Author Biography

JOEL SELVIN is an award-winning journalist and music critic who covered pop music for the San Francisco Chronicle for over thirty-five years. His writing has appeared in Rolling Stone, the Los Angeles Times, Billboard, and Melody Maker. Selvin is also the bestselling author of over a dozen books about pop music, including Altamont: The Rolling Stones, the Hells Angels, and the Inside Story of Rock's Darkest Day and Here Comes the Night: The Dark Soul of Bert Berns and the Dirty Business of Rhythm and Blues.

Review

Hollywood Eden doesn't shy away from the darkness that often boiled under the sun-flecked harmonies, but it ultimately celebrates these audacious young people and the enduring art they created ... Hollywood Eden is a vivid and engaging snapshot of California in the 1960s -- both the harsh reality and the fantasy world of song.-- "The Second Disc"
A jukebox musical of a book ... If Altamont marked the premature end of the 1960s, Hollywood Eden is the decade's origin story, capturing the lingering 1950s and the transition in Southern California music from surfing and hot rods to the singer-songwriters of the canyons.-- "San Francisco Chronicle"
Behind the scenes it wasn't always fun, fun, fun, but fans of late '50s and '60s pop will feel like they've caught the perfect wave.-- "School Library Journal"
For a tale of dreams, there's a lot of hustle going on in Hollywood Eden ... For every sonic visionary, be it [Brian] Wilson or Phil Spector, there are a dozen people scraping by ... What Selvin does so well is focus on a specific community and what made it work ... Selvin took a similar approach in his '60s Bay Area pop book, Summer of Love. Here he zooms in tighter on less trodden ground, with more revelatory results.-- "Los Angles Times"
Forget the subtitle, which is its own myth. The book is in stray facts no one else would dig up, yet alone think of publishing ... and, in this ten-years-on-the-strip tale of white people coming out of University High in Los Angeles and making records, the way Selvin can cut right down to what really matters, over and over again.--Greil Marcus "Los Angeles Review of Books"
My life back in those days was truly 'fun fun fun' and Hollywood Eden beautifully captures our Fifties and Sixties California music scene. Please don't change a word!--Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys
Selvin tells this inside story as if he were right there ... Hollywood Eden is a lively and well-researched book.-- "Winnipeg Free Press"
There's a panoramic sweep to Joel Selvin's Hollywood Eden. It's a story told not as a history, but as a dramatic tale, an adventure, with scenes described so vividly, they become cinematic.-- "Rock & Roll Globe"

