Everybody Had an Ocean: Music and Mayhem in 1960s Los Angeles

432 Pages·2017·3.9 MB·English

by  William McKeen

HISTORY
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“Everybody Had an Ocean is a fascinating, hypnotic look at the underside of EE Los Angeles in the 1960s gave the
the California dream. With smooth prose and keen reporting, William McKeen RR world some of the greatest music
peels back the facade of peace and love and thoroughly examines the dark
YY in rock ’n’ roll history: “California
WILLIAM Mc KEEN is an author heart behind a generation of music. This is binge reading at its best.” BB Dreamin’” by the Mamas and the
and editor whose books include Mile — Michael Connelly, New York Times bestselling author of The Wrong OO Papas, “Mr. Tambourine Man” by the
Marker Zero, Outlaw Journalist, Side of Goodbye and The Crossing DD HHAADD AANN OOCCEEAANN Byrds, and “Good Vibrations” by the
Highway 61, and Rock and Roll Is YY Beach Boys, a song that magnificently
Here to Stay. He is chair of the “William McKeen’s Everybody Had an Ocean brilliantly illuminates the day-glo H H summarized the joy and beauty of the
Department of Journalism era in three and a half minutes.
rise of Los Angeles as a counterculture Mecca. The back pages of high-octane
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at Boston University. But there was a dark flip side to
rock ’n’ roll history are ably explored by McKeen. And once again, the Beach
DD the fun fun fun of the music, a nexus
Boys reign supreme.”
between naive young musicians and
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— Douglas Brinkley, author of Cronkite the hangers-on who exploited the
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decade’s peace, love, and flowers

“People say the sixties died at Altamont, but William McKeen makes a OO ethos, all fueled by sex, drugs, and
compelling case that it was really Charlie Manson who brought down the CC overnight success. One surf music
flowered curtain. Everybody Had an Ocean sets a generation’s soundtrack to EE superstar unwittingly subsidized the
the improbable true tale of a scrawny career thief who befriended a Beach Boy, AA kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr. The
almost got himself a record deal, and then unleashed a spacey band of NN transplanted Texas singer Bobby Fuller
murderers on Los Angeles. Few novelists could dream up such a plot.” might have been murdered by the Mob
in what is still an unsolved case. And
— Carl Hiaasen, author of Razor Girl and Tourist Season INM after hearing Charlie Manson sing,

1U Neil Young recommended him to the
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“A widescreen, meticulously researched account of how Los Angeles—the 6 president of Warner Bros. Records.
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seedbed of surf pop and folk rock—became the epicenter of American music in 0C Manson’s ultimate rejection by the
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the 1960s. McKeen follows the thread from the Beach Boys’ sunny innocence to A music industry likely led to the infamous
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Manson’s noir horrors—via Phil Spector, Jim Morrison, and a supporting cast OD murders that shocked a nation.
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of hundreds—and brings the music of the City of Angels brilliantly to life.” Everybody Had an Ocean chron-
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— Barney Hoskyns, author of Waiting for the Sun and Hotel California NA icles the migration of the rock ’n’ roll
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“William McKeen’s Everybody Had an Ocean offers a detailed snapshot of the EM cast of characters is astonishing—Brian
creative fertility, debauchery, and importance of a signal moment in pop music S and Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys,
history. Highly recommended!”
Jan and Dean, eccentric producer Phil
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Spector, Cass Elliot, Sam Cooke, Ike
— Charles L. Granata, author of Wouldn’t It Be Nice
c and Tina Turner, Joni Mitchell, and
K scores of others—and their stories form
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innocence and cynicism, joy and terror.
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You’ll never hear that beautiful music
in quite the same way.
JACKET DESIGN: Marc Whitaker / MTWdesign.net
COVER IMAGES: Photofest W I L L I A M Mc K E E N
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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E V E R Y B O D Y
H A D A N O C E A N
MUSIC AND MAYHEM IN 1960S LOS ANGELES
WILLIAM McKEEN
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E V E R Y B O D Y
H A D A N O C E A N
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Copyright © 2017 by William McKeen
All rights reserved
Published by Chicago Review Press Incorporated
814 North Franklin Street
Chicago, Illinois 60610
ISBN 978‑1‑ 61373‑491‑9
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: McKeen, William, 1954– author.
Title: Everybody had an ocean : music and mayhem in 1960s Los
Angeles / William McKeen.
Description: Chicago, IL : Chicago Review Press, 2017. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016029172 (print) | LCCN 2016030065 (ebook) | ISBN
9781613734919 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781613734926 (pdf) | ISBN
9781613734940 (epub) | ISBN 9781613734933 ( kindle)
Subjects: LCSH: Rock music—California—Los Angeles—1961–1970—
History and criticism.
Classification: LCC ML3534.3 .M4 2017 (print) | LCC ML3534.3 (ebook) | DDC
781.6609794/9409046—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016029172
Typesetting: Nord Compo
Printed in the United States of America
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For those friends who share my affliction:
Bill DeYoung, Wayne Garcia, Sarah Kess,
Neil Sharrow, Steve Webb, and John Young
For my children, who share this music with me:
Sarah, Graham, Mary, Savannah, Jack, Travis, and Charley
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CONTENTS
Author’s Note ix
Introduction: Brothers 1
1 Dreamers of the Golden Dream 15
2 Magic Transistor Radio 27
3 They Put the Bomp 45
4 The Second Jesus 63
5 Everybody Had an Ocean 82
6 Sacred and Profane 97
7 The Beautiful Future 117
8 The Ransom of Junior Sinatra 134
9 From All Over the World 153
10 The Door Flies Open 183
11 The Loners 205
12 The Teenage Symphony to God 228
13 Captive on a Carousel 263
14 Peace, Love, and Flowers 286
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15 The Dread 331
The Tag: Summer’s Gone 349
Acknowledgments 369
Notes 371
Bibliography 391
Selected Discography 399
Index 408
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