murderer with curious ties to the Laurel Canyon scene. And a new preface that aims to accomplish two things: explain to readers how and why I came to pen this saga, and preemptively respond to potential critics. Also added is a forward written by my esteemed colleague, Nick Bryant, author of The Franklin Scandal.

None of that, however, will be making an appearance on this website, or on any other website. Instead, it will be incorporated into – drum roll, please – the Laurel Canyon book! I have been, you see, quietly working for some time now with a publisher in the UK. And what we have put together, I honestly believe, is a vastly improved telling of the Laurel Canyon story. In addition to all the new material that is exclusive to the book, much of the previously posted material has been reorganized and extensively edited to improve the flow of this rather dark journey through what was supposed to be a hippie utopia. And both an index and a bibliography have been added to make this work a more valuable research tool.

The published version carries a different title: Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon: Laurel Canyon, Covert Ops & the Dark Heart of the Hippie Dream. That’s about all I have to report for now.

Update: Weird Scenes now has its very own Facebook page at www.facebook.com/WeirdScenesInsideTheCanyon, with additional information. If you stop by, please be sure to hit the ‘like’ button.”