HOLLYWOOD EDEN FROM BEST SELLING AUTHOR JOEL SELVIN OUT APRIL 6 THE STORY OF THE RISE OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA’S MUSICAL MYTHOS WITH THE BEACH BOYS, JAN & DEAN, THE BYRDS, MAMAS & PAPAS

HOLLYWOOD (Perfect Music Today) 1/23/21/–In his new book, Hollywood Eden, author Joel Selvin tells the story of a group of young artists and musicians who came together at the dawn of the 1960s to create the lasting myth of the California dream.  Central to the story is a group of sun-kissed teens from the University High School (Uni High) Class of ’58, a class that included Jan and Dean, Kim Fowley, Sandy Nelson, Nancy Sinatra (serving on the dress code committee) and future members of the Beach Boys. They came of age in Southern California at the dawn of a new golden era when anything seemed possible.  These were the kids who created the idea of modern Southern California, complete with surf music, hot-rods and electric guitars, that the rest of world saw as a teen-age paradise on earth.

House of Anansi Press publishes Hollywood Eden on April 6.

Pre-order: shorturl.at/qFKL6

Their private struggles belied the utopia portrayed in their music and what began as a light-hearted frolic under sunny skies. It came crashing down to earth just a few short but action-packed years later as, one by one, each met their own destinies head-on.  Hollywood Eden is, in a sense, the libretto of a rock ‘n’ roll opera loaded with violence, deceit, intrigue, low comedy and high drama.  The cast of characters includes the Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, the Byrds, the Mamas and the Papas and others who bumped heads, crashed cars and ultimately flew too close to the California sun.

Selvin’s previous books include Atlamont: The Rolling Stones, the Hells Angels, and the Inside Story of Rock’s Darkest Day; Here Comes the Night: The Dark Soul of Bert Berns and the Dirty Business of Rhythm and Blues;  The Haight: Love, Rock and Revolution; Fare the Well: The Final Chapter of the Grateful Dead’s Long, Strange Trip (with Pamela Turley); Summer of Love: The Inside Story of LSB, Rock & Roll, Free Love and High Times; Monterey Pop (with Jim Marshall) and Ricky Nelson: Idol For A Generation. 

The Beach Boys’ Bruce Johnston, (Uni High Class of ’58), wrote, ““Hollywood Eden beautifully captures our sixties California music scene — a time when life was truly fun, fun, fun.”

Linda Ronstadt commented, “Hollywood Eden is a detailed look at the hugely influential California music scene just before the arrival of folk rock and psychedelic music — a vital link in the chronicles of the American popular song. I found this fascinating. I love the book.”

Steven Van Zandt, founder of radio’s Little Steven’s Underground Garage and a five decades member of the E Street Band remarked, “Growing up in the Darwinian slaughterhouse of New Jersey, we couldn’t have imagined the paradise so accurately described by Hollywood Eden. Through the years I became familiar with most of the characters in this book, yet I learned something on every page. Mr. Selvin’s special gift is putting you in the room to witness these unlikely events that became essential Rock history.

Van Dyke Parks whose collaborations with Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys begat “Good Vibrations” and the songs that comprise the group’s Smile album, endorsed the book, noting, “Hollywood Eden is a keeper. Startlingly moving, its somehow sympathetic characters are all looking for a fast buck, some luck of the draw, or intimations of immortality. I know full well most of the subjects in this tumultuous time. I was there, in also a hedge-row cameo. So I read the book through and through. I now warrant every word of it is true.”

Other notables have evinced admiration for Selvin’s work.  Bette Midler tweeted, “”Ok, just finished the book on Bert Berns “Here Comes The Night” and it was great. Anyone who loves early Rock and Soul will love it.”

Stephen King has called Selvin “a rock legend.”