Wiley, 2006
Reviewed by Steven Hendlin, Ph.D.

This book is billed as the “true-life adventures” of David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Cass Elliot, David Geffen, The Eagles, The Byrds, and various other notable and not so notable rock personalities and groupies, as they participate in the Los Angeles music scene from the late 1960’s through the late 1970’s. It is a narrative of the rise and fall of the innocence of the peace-and-love vibration of the 60’s to the drugged-out, big-business greed, as hot-shot producers took over the industry. We go from wear-some-flowers-in-your-hair to a pessimism and negativity that culminates in the cult murders by the Manson gang. We see how money and the Hollywood star mentality take over the musicians lives and lead to excesses of everything worth over-dosing on—and then some.

Hoskeyns captures both the episodes of mutual creative collaboration between singer-songwriters and the dark side of fame, wealth, the effects of drugs, alcohol, and runaway ambition. Like most successful scenes that involve high-strung and temperamental performers, the dark side ends up overwhelming the creative side, as inflated and drug-intoxicated egos are unable to continue their cooperation. But not before some great music is written and performed.

For those, like myself, who (like most of the song-writers/musicians) came of age during this psychedelic era, the details given about the performers personal lives make for interesting gossip. I mean, who knew that psychopath Charlie Manson was able to get on the good side of Beach Boy Dennis Wilson? And for those, also like myself, who actually grew up near or frequented the places mentioned (such as Laurel Canyon, The Troubadour, The Roxy, Sunset Blvd.) and lived through the birth of the L.A. rock scene, memories will come flashing back, as we are taken back to our own innocence and the wonder and magic of the time.

The problem with the narrative style is that Hoskyns seems intent on including and giving quotes to as many names connected to the scene as possible. He pushes the story too fast, tantalizing us with sexy morsels and then moving on, just as were are hoping to sink our teeth into something more substantive. Rather than sustain any story line on any one performer, he skips around faster than a 15 year old surfing internet sites.

For example, we find out that Joni Mitchell managed to bed Crosby, Stills, Nash, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, and a host of others, but we never get the nitty-gritty as to why she couldn’t manage to hold it together with any of these guys for more than a few months.

We get a nice glimpse of the business mind of the up and coming producer David Geffen. We learn he had big plans and a loud mouth when it came to the business side of managing his stable of hot-shots, but we never get the low-down on why he couldn’t come out of the closet and face his homosexuality.

Performers who couldn’t handle their musical failures or their drug intake and end up killing themselves are sprinkled through the story. But Hoskyns doesn’t take it to the next level and analyze what it was about the times that resulted in so many over-dose deaths and outright suicides. Why did so few of these creative and talented performers not have the wherewithal to get psychological help to manage their transformed lives? Why did so many of them seem destined to live short lives? Hoskyns does not help us answer these questions. In learning how many of these creative people were using heroin and outrageous amounts of cocaine, it is actually surprising that so many are still alive to tell their stories.

Hoskyns chose to include the development of the rock music scene in Los Angeles as revealed in the production side of the business. I think this decision, while showing us how influential producers were fighting mano-a-mano to get the biggest names and carve out a larger slice of the pie, ends up watering down the direct relationships between the performers themselves. I could have used fewer insignificant details of the business side of things and more on how these rock-star men sexploited the women in their lives, even as the feminist movement was in full swing.

This book scratches the musical surface of the times. To his credit, Hoskyns gives a list of suggested readings for those who want more detail. Hotel California contributes to the lore on one of the most amazing periods in music history, when the coalescing counter-culture was truly influenced by their rock-star brethren and where the music helped shape the passage of baby boomers from their late teenage years into young adulthood.

Steven Hendlin, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist in Newport Beach, California
who has been in private practice for 30 years. Formerly a columnist for TheStreet.com for 74 consecutive weeks, he currently writes the “Shrink Rap” column for COAST Magazine. Dr. Hendlin is the author of four books and hundreds of professional and popular articles, reviews, and columns.

Visit him at www.hendlin.net. He is pleased to receive your comments and questions for publication in his Backspace column at shrink.rap1@yahoo. com, but please remember that he is unable to provide personal counseling or psychotherapy through the mail.