Hollywood Eden: Electric Guitars, Fast Cars, and the Myth of the California Paradise

by Joel Selvin

“ Hollywood Eden brings the lost humanity of the record business vividly back to life … [Selvin’s] style is blunt, unpretentious and brisk; he knows how to move things along entertainingly … Songs about surfboards and convertibles had turned quaint, but in this book, their coolness is restored.” ― New York Times From surf music to hot-rod records to the sunny pop of the Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, the Byrds, and the Mama’s & the Papa’s, Hollywood Eden captures the fresh blossom of a young generation who came together in the epic spring of the 1960s to invent the myth of the California Paradise. Central to the story is a group of sun-kissed teens from the University High School class of 1959 ― a class that included Jan & Dean, Nancy Sinatra, and future members of the Beach Boys ― who came of age in Los Angeles at the dawn of a new golden era when anything seemed possible. These were the people who invented the idea of modern California for the rest of the world. But their own private struggles belied the paradise portrayed in their music. What began as a light-hearted frolic under sunny skies ended up crashing down to earth just a few short but action-packed years later as, one by one, each met their destinies head-on. A rock ’n’ roll opera loaded with violence, deceit, intrigue, low comedy, and high drama, Hollywood Eden tells the story of a group of young artists and musicians who bumped heads, crashed cars, and ultimately flew too close to the sun.

Genres: Music, History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Pop Culture, Biography, American History

312 pages, Hardcover

First published April 6, 2021

About the author

San Francisco Chronicle pop music critic Joel Selvin started covering rock shows for the paper shortly after the end of the Civil War. His writing has appeared in a surprising number of other publications that you would think should have known better.

Reviews

[Tosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always found Southern California to be a fascinating landscape. One can do pretty much what they want to do if they have the talent, or perhaps even more critical, the skill of a hustler. Joel Selvin's "Hollywood Eden" is a collection of tales I know of. Still, now they are clearly explained to the reader. Being a citizen of Los Angeles, I knew the existence of Jan and Dean and aware of them as an essential presence in the California myth, which I think is true, by the way. The weather is a huge aspect of living outdoors, and a car, especially in the 1950s and a touch of the 60s, fits perfectly well into the landscape. Jan and Dean, especially the brains of the outfit, Jan Berry, had an instinct about the inside business of making music and records.

Jan, a Californian rich kid, used his family's garage as a recording studio where he experimented with sounds and singing. His partner in crime, Dean Torrance, was symbolically a partner but fitted in the image of two guys sharing cars, the surf, and girls. The book is a narrative that starts in 1958 and ends in 1966. Besides Jan Berry, the other key figures in this tale of Californian hustle and art are Kim Fowley, Lou Adler, Nancy Sinatra, Terry Melcher (the son of Doris Day), Bruce Johnson, The Mama and Papas, and of course, Brian Wilson. Although Jan had the talent, good looks, and brains, he didn't have Brian's brilliance. Jan inspired Brian, but the student (Brian) left the master (Jan) in the dust.

Kim Fowley had the talent to be in the right place and at the right time. Beyond that, it was mostly luck that connected him to the outskirts of the music business. Everyone knew him, but except Bruce Johnson, few admired or liked him. Fowley, I think, fed on that resentment that led him to endless hours hustling people to make records or money. For the pop fan, Fowley is famous mainly for managing and co-writing songs for The Runaways, but there is no mention of life after 1966 in this book. I think the strength of "Hollywood Eden" in being focused on a specific time frame.

Everyone in this book can have a fascinating full biography. Selvin is a skilled journalist and writer. He knows how to tell the tale without losing himself or the reader with too much history or baggage. It reads like a Southern California noir novel than anything else. The details about the kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr are something that I never knew about. Still, I had a faint impression that there was a Jan and Dean connection to the crime. It seems Dean knew the kidnapper and was told about it, but he didn't believe it until it became apparent to him. The Nancy Sinatra narrative is also of great interest in how she slowly emerges from being the daughter of Frank and becoming her own artist with the assistance of Lee Hazelwood.

"Hollywood Eden" is very bittersweet because we know that some of these participants in the book did not have a happy future. For example, there's no mention of the Manson Family problem that Melcher had, and like Fowley's Runaways, there is no need to bring it up in this book. This is very much a page-turner for those who love the early Surf-Car-teenage pop of Southern California, but the characters themselves are solid and cinematic. Not all of them are likable, but they did contribute something unique to Southern California's mix or cocktail. A burst of bright sunshine with Noir's presence.

