Laurel Canyon: The Classic California Urban Ecosystem
The most arresting image, among many, in the documentary Laurel Canyon: A Place in Time, directed by Alison Ellwood, is a black-and-white photograph of Eric Clapton visiting Los Angeles for the first time on tour with Cream. He sits a few feet from Joni Mitchell, who is playing guitar, with a visibly stoned David Crosby in the background on the backyard lawn of Cass Elliot’s house. Clapton observes Mitchell with such a smoldering intensity you think he’s going to blow an amp. He is transfixed by Mitchell not because she was striking—and she was—but because of her musicianship.
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![Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, was a nexus of counterculture activity in the 60s. Now its little mountain cottages are exorbitant. Image © Trekandshoot | Shutterstock Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, was a nexus of counterculture activity in the 60s. Now its little mountain cottages are exorbitant. Image © Trekandshoot | Shutterstock](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5f4d/5fbc/b357/65f7/b000/00f2/medium_jpg/shutterstock_467248613.jpg?1598906260)
The most arresting image, among many, in the documentary Laurel Canyon: A Place in Time, directed by Alison Ellwood, is a black-and-white photograph of Eric Clapton visiting Los Angeles for the first time on tour with Cream. He sits a few feet from Joni Mitchell, who is playing guitar, with a visibly stoned David Crosby in the background on the backyard lawn of Cass Elliot’s house. Clapton observes Mitchell with such a smoldering intensity you think he’s going to blow an amp. He is transfixed by Mitchell not because she was striking—and she was—but because of her musicianship.