Review: Echo In The Canyon

Image courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment.

Is "Echo in the Canyon" mostly just a needle-drop documentary that plays iconic tunes as background music to interviews with the legendary musicians responsible for them? Is it safe to say that we don't learn anything new - other than that Stephen Stills and Mickey Dolenz once held a nudist party - about its subject matter? Is the entire film mostly a vehicle for Jakob Dylan, son of Bob and former lead singer for The Wallflowers, who recently recorded an album filled with the songs in the film?

The answer to all of these questions is "yes," and yet the film, directed by Andrew Slater, is still a pleasure. The film follows the mid- to late-1960s scene in Los Angeles's Laurel Canyon, where a ton of great musicians moved and inspired each other to write some of their best music.

At various points, the scene was inhabited by Stills, Graham Nash, the members of the Mamas and the Papas, Jackson Browne, Neil Young, The Byrds, Brian Wilson and other members of the Beach Boys and numerous others. In "Echo in the Canyon," Dylan - acting as tour guide - interviews some of those musicians as well as others inspired by their music - for example, Tom Petty, and some other musicians from Jakob Dylan's era - Beck and Fiona Apple, among others - take part in a concert that is interspersed throughout the picture in which they perform the songs.

A curious - and interesting - inclusion in the film is footage from Jacques Demy's "Model Shop," a mostly forgotten 1969 film that was the French director's only movie in English. The film features some of the best footage of Los Angeles at that time, as its protagonist spends a significant amount of time behind the wheel in the movie making his way through Los Angeles's major throughways and winding hills.  The filmmakers note that Demy's picture was somewhat of an inspiration for this documentary in that it did a good job of capturing a moment in that city's history. It's a film well worth seeking out.

While none of the interviews are particularly enlightening - much of this history has been revealed elsewhere - it's nonetheless enjoyable. Ringo Starr tells a funny story or two, Roger McGuinn makes an attempt at being diplomatic when discussing past band members, David Crosby less so and Michelle Phillips is surprisingly open about her exploits with other band members.

And, of course, there's the music. Dylan and his pals do some decent renditions, but the use of the actual music - especially The Byrds' "Goin' Back" and Buffalo Springfield's gorgeous "Expecting to Fly" - is the film's greatest treat. Many of these songs are extremely cinematic - think "California Dreamin'" or Buffalo Springfield's music - and while most of them have been used to death in previous films, there's still a thrill seeing images set to these tunes.

So, while "Echo in the Canyon" doesn't tell us anything we didn't likely already know, it's still well worth catching up with these great musicians - many of whom are well into old age - and hearing them talk about one of the greatest eras for rock 'n roll music and filmmaking in this nation's history. "Echo in the Canyon" goes back to the well - but this material is so rich that it remains interesting nevertheless.