[Linda Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very impressive! What I'm impressed with is the productive, motivated creation of song after song after song all in the quest of getting the next #1 hit on the pop music charts. Teenagers become musicians and then become famous and live in mansions by their mid-twenties. Their lives take many turns as they morph toward their final destinies.

I knew nothing of the lives of Jan and Dean when I started listening to this as an audiobook a few days ago. I could remember one song - The Little Old Lady From Pasadena - but that one wasn't even mentioned in this book. Instead quite a few others, many of which I'd never heard of before, were discussed. It would be nice if this audiobook contained recordings of the songs, but it does not. I went to YouTube to search out many of the songs and musicians as they were mentioned in the book.

It wasn't just a biography of Jan and Dean (and it wasn't a comprehensive biography of them either) but rather a long range view of the Los Angeles music industry with many musicians involved, including Jill and Judy. Remember them? I didn't. Never heard of them before. They were the girlfriends of Jan and Dean who recorded a few songs. That didn't last long. Nancy Sinatra went to high school with Jan and Dean and there was some information about her. Later there were chapters featuring the Beach Boys and their relationship with Jan and Dean. There were mentions of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, Phil Spector, Tommy Sands, Herb Alpert and many others.

Even though this can't be said to be a comprehensive biography of anyone, it is a good overview of what happened in Los Angeles to shift the music industry away from New York and into California. I was impressed by the inner workings of song development and the use of studio musicians for recordings instead of the actual well-known acts.

There's so much more that could be said, but this was quite long enough. It opened the door to a world I didn't previously understand. I was never a huge fan of any of these Southern California musicians but I do remember listening to and liking some of the songs back in the day. I read the book to broaden my understanding of Southern California culture. I'm a Northern California resident who wants to explore the entire state rather than just my own section of it. I recently started a group here on Goodreads called California Reading, so this book fit in with what I wanted to know.

[Sevelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a compact that exists between veteran music writers and their readers, namely, by time the writer is finishing up his or her own career, the reader will largely end up reading works created fr recycled material that’s drawn from the author’s previous research and writings. In the process, some style and storytelling is inevitably lost, only to be replaced by a staccato-like presentation of facts and events. Compressed — and not always readable. That’s the case here—a slightly hurried treatment of a unique period in American history. Some paragraphs are so dense and jam-packed you need relief, you need to take a break from trying to absorb it all.

The title is part of the problem. This is really a music history book about The Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, Nancy Sinatra, Phil Spector, and a handful of other music makers in the early-to-mid-60s. It’s got far less to do with Hollywood than the title suggests. Cars, yes, paradise, yes, Southern California, yes, but it really documents the players’ relentless drive to make top 40 hits and cash in. Much of the writing is on-point, noting the irreverence and ambitions and humanity from which many of our greatest pop songs were created. More time on the writing might have resulted in a richer, more layered work, drawing in larger cultural and political events, which are given scant attention here. This reads as a very long magazine article that never quite fits the wider canvas the author has in which to work. Oddly, it could’ve used another 100 pages to address the war, SDS, film, other music (eg, jazz, the Jefferson Airplane), fashion, etc. It left me wanting to visit California in the early-to-mid 60s, but that was the whole point to writing the book—to create a tableau, a living picture of a time and place. Wish I could’ve been there. But Hollywood Eden is an important addition to music history journalism and it certainly chronicles and very special time — and some very great music.

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember these days chiefly through it's music and the wonderful musicians who wrote and played it. I can recall all the little drama's that played out in the music industry, but had forgotten quite a few and Mr. Selvin writes about others I'd never heard of or have forgotten. California was the land of dreams, Utopia to many of us growing up elsewhere. We dreamed of getting to the coast! Of course, we all grew up and realized a lot was hype. There was an ugly underbelly to the PR. Still it was a fun time; good memories.
Well researched and entertaining read. Pairs nicely with Rock Me On the Water by Ronald Brownstein and Epix two-part doc Laurel Canyon
It's been a depressing, anxious year, so these three were wonderful distractions while staying at home. Love this book! Kudos Joel Selvin!
For fans of the era, these would make a really fine gift for the holidays!

I received a Kindle arc from Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.

[Ann Otto · Rating 2 out of 5]

A great book for those who are interested in details of known and relatively unknown stars of 1950s and 1960s California musicians. I found I was a bit too far removed from the period and the information for it to be of interest, but music lovers of the time will appreciate it.

