Echo in the Canyon Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Echo in the Canyon Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 1, 2019

There are a glut of streaming services like SiriusXM, Spotify and Pandora that offer so-called "internet radio", often with niche driven stations at the beck* and call of the listener. But in some ways at least 1960s AM radio was like having all of those "genre" channels mashed into one "broadband" frequency, with even so-called Top 40 playlists offering an often staggering array of styles and approaches. When the British Invasion hit the shores of our nation circa early sixties, AM radio was probably at least a bit more homogeneous, blending tropes that evolved in the fifties (like I-vi-IV-V changes, and triplet patterns often featured on the piano) with flourishes like surf guitars or even big orchestrations. But The Beatles and their kin seemed to ignite a creative spark on this side of the pond, as is actually overtly discussed in Echo in the Canyon, a lovely if just slightly "promotional" feeling documentary about all the amazing musicians who congregated in Los Angeles' legendary Laurel Canyon during the sixties.

*Not to be confused with one of the performers on this disc.

As a number of rather legendary talking heads espouse in this piece, those sparks of creativity inspired by others' works were definitely a "two way street", so to speak, as, for example, comments by Eric Clapton and Ringo Starr speak quite lovingly about releases by The Beach Boys and The Byrds as having influenced their music. But one way or the other a really stunning array of iconic musicians lived and worked often literally side by side during a decade that was fraught with a lot of disharmony in extra-musical ways.

Echo in the Canyon is hosted by an affable Jakob Dylan, a guy who probably knew many of these interview subjects when he was still a kid, offering a baseline of rapport that makes the conversations natural and often quite funny (David Crosby has to clarify which Dylan he feels is iconic, and Michele Williams may get close to TMI territory with some accounts of her romantic adventures). The slightly promotional aspect to this piece comes courtesy of frequent stops to a concert of Laurel Canyon "standards" performed by a younger crew including (Jakob) Dylan, with a kind of clear subtext that there's a soundtrack of these performances available (ironically available to stream on some of those above mentioned platforms). I doubt anyone who grew up in the sixties is going to think, for example, that Fiona Apple's rendition of "In My Room" tops Brian Wilson's, but at least "the beat goes on", and continues to influence younger musicians to this day.

Echo in the Canyon Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Echo in the Canyon is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Greenwich with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1 (some archival video has different aspect ratios). This is a nicely sharp and well detailed looking presentation for the most part, with generally well above average detail and fine detail levels, often captured in close-ups or closer midrange shots, where crags in faces and patterns in fabric look precise. There's some kind of peculiar yellow coloring to a lot of the Petty material for some reason. Some of the outdoor footage is so sunlit that contrast is a little blanched, and some of the performance footage has very minor issues with shadow detail.

Echo in the Canyon Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Echo in the Canyon features both DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 mixes, but truth be told, aside from the excerpts of the live performance promoting the soundtrack and documentary, there's little that the stereo track doesn't cleanly and clearly offer the listener. The surround track does open up the sound sporadically on some of the archival audio, but a lot of this piece is simply interviews conducted by Dylan, and as such the stereo track probably suffices perfectly well.

Echo in the Canyon Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are no supplements of any kind included on this disc.

Echo in the Canyon Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

My hunch is reactions to this piece, or at least pieces of this piece, will be based on the age of the viewer. Baby Boomers are apt to revel in some considerable nostalgia, something that may bore the younger kids. Younger kids, on the other hand, may well prefer some of the updated versions of some of these tunes. I personally was completely captivated by the interview segments, though it's bittersweet to see Tom Petty in what was evidently his last filmed interview. Some of the refashionings of the tunes frankly left me cold, but your mileage of course may vary. One way or the other, there's most likely something for everyone in this largely satisfying documentary. Recommended.