June 7, 2009 Issue
June 7, 2009
Letter from the Editor
Its not that I wanted a month off. I love writing to all of you. But this stellar issue was created and curated by our very own music editor, Nic Harcourt, so I thought it fitting that he tell you who he is, where he came from and what makes music the passion of his life (other than his six-year-old twins). And for the record, Nic didnt want his picture up hereso I had to leave mine:
June 7, 2009
THE GADFLY
Sounds Like a Long-Term Plan
James Diener is almost certainly the only head of a music label whos readingfor pleasurethe worlds hundred best books. Right now, hes slogging through Theodore Dreisers Sister Carrie, a novel thats a century and a universe removed from his world. But Dieners reality as CEO and president of A&M/Octone Records is far from whatever passes for normal in todays music business. For one thing, A&M/Octone is small. Two pizzas could feed its New York-based staff. Nine years after its launch as Octone Records, it still has fewer than 15 acts under contract. And yet every move Diener makes is designed to produce long-term careersand blockbusters.
June 7, 2009
NEXT
Spin City
If Guitar Hero is the natural progression for anyone who ever shamelessly emulated Joe Perry with an imaginary ax, then Activisions next gig, DJ Hero, will let anyone who ever did a song mix channel his or her inner spinmaster.
June 7, 2009
10Q
Jack White
1. You have a lot going on: You started a label, Third Man Records; youre in the upcoming It Might Get Loud, a guitar documentary with the Edge and Jimmy Page; and now youre in the Dead Weather. Are you ever too busy?
June 7, 2009
FEATURE STORY
Music to My Eyes
It wasnt seeing Jimi Hendrix set his guitar on fire at the Monterey Pop Festival that made him do it (though that was a factor). It was moments later, as producer Lou Adler strutted around with one of the hottest women ever. That was the moment Jeff Ayeroff thought, I want to be that guy.
June 7, 2009
BACK / STORY
Harmonic Convergence
For almost as long as theres been rock n roll, Los Angeles has been a city at the center of its history and mythologya town in which legends are made, burned, rebuilt, merchandised, forgotten. The city has had its fair share of native rock talent and has been the adopted home of many more singular rockin careers, but the powerful draw of L.A. has also meant that, through the years, the city has been the site of some of the most notable and unusual rock n roll encounters.
June 7, 2009
FEATURE STORY
Joni on Point
Though her 1968 debut album, Song to a Seagull, was no small feat of folk glory, it was by Joni Mitchells third and fourth releasesLadies of the Canyon and Bluethat her status as one of the most significant songwriters of her generation was cemented. Songs like Big Yellow Taxi and California have been kindling to a wide swath of musiciansfrom Dylan and Stevie Nicks to Beck and Norah Joneswho cite her as an influence.
June 7, 2009
FEATURE STORY
Canyon Jam
Witching hour is upon us, and were winding our way up Laurel Canyon Boulevard, surrounded by a sea of dark slopes and twinkling homes. Parking at the foot of one small hill, we make our way up a steep, candlelit walkway that leads to a wooden cottage perched at the summit. The boom of music emanates and draws us closer. Tonight, our master of ceremonies and host is Jonathan Wilson, a 33-year-old singer-songwriter from Spindale, North Carolina. He is hippie handsome, soft-spoken and humble, despite being responsible for the resurgence of the citys most famous folk-rock neighborhood. The Wednesday-night jams held at Wilsons Laurel Canyon cottage have begun a revolution among both established and emerging local artists, who come together to experiment, play their hearts out and remind themselves why theyre musicians in the first place.
June 7, 2009
FEATURE STORY
Right Here, Right Now
If only the original Fishbone were together these days, they could see what theyve reaped. The progenitor of genre-busting, culture-clashing music was formed in 1979 in South Central L.A.a brilliant all-black funk-ska-punk-rock outfit that often languished in the identity politics of marketing machines and ethnic inertia. White kids said they were authentic, black kids said they were sellouts. Columbia, their label at the time, had no idea how to market them. And low record sales ensued.