[Randee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everything I never wanted to know about Kim Fowley and Jan and Dean.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

The late 1950s and early '60s were a fascinating time for music on the West Coast. From the teens at Hollywood High who stumbled into music careers to the rise of moguls like Lou Adler and scoundrels and nut cases like Kim Fowley, Phil Spector, or John Phillips, the stories here cover a rambling section of rock music history from a West Coast vantage point.

I like what the Kirkus Review says about the book:
"Selvin's less-than-elegant prose works well to capture the seat-of-the-pants brio of California record production. There's much more to the story, but what Selvin does cover is told with great enthusiasm.

I only half knew many of these stories here—the tales of careers like those of Jan Berry (Jan and Dean), Sandy Nelson, Brian Wilson, and musical pioneers who are less remembered make for great reading. I knew little about the production of early hits like the 4 versions of Ally Oop, or the many lesser-known first efforts. After searching for them, I reviewed and sampled some in my Substack Blog.

Worth retelling are anecdotes like about the Beach Boys Pet Sounds, Brian Wilson's Good Vibrations, which alone cost 50,000 dollars and took endless sessions to create, or Spector's River Deep Mountain High, which he considered his opus, the lukewarm reception of which drove him to distraction, possibly toward insanity,
Model Jill Gibson, who joined the Mamas and the Papas and was Jan Berry's longtime girlfreind, is a fascinating profile. She continues making art in L.A., as I discovered through peripheral web searching.

Like his book about drummer Jim Gordon (reviewed here , I found myself looking up many of the songs mentioned throughout. Selvin again provides a helpful Appendix of songs.

He ends with a poignant anecdote about Jan Barry, a hot shot driver who barely survived a hideous car crash at, what else, Dead Man's Curve in L.A. It was a song he had spent much time tailoring into a kind of aural mini-movie. It became a hit.

[Debra Pawlak · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advance reading copy (arc) of this book from NetGalley.com in return for a fair review. 'Hollywood Eden' tells the unique story of the 'surf sound' that evolved out of California in the late fifties and early sixties. Author Joel Selvin introduces us to a group of musically-inclined kids who attend University High School. Names like Phil Spector, Jan (Berry) and Dean (Torrance), as well as Nancy Sinatra were all part of that musical scene. Selvin even tells us about Kathy Kohner who was the real 'Gidget'. He also goes on to discuss The Beach Boys, The Mamas and The Papas, and many more. It wasn't all fun in the sun, however. The Beach Boys had a cantankerous father to contend with; Jan started out with a partner named Arnie and when Arnie left, Dean stepped in, but when asked to change his name to 'Arnie', he refused. The Mamas and The Papas were originally a threesome--John and Michelle Phillips and Denny Doherty. They needed a ride to their audition with recording executive Nik Venet. Cass Elliott had a car so she drove them there and Venet decided that the trio should be a quartet. There were setbacks, struggles, and a lot of hard work, but the music we have all come to love was worth it. Classics like 'Little Old Lady from Pasadena', 'Fun, Fun, Fun', and 'California Dreamin'' still resonate, but the stories behind the songs are even more fascinating. Selvin covered a lot of people and sometimes it was hard to keep track of who was who. He also ended the book quite abruptly. I would have liked to have known what ultimately happened to the key players. Nonetheless, this is a great read for baby boomers or anyone interested in music history. Oh and one more thing, if you are anything like me, give yourself some extra time to get through the book. I kept stopping so I could visit YouTube and listen to the music. You just can't keep a good song down!

[Russ Bertetta · Rating 4 out of 5]

As they say in baseball you can't tell the players without a scorecard. And this is sure true for this book on the origins of California rock 'n roll and the surf scene. Not only are there are lot of names to keep straight but a lot of this cast of characters use more than one name!
But this is the music era I grew up in from 1958 on and as a West Coast kid, I loved The Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, and the one-hit wonders that made surf music the music to listen to and California the place. I used to skateboard a lot in '64 first with the metal wheels and then on my hot Makaha board listening to Sidewalk Surfin' and hoping not to "bust my buns!"
Of all the crazy crazy characters I read about (and there are a lot) Kim Fowley has to be at the top of the list. Talking to my son about the book, he noted "that guy was a big guy in the early LA punk scene." He certainly had 9 lives.
Learned a lot-about the real Gidget, the origins of Phil Spector, the making of Good Vibrations...and much, much more. Almost every page taught me something new.
Lastly, the Playlist at the end was awesome. So many memories, so many great tunes. Going to use it as a basis for my next I-pod playlist.

