There she stood in the doorway; I heard the mission bell And I was thinking to myself this could be heaven or this could be hell

 Songs Everyone Should Know

“Hotel California” by the Eagles (1976)

The surfer boys were growing up and moving on by the late sixties. The beautiful sons and daughters of the migrants to this magnificent coast with its tinge of the Mexican influence were changing. California was not the same place as the fictitious Joad family sought out in “The Grapes of Wrath”. It wasn’t the California of real characters like Brian Wilson’s father’s family either – they had moved to California from Kansas when he was five and were so poor they tented on the beach.

No indeed California of the ‘60’s had become the dream. From  surrealistic places like the LA suburb called Laurel Canyon Joni Mitchell (remember “Ladies of the Canyon”) the Byrds, The Buffalo Springfield (with transplanted Neil Young) and others like a young Jackson Browne, had made a sound of their own – what loosely could be called the Southern California sound.

As the decade clicked off into the seventies a young DonHenley from Texas met Glen Frey from Michigan at the Troubadour club in Los Angeles. Both of them had their own bands and wanted to make it big in California. It was Linda Ronstadt who by instructing her manager John Boylan to recruit her some session musicians in spring of ’71 who set in motion the events that would ultimately produce one of the biggest bands of all time.

I can make you mine, taste your lips of wine, any time night or day. Only trouble is, gee whiz, I’m dreamin’ my life away.

Sappy Song Department

“All I Have to Do is Dream” by The Everly Brothers (1958)

There is always a lot of discussion of the R&B contribution to music, but the Everlys brought their contribution from another angle – they may really have been the most successful country or maybe even hillbilly band to make their mark on rock. Like Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and not to forget Elvis, they had a country music that morphed into rockabilly and then quickly leapt into rock and Roll.  The difference was that they were an inseparable duo from childhood – and made a contribution only a duo could make.

You better stay away from him, He'll rip your lungs out, Jim, Huh! I'd like to meet his tailor.

Songs Everyone Should Know

“Werewolves of London”, Warren Zevon (1978)

I saw Warren Zevon about a year before he died. He performed “Werewolves of London” and it was still very good, but was somehow tinged with sadness or something I could not quite put my finger on. The imagery in the song is still poignant but the style is a bit dated now.  We seem to like things much darker now, and there was something fun about this song.

And I never really knew how to love I just hoped somehow I'd see oh I asked for a little help from above send an angel down to me

Sappy Song Department

“All My Life”, Karla Bonoff (1988)  

I ordered a CD a few years ago off Karla’s website and when I got it, it was autographed by her. I thought that was a very nice touch.

You may not really know who Karla Bonoff is, but you may have heard songs she has written for other successful artists. She wrote “Someone to Lay Down Beside Me” done by Linda Ronstadt for example.

In early days back in the seventies in Southern California, Bonoff formed a band with (recently deceased) Andrew Gold, then boyfriend Kenny Edwards (who had started the Stone Poney’s with Linda Ronstadt) and friend Wendy Waldman. The band they called "Bryndle", played top-40 stuff and broke up by 1971, having made an album that the record company did not know what to do with.