Sometimes, great songs are released by artists who are not seeking stardom. Sometimes, great songs are released just because they are great songs, and the artists want them to get out to people who will appreciate them.
So it is with “Laurel Canyon,” A Tribute to David Crosby, a soft rock ballad arranged and performed by Paul Hoover and written by Dale Bushka. The song and video are in honor of the legendary singer and songwriter who died in January this year at the age of 81.
But it is also a celebration of California’s Laurel Canyon, in Los Angeles, where so many musical legends came together in an explosion of creativity in the late ’60s and early ’70s — Crosby, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Frank Zappa, the Mamas and the Papas, Stephen Stills, Jim Morrison and the Doors, the Beach Boys, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Jackson Browne and many others.
“This song for us was an homage — maybe even more than just to David Crosby — an homage to that era,” said Paul, “and to all the wonderful songwriters and music that came out of it, and to the wonderful feelings that so many of us have had listening to it. It’s our way of tapping into that really wonderful piece of history.”
Laurel Canyon’s in bloom in the spring
Palm trees swaying when the LA breeze
Is blowing, oooh, so free and easy
The song is out on YouTube, and the accompanying video is a montage of video clips and photos of Crosby’s long career, from fresh-faced youngster to gray-haired elder of American rock.
Paul sings the lyrics in a soft, meditative voice. He also laid down the guitar tracks.
“The song pays honor to three things,” said Dale, the song’s writer: “Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.; ‘tinkling western sky music’; the struggling musician and, of course, beautiful Laurel Canyon.”
“Tinkling western sky music,” he notes, is what Jimi Hendrix called the “high, clear, ringing harmonies” of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. The phrase figures in the lyrics:
Tinkling western sky music
Heavenly harmonies and swinging guitars
A celebration no windows no doors
Meet me on the steps outside the Canyon Country store
At first glance, that looks like four things, but Laurel Canyon and struggling musicians are one thing in the history of American music.
Both Paul and Dale know the struggles of aspiring musicians while not themselves sharing in those struggles. Paul’s first career was in church music, which he recently exchanged for a city job. He now sings for fun, in a cover band in the Saugus, California, area. He does it for the love of music.
“You know, there’s something really wonderful about just having it be for fun, just having it be for me. I’m really enjoying that. I’m honestly having the most fun that I maybe have ever had with music,” he said.
“I get to just enjoy the way it makes me feel. It’s been a re-discovery of that in many ways.”
Dale has been writing music for more than 50 years, mainly, said Paul, because he loves doing it. For several years, and about 15 songs, Paul has been Dale’s arranger and producer.
“It’s always been kind of he’ll drop off a manila envelope with some lyrics inside, a chord chart, and with a rough demo of him getting through a version of it — him spitballing a little bit. He would say, ‘Hey, here’s the next tune. Go nuts with it.’”
“And so,” he continued, “I would take the tunes, develop them a little bit, and then record a demo that I would send to Dale, and he would send me any feedback. We would refine it a little, and then I’d bounce the whole thing back to him and he’d have a finished product.”
“I think,” Paul concluded, “that he has always just loved hearing it come to life.”
Paul’s hopes for the song are much simpler and more direct than any hope of enrichment or career. He hopes that people who have any connection to that time or to the music can say after listening to it, “Man, I heard that song and it took me right back. It took me there.”
Likewise, Dale’s: “‘Laurel Canyon’ is just a soft little lullaby pop song. Hope you like it.”
RELATED STORIES
Today's Top Hits
LET’S TALK
COMMENTS
Leave a comment