JOUR 420: B#5

The Death of Laurel Canyon, and the Everlasting Influence in Music

Every good thing eventually comes to an end...

It can be argued how much "good" came out of the drug, sex and rock infested Laurel Canyon, but the influence, importance and impact on future music in undeniable. 

As time passed in the Canyon, rock stars died off and new musicians with new music began to rise. The '60's and '70's era was coming to an end.

In the final chapters of Michael Walker's, Laurel Canyon, he talks on the decline of the era; as the generation that followed after the hippies and the baby boomers, known as "Gen. Y."

Buffalo Springfield

Walker went on to explain that after The Beatles', The Byrds', The Doors', and the Buffalo Springfield's and the performers of peace, love, sex and anti-war began to fade away. More simple and heavy rock songs replaced music about war and peace, and then hip-hop began to make its impact in the music business.

While these Laurel Canyon rock classics began to diminish, there is no doubt that the music made in Laurel Canyon during the 1960's-70's greatly influenced music forever...and that is a great thing. This may be the best part of Laurel Canyon, because its music continues to influence us today.

"But Brandon, I don't like any of that old hippie music?! How could it possibly influence me and the music that I like?!?!"

The answer is simple: All of the artists that you and I enjoy listening to were simply influenced by classic music, especially the music from Laurel Canyon, and without that music, we would never be able to hear the same songs or artists that we enjoy today.

For example, I may not like listening to the Beatles, but other artists that I enjoy listening to may have never existed if it wasn't for The Beatles.

A great connection that I have to this is hip-hop and rap. Not only do I love hip-hop and rap music, but from the 1980's to today, it has been the most influential music genre since rock n' roll from the 1960's-70's.

From the rhythm and poetry aspect, to the art of storytelling through music, hip-hop has had a tremendous influence on modern society and culture.

But anyways, how can you tell if an artist was influenced by certain musicians or artists?

One answer is "sampling." When a musician samples a song, they take a portion (or "sample") of an older song recording, and use that in some way for their own music. For some, it can be used to create a dope beat, and for others, it's a way to pay homage to older artists.

Here are some examples of classic songs that were sampled in hip-hop:

1. Ray Charles' I Got a Woman (1954) was sampled in Kanye West ft. Jamie Foxx's Gold Digger (2005).
2. Aerosmith's Walk This Way (1975) was sampled by Digital Underground ft. 2Pac's Same Song (1991) and was re-covered by Run-DMC in 1986. [Compare and contrast the similarities between the 3 songs...link to video of Same Song in song name]

3. Otis Redding's Try A Little Tenderness (1966) was covered by Kanye West & Jay-Z's Otis in 2011. [Once again, compare the two and spot the similarities; link to Otis music video in song name].

As a matter of fact, here are some very famous rock songs from the Laurel Canyon era, that have been sampled heavily in hip-hop [Comparisons to original song are in song titles]:

• The Beatles, Come Together has been sampled in over 30 hip-hop/rap songs.
• Queen's, Another One Bites the Dust (1980) has been sampled in 51 hip-hop/rap songs.

• Queen's, We Will Rock You (1977) has been sampled in 105 hip-hop/rap songs.
• Examples include: Till' I Collapse by Eminem ft. Nate Dogg; We Will Rob You by Raekwon; When Will They Shoot by Ice Cube.

• Mountain's, Long Red (1972) has been sampled in a total of 497 hip-hop/rap songs, and is currently the 11th most sampled song in history.
• Examples include: 99 Problems by Jay-Z; Wouldn't Get Far by The Game ft. Kanye West; The People by Common; It Ain't Hard to Tell by Nas; Love Yourz and Fire Squad by J. Cole; Chain Smoker by Chance the Rapper; and Shut Em' Down by Public Enemy

For these reasons, the influence of music in Laurel Canyon was one of the best things to ever happen in music. Even though I am not a rock fan by any means, I am a fan of it's influence, and am truly grateful for its impact in all other music genres and in American culture.

So to all those classic rock n' roll groups....thank you. I'll still probably never listen to your music, but nonetheless, thank you.