[Sull · Rating 2 out of 5]

Exasperating book that felt like fictionalized docudrama to read. Lots of real-life characters of the early and middle California rock-&-roll scene walk through these pages--Jan and Dean, Nancy (& father Frank) Sinatra, Herb Alpert, Phil Spector, Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, the Mamas & the Papas. If one was making a timeline of the ins and outs of Surf-Rock evolution in the 60s, this is the book to read. But as far as a compelling story goes, it's something of a miss.
.

All these various people came and went, joining & leaving bands, writing music, cutting records, waiting for fame and riches. A few stand out, Jan and Dean for instance, whom the book follows from their high school graduation, to peak popularity in the mid-60s, to their eventual fade-out following Jan's long recovery from a car wreck. But most of the (many) names in this ever-changing California rock scene biography start to blur into a semi-anonymous fog.

[AnnieM · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanted to read the book based on the title - thinking it was about movies since I am a big cinema buff. Instead it was about "homegrown" California artists and producers and I frankly couldn't put it down! I was familiar with most of the artists mentioned but not all. Author Joel Selvin does a meticulous job of researching personal and professional lives of the many artists including their high school days. Even though I have read a lot about the Beach Boys, I felt like I learned new information here. He expertly weaves in information about Jan and Dean, Nancy Sinatra, Tommy Sands, the Mama and the Papas, Phil Spector, Lou Adler, and many more! The information he shared was so interesting to me, I actually highlighted many of his sources so I can read more!

A very enjoyable read!

[Burt · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Mobile Public Library had a copy of Hollywood Eden. I hadn't heard of the book, but I needed something to read and I'm a sucker for books on rock n' roll. Hollywood Eden turned out to be a good, quick read.

The book concerns the music scene in southern California from the late 1950s through the mid 1960s. Jan and Dean, The Mamas and the Papas, The Beach Boys, Nancy Sinatra, and the other well-known performers all play major parts in the story. Author Joel Selvin also spends a lot time on the business side of show business, focusing on Lou Adler and Kim Fowley.

While I really enjoyed the book, the whole is somewhat less than the sum of its parts. Selvin has strung together an interesting set of anecdotes, but the story seems unfinished at the end. Still, this one is an entertaining read.

[Carl Upthegrove · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for fans of early rock and roll, early CA rock and roll or just hard core music fans. I listened as an audiobook and I have some issues with the narrator but they are small issues. There are some points in the book that seem to be incorrect, at least at odds with other material I've read. Overall I believe the book is accurate even if inaccurate on some details. The main subject matter is Jan & Dean and The Beach Boys but references to other groups of that era are plentiful. It's a fast read and it definitely filled in blank areas I had in my knowledge of this subject, even though I grew up in SoCal in the mid 1950s through the early 1960s and loved the music of that era. If you love rock and roll........Read and enjoy.

[Marley · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you are really into this time period of music (1950s California beach sound post Buddy Holly), this is probably a great book. The narrator is kind of annoying and the way the author describes teenagers threw me off - it came off slightly creepy and made me uncomfortable. It wasn't the easiest book for me to get through, but maybe if I was more interested in the subject matter I would have liked it more. I also didn't realize this wasn't a work of fiction until I was already into the book (lol). I think if I knew the musicians that this book was based on more, I would have found it more enjoyable.

[Slagle Rock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Selvin is a good writer, I enjoy his work even when I'm not terribly interested in the overall subject of his efforts, which was the case in this book. I suppose the most interesting passages in this story of early 60s west coast rock were the ones about Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. The story of Nancy Sinatra I found less intrguing and the same for other children of celebrities mentioned within. Jeff Guinn's Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson might make good reading for anyone interested in how Terry Melcher and others on the LA rock scene ran in circles also traveled by the infamous killer a few years later.

[Paul Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

An in-depth look at the emergence of the surf and car music that exploded from California in the late 1950's and early 1960's, this book really spend time looking at the career of songwriter-producer-singer Jan Berry, one half of Jan and Dean who had multiple hits with "Surf City," "Dead Man's Curve," and "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena." It also follows the emergence of Lou Adler and Phil Spector as producers and The Beach Boys. Jan Berry and Brian Wilson actually wrote songs together early in their careers. A great book for a specific time period in music history!