June 7, 2009
Playlists
Voyeurism never gets dull. Tabloids have us reveling in celebrity mishaps, but an emptiness always follows. We want to know what really moves the people we admire. Take our über-compilation of song lists to elevate the dialogue at your next salon. I mean, who knew that Neil Diamond digs the Kings of Leon? Or that Beck loves Serge Gainsbourg? You do... now.
June 7, 2009
FEATURE STORY
Chief Bratton and Jim Wiatt
If ever a city needed a larger-than-life police chief, its Los Angeles. Of course, like any other major urban area, our police chief needs to be one step ahead of the bad guysbut in our town, he or she also needs to be able to mix and mingle with, and occasionally arrest, some of the worlds most famous people. For a city that has historically had a conflicted relationship with its police departmentand the person helming itChief William J. Bratton is extremely popular.
June 7, 2009
PRIVATE PARTY
Humor Helps & TED Takes Beverly Hills
NIGHT OF A MILLION LAUGHS IN MALIBU
June 7, 2009
MY BEST STORY
Jazz, Baby
His magazine was approaching its fifth birthday, and Hugh Hefner wanted to celebrate in a big way. The founder of Playboy does not think small, so in August of 1959, he had George Weinimpresario of the Newport Jazz Festivalcreate a weekend of music. It was a total success: 68,000 people crowded into Chicago Stadium for the first Playboy Jazz Festival. Twenty years later, Hefner did it again, this time in Los Angeles. Hes been staging his jazz festival at the Hollywood Bowl ever since.
WEB ONLY: MANNERS MATTER
The *#@$%! You Say
All right, Ill admit it. Im a Goody Two-shoes. I dont drink, smoke, do drugs...you get the idea. But I do have one skeleton in my closet, something only my closest friends and people who drive way too close to me know. I curselike a drunken sailor whose lady done him wrong.
June 7, 2009
WEB ONLY: FEATURES STORY
L.A. Story
Rock stars, Jazzers, Pachucos...they may have grown up somewhere else quaint, like Sandusky, Ohio, or Canada, but they made their mark herelived, created and died here. Music is as much a part of the L.A. legacy as film and television. From the bebop rapture of the old Cotton Club in Culver City to the head-banging kicks of the Whiskey a Go-Goneighborhoods have changed, but the memories will last forever.
Icons of Rock Style: Details
Sama "Python" sunglasses in gold: $920, Destination Sama, 9530 Brighton Way, Beverly Hills, 310-271-1734, samaeyewear.net. Cerulean harem pants: $99, intermixonline.com. Rebecca Minkoff "Morning After" clutch in fluorescent yellow patent leather (style: S9110-11): $325, Confederacy, 4661 Hollywood Blvd, 323-913-3040. Paul Smith Panama hat: $240, Paul Smith, 8221 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, 323-951-4800. Band of Outsiders silk faille "Checkerboard" bow tie: $115, Ron Herman, 8100 Melrose Ave., 323-852-5000. Top Shop leopard tie and scarf: tie, $24; scarf, $30, topshop.com. Gerard Tully gold-plated lion ring: price upon request, gerardtully.com. Wings & Horns black service boots: $720, Fred Segal Man, 420 Broadway, 310-395-9792, wingsandhorns.com. Marc by Marc Jacobs romper: $258. Marc Jacobs, marcjacobs.com. Erin Wasson X RVCA "Gin Soaked" jeans: $200, openingceremony.us. Balmain crystal-embellished canvas jacket: $7,987, netaporter.com. Balmain by Giuseppe Zanotti studded strappy sandals: $1,299, H. Lorenzo, 474 N. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles, 310-652-0064, Dries Van Noten gold sequin blazer: $3,055, Maxfield's, 8825 Melrose Ave., 310-274-8800.
Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times
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