Going Back to Laurel Canyon

Photos from the creative paradise of the late Sixties and early Seventies.

‘laurel canyon,’ a two-hour docuseries, features new interviews with everyone from David Crosby to Linda Ronstadt — but the only images of them you’ll see are vintage ones from the late Sixties and early Seventies. “It feels much more immersive,” says director Alison Ellwood, who also made 2013’s History of the Eagles. Photographers Henry Diltz and Nurit Wilde took most of the snapshots, the best of which are shown here. “I was so lucky to be smack in the middle of all that, with a camera in my hand,” Diltz says. “It’s become a mythical place, almost like Camelot.”

ANGIE MARTOCCIO

When the Killers began work on their new album, Imploding the

Mirage, they had virtually everything they needed: a batch of new songs, a seven-month break from the road, and a large home studio nestled away in Park City, Utah, where they could work and live without distraction. The only thing missing was their guitarist, Dave Keuning.

Keuning started the band back in 2001, when he took out an ad in a Las Vegas newspaper looking for local musicians to play with. The first song he wrote with future Killers frontman Brandon Flowers after they met up was “Mr. Brightside.” But Keuning stepped away from the road shortly after the recording of 2017’s

Wonderful Wonderful, citing factors including creative frustration, and he hasn’t played with the Killers in the three years since, though they say he technically remains an official member. (Founding bassist Mark Stoermer also scaled back his involvement in the band in 2016 but continues to play some shows and studio parts.)

On the road, the Killers were able to soldier on, but recording new songs turned out to be a different story. “We were trying to make it sound like the band wasn’t fractured,” says Flowers. “And trying to sound like the Killers. It was almost like we were doing this dumbeddown, mannequin version of the band.”

The more collaborators they brought in to fill that void, the worse it got. They don’t want to name everyone they tried during this selfdescribed “speed dating” process, but producer Jacknife Lee was one of them. “He was trying to make it sound like there was a Dave there,” says Killers drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr. “It felt a little dishonest.”

After six months of recording, they didn’t have anything they were happy with. Then producer Shawn Everett and Jonathan Rado of psychedelic-rock duo Foxygen entered the pic

“We were trying to make it sound like the band wasn’t fractured. And trying to sound like the Killers.”

ture. “That was a big awakening for us,” says Flowers. “It made us want to course-correct.”

Around the same time, producer Ariel Rechtshaid played Flowers some of the new Vampire Weekend album, Father of the Bride. “I realized I couldn’t continue on the path that I was on,” says Flowers. “It reminded me of the way I felt when I heard Is This It [by the Strokes]. I was inspired and jealous. For me, those two emotions combined really light a fire under me.”

The Killers decided to throw out nearly everything they had done in Utah and start over in Los Angeles and in their own studio in Las Vegas. Everett and Rado joined the effort full time, and songs started coming quickly, with the kind of roaring energy and catchy hooks that recall the band’s early classics. Other key assists came from Lindsey Buckingham (“He brought [lead single ‘Caution’] from 2D to 3D with his guitar playing,” says Vannucci), Weyes Blood, K.D. Lang, the War on Drugs’ Adam Granduciel, and others. “The charm about being in L.A. is that you’re so close to everybody,” adds Vannucci. “They’re just a phone call away.”

While the Killers haven’t landed a major radio hit since 2008’s “Human,” they’ve spent the intervening years becoming one of the most popular touring rock bands in the world, headlining stadiums in Europe and packing arenas across America. This year, venue closures will make that difficult, but they’re looking forward to getting back on the road whenever they can. “It’s frustrating,” says Flowers. “But there’s just more important stuff going on right now. Those stadiums are going to still be there in 2021.”

As for Keuning, who released a solo album last year, both Flowers and Vanucci say the door is open if he ever feels like getting back to work with them. “I don’t want to spill too much dirty laundry, but it’s been years since he’s really been a productive part of this band,” says the drummer. “And it sucks. We have to get used to it, and hopefully we’ll figure out a way forward. He can come back if that’s what he wants. This is all his decision.”

Nash took this photo of Mitchell at the home they shared in 1969. “She was in the middle of recording an album,” Nash recalls. “I normally would have left her alone, [but] there’s no way I couldn’t shoot that. She looked incredibly beautiful.”

MY OLD MAN Joni Mitchell and Graham Nash in a limo, on their way to Big Bear Lake for a CSN photo shoot circa 1969. “After a couple of hours, they forgot I was there,” Diltz says. “That was a real moment.” OUR HOUSE

NEW KID IN TOWN Diltz shot this photo of Steve Martin playing guitar in 1969. “He lived right up the road,” the photographer recalls. “He’s one of the first guys I saw who had actual oil paintings. That really impressed me.”

MONKEE BUSINESS Eric Clapton (left) and Mickey Dolenz in Cass Elliot’s backyard in 1968, in a photograph captured by Diltz. “That’s me filming Eric’s french fries,” says Dolenz, who was on the cusp of completing the second and final season of The Monkees for NBC at the time. “I was saying to Eric, ‘Move out of the way.’ ”

SUNNY SKIES James Taylor playing “Oh, Susanna” in 1969. “That’s the first moment I laid eyes on him,” Diltz says.

DREAM A LITTLE DREAM Nash hanging out with Elliot in 1966, at the peak of their respective success with the Hollies and the Mamas and the Papas. “Mama Cass loved introducing people,” says Diltz. “She was a social catalyst — the Gertrude Stein of Laurel Canyon.”

BEFORE THE GOLD RUSH Neil Young (left) and CSNY drummer Dallas Taylor. “They would hang out all day,” Diltz remembers. “Swimming in the pool, playing music, smoking doobies.”

HOLD ‘EM The Byrds’ Gram Parsons (left) and Chris Hillman playing cards in Peter Tork’s kitchen. “They were in their own little bubble,” says Wilde.

MIDNIGHT FLYER Former Eagles guitarist Bernie Leadon in 1979. “I was going to use [this shot] for an album that never got made,” Leadon says.