[Alex Gruenenfelder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tackling the dark side of the romanticization of beach and surf culture, this is a fairly broad overview of the Los Angeles music scene pioneered by groups like The Beach Boys. Filled with very familiar locales to me as a native Angeleno, it feels more like a collection of short anecdotes from the era rather than a complete history with a central guiding theme. Even so, it is well-researched and fans of that music period will likely found it a compelling and fast read to enjoy over a warm Southern California summer weekend.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It’s kind of like playing 7 degrees of Kevin Bacon with recording artists and the music business in Southern California in the early sixties. Centering on Jan and Dean and Brian Wilson and spreading out form there this a fascinating look at the now surf music and California pop music grr from the ethos of a particular time and place. Selvin writes smoothly and he real knows his stuff. The inside stuff never fails to entertain. Recommended.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you grew up listening to the music of the early to mid-1960s -- the Beach Boys, Nancy Sinatra, the Byrds, the Mama's and the Papa's, Jan and Dean, etc. -- this book will be impossible to put down. Selvin weaves together the stories of these artists and others who created the musical mythology of teen life in southern California. Behind the exuberance of the music lurks sadness and tragedy, which makes "Hollywood Eden" such an affecting read.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book focuses on early LA pop breakthroughs: Jan & Dean, Beach Boys, Nancy Sinatra, Mamas & Papas and the people behind the scenes, such as Lou Adler, Kim Fowley, Phil Spector and others. It read like a Jan & Dean biography that at some point was expanded to take in more of the times. I wondered why it didn't include the Turtles, Byrds, Jackie DeShannon and so many others, but the stories and connections Selvin unearths are fascinating.

[Patrick Macke · Rating 3 out of 5]

The rock & roll ethos says "that it's better to burn out than fade away," but this book makes you think that's a lie ... There are some delicious fun facts here and it's a wonder that a world essentially comprised of the small area surrounding Uni High and Sunset Boulevard could produce such a powder keg of music and personalities ... I enjoyed it, though the book travels down some obscure, minutia-filled side streets when it strays from Jan Berry

[andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this book on the rock and pop music scene in Southern California from the late 1950's to mid 1960's there are definitely some interesting and entertaining anecdotes. But for every story about groups and individuals like Jan and Dean, the Beach Boys, the Mamas and the Papas, Nancy Sinatra and Herb Alpert there is even more about the producers and managers and the result is a fairly noncohesive discourse on the recording industry of that time and place..

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well. MOre like 3.5. Lots of names thrown at you in the beginning so at points I had to try to remember who was who. But I let that go and sat back and enjoyed it. Not too in-depth, but a good enough starting off point to the Los Angeles scene if you are a noob like me and knew nothing. Also The Beach Boys rock. Really.

[Shakespete · Rating 1 out of 5]

This subject has been well-covered by much better writers. What’s the point of re-hashing this stuff again? To make a case for Jan of Jan and Dean being a “genius”? LOL. He’s lauding that aggressively mediocre band only to interrupt with the most vicious and laughable attack on the Beatles since racists were burning their records in the South. Fuck this guy.

[Fred Whitlock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who loves California Rock 'n Roll music will love this book. The author has dug deep for for amazing stories and insight of how the California surf sound and the early Los Angeles music scene came about. from Jan & Dean , Sandy Nelson to Nancy Sinatra to Phil Spector and The Beach Boys. Covering all the small labels, songwriters, producers, and agents who brought it altogether.

[Jeff Crompton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a book I would have consciously chosen to read, probably - it kind of fell into my lap by chance. But I found it fascinating. It's the well-written story of the origins of California rock and roll, and of course, it's full of wild tales: funny, shocking, and sad. Highly recommended for anyone interested the California music scene of the 1960s.

[Ann Pierson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really enjoyable read for me. It covers the era of early SoCal rock and roll and that time was when I was collecting 45s and listening to the radio non stop so it had very familiar names in it. I didn’t know much of the back story and was not aware of how important a figure Jan Berry was. Great book, super well researched and loads of insider stories. Loved it.

[Mickey McIntosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this, and it was a quick read.
This is a great look at the rise of the California music scene including Jan & Dean, The Beach Boys, Nancy Sinatra, and the Byrds among others. Another great selection from Joel Selvin

[Keith Herrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one. No fancy, look-at-me writing -- just a wave of facts and delicious anecdotes tracing the development of the (mostly) surf music scene in California.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would've earned 5 stars 'cept for an unnecessary Beatles slag towards the end. That aside, it was hard to put down, and connected several more dots for me in the pop music story.