Review Quote

PRAISE FOR JOEL SELVIN AND HOLLYWOOD EDEN: "Hollywood Eden beautifully captures our sixties California music scene -- a time when life was truly fun, fun, fun." -- Bruce Johnston, the Beach Boys PRAISE FOR JOEL SELVIN AND FARE THEE WELL: "A great and inspiring story." -- Marty Balin, founder of Jefferson Airplane "A hundred years from now, Jerry Garcia may be remembered as a prophet and Bob, Mickey, Phil, and Billy as his disciples. Illuminating, astounding, and accurate, Fare Thee Well is a remarkable account of the successes and failures by the talented, individualist remaining members of the Grateful Dead since the death of their leader, Jerry Garcia. I read it in one sitting." -- Steve Miller, founder of the Steve Miller Band "A deep -- and deeply reported -- dive into the highs and lows of the Grateful Dead world post-1995, Fare Thee Well is the in-depth postscript we need on life after Garcia. As the surviving members navigate their jarring new world, you''ll be shocked, surprised, and unexpectedly moved." -- David Browne, author of So Many Roads: The Life and Times of the Grateful Dead "Fare Thee Well is a masterful summation of the agonies, trials, and tribulations that beset the Grateful Dead after Jerry Garcia passed away. It made me sigh with sorrow AND give thanks (virtually simultaneously) for such a gifted group of musicians. This book will appeal to every Deadhead on the planet. I loved it." -- Sam Cutler, author of You Can''t Always Get What You Want: My Life with the Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead, and Other Wonderful Reprobates "As always, Joel Selvin boldly goes where others fear to tread. Fare Thee Well is essential reading for all those who have followed the saga of the good old Grateful Dead to this point in time." -- Robert Greenfield, author of Dark Star: An Oral Biography of Jerry Garcia and Bear: The Life and Times of Augustus Owsley Stanley III "Fare Thee Well tells the tale of how the Deadheads rescued the Grateful Dead from themselves. Bereft of their heart leader after Jerry Garcia died in 1995, the love of Deadheads kept the music alive so that the phenomena is not merely enduring but growing--long, strange, and still a trip." -- Dennis McNally, author of A Long, Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead "I felt like the child of a divorce, but this book showed me I never needed to worry, not when I was under the power of something as great as the Grateful Dead." -- Steve Parish, author of Home Before Daylight: My Life on the Road with the Grateful Dead "Most [Grateful Dead] books end with the 1995 death of Jerry Garcia. Fare Thee Well takes the opposite approach . . . it examines every sad twist, turn, and betrayal involved in the Dead''s various offshoot groups leading up to their 2015 Fare Thee Well reunion." Rolling Stone "An unblinking and balanced look at the infighting, backbiting, rancor, and resentments among the surviving ''core four'' band members." Marin Independent Journal "An enthusiastic but clear-eyed and enjoyably gossipy piece of modern rock history." Publishers Weekly PRAISE FOR JOEL SELVIN AND ALTAMONT "Boy, did I live in a bubble or something. I had no idea the extent of bruising under the melting rainbow. Selvin is revealing our tricky gestation in the weird womb of sixties rock. Frightening." -- Grace Slick, member of Jefferson Airplane "Meticulous research, evocative detail, and a brave conclusion exactly what a history book should be." -- Lee Child, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Jack Reacher series "It was worse than you think. A lot worse . . . An account that moves at movie pace, Selvin cuts through woolly cop-out rhetoric, offering clarity and detail . . . Altamont was a tragedy in the classical sense -- a disaster born of hubris and folly -- and Selvin nails every last shred of both." -- Mojo Magazine "A deeply researched, minutely detailed account of the event as it unfolds, occurs, and concludes, and as a result comes to conclusions much greater than historical myth or a ''documentary'' film can portray . . . This book is definitely worth a read, and it is extremely well researched." -- AllMusicBooks.com "An incisive account of the most infamous concert debacle in rock history . . . This book provides context and perspective, showing the sea change in rock that was taking place as the Rolling Stones attempted to reassert themselves amid the increasing dominance of San Francisco psychedelia and the spirit of Woodstock . . . Compelling." -- Kirkus Reviews,STARRED REVIEW "[A] methodical history . . . Selvin''s presentation of Altamont busts the myth of innocence lost; in fact, Altamont just made the reality harder to ignore." -- Publishers Weekly "A fascinating account of the festival and its repercussions, this is also a cultural historical portrait of the West Coast rock scene, a history of the bands involved, and of the counterculture itself. Will be of interest to rock and pop culture fans." -- Library Journal PRAISE FOR JOEL SELVIN AND HERE COMES THE NIGHT "Selvin''s tale . . . rights a historical injustice, shining a light on an overshadowed great man and deepening our understanding of a history we continue to dance to." -- New York Times "Here Comes the Night purports to be the story of Bert Berns, and it is certainly that -- plus the in-depth story of many other fascinating individuals, as well as a socio-economic history of a musical culture, and how rhythm & blues and rock ''n'' roll changed the music business and indeed the world. I couldn''t put it down!" -- Mike Stoller, member of of Leiber and Stoller "Again and again, Selvin brings forgotten recording sessions that any other chronicler would have ignored to such stirring life that they validate not only the story he has to tell but the worth of Berns''s own life . . . Selvin lets you feel the contingency of the moment, how everything that happened -- this inflection, that hesitation -- could have turned out completely differently, and led to nothing." -- Greil Marcus, Believer "Selvin has such great fun telling tales about off-kilter, unscrupulous record-biz denizens . . . The book is both an informative history of a wild time in the music business and a compendium of acerbically delivered gossip." -- Maclean''s "Here Comes the Night makes a strong case for Berns as the consummate record man, not just another white guy trolling the world of NYC independent R&B looking for a buck but a passionate believer in music . . . Selvin takes a labyrinthine tale involving hundreds of characters and tames it . . . It''s a classic ''60s music story as any. And Selvin tells it with period-appropriate style . . . In the 400-plus pages, Selvin also proves a shrewd salesman: by the end you''ll have bought into the idea that Bert Berns, for all his flaws, was truly one of the great ones." -- Mojo, FOUR-STAR REVIEW "Selvin makes the case that borderline-shady characters like Berns have always cast a big shadow over pop." -- Rolling Stone, THREE-AND-A-HALF-STAR REVIEW "Joel Selvin''s new book makes a claim to greatness. In the world of glaringly and exhaustively over-examined star bios, the San Francisco-based journalist not only exhumes a lost soul in the pantheon of ''60s pop and soul (along with capturing rock ''n'' roll''s burgeoning eruption), he also creates as engaged and energetic a narrative as any so-called serious writing can contain." -- Paste Magazine "A compelling biography of a man who wrote and produced records in a fever. It''s also an unvarnished account of the often-sordid world of East Coast music publishers, tunesmiths, record hustlers, label executives, gamblers, studio engineers, rack-jobbers, dee jays, and leg breakers. This book belongs in the esteemed company of groundbreaking exposes . . . Selvin has told the story of a tortured soul worthy of the Deems Taylor Award." -- DownBeat Magazine "Berns is simply a hook for a larger history of the business of rhythm and blues in the 1960s. Here Comes the Night paints this milieu -- unscrupulous businessmen shilling teenybopper hits." -- Los Angeles Review of Books "The author provides a vivid, character-filled picture of the wild west atmosphere of the New York music biz, often branching out into narrative detours that are consistently entertaining and enlightening." -- Austin Chronicle "A detailed insider''s look at twentieth-century music." -- San Jose Mercury News "Here, Selvin chronicles in delicious detail the golden era of the early 1960s rhythm and blues music scene and the turbulent, hard-knuckle world of record-making behind the glitzy, gold foil facade of rock and roll success and glamor." -- Cleveland Plain Dealer "Joel Selvin has written a book whose prose is so alive, it begs to be read out loud. Its subject matter is so thrilling, you feel the excitement of writing a great song, finding an artist for that song, and producing the song on your own label." -- Goldmine Magazine "A thrilling story of a little-known songwriter and record producer of some of the greatest rhythm and blues hits. Longtime San Francisco Chronicle music critic Selvin digs with gusto into the tasty history of New York City''s hit-making songwriters, artists, and record magnates of the great R&B era of the early 1960s, focusing on one of the greatest, if least sung of the bunch, Bert Berns . . . Selvin''s prose, muscular and Runyon-esque and never taking itself too seriously, moves the narrative along from its upbeat start to its sordid denouement at the edges of New York''s gangland. A fascinating time capsule of a freewheeling era in American music and society." -- Kirkus Reviews "Selvin delivers an authoritative look at a crucial po

Promotional "Headline"

REVIEW COPIES: Publishers Weekly Booklist Kirkus Reviews

Feature

INDUSTRY-RESPECTED AUTHOR: Joel is an award-winning journalist and music critic who covered pop music for the San Francisco Chronicle for more than thirty-five years. His writing has appeared in every major music publication, he's written numerous bestselling books about pop music, and he's personal friends with many of pop music's biggest names. ACCESS TO THE STARS: In researching and writing Hollywood Eden, Joel has interviewed many of the surviving legends of the 1960s California scene, and he hopes to include never-before-seen photographs from the personal archive of Jill Gibson, a member of the University High School class and brief member of the Mamas & the Papas. INDUSTRY PUBLICIST: Joel plans to hire Bob Merlis to be his publicist for Hollywood Eden. Merlis is a long-time veteran of the music industry (with 30+ years at Warner Bros. Records) and a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominating Committee. As a private consultant, he has represented numerous rock stars in a public relations capacity, including John Mellencamp, Etta James, ZZ Top, John Fogerty, Gladys Knight, Alice Cooper, and Neil Young. REVIEW COVERAGE: Based on Joel's past books, we can expect great review coverage in all the major music magazines (Rolling Stone, Mojo, Uncut, Paste, DownBeat, etc.) and other more mainstream publishing trades. NOSTALGIA FOR CALIFORNIA IN THE SIXTIES IS ALIVE AND WELL: See, for instance, Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

New Feature

INDUSTRY-RESPECTED AUTHOR: Joel is an award-winning journalist and music critic who covered pop music for the San Francisco Chroniclefor more than thirty-five years. His writing has appeared in every major music publication, he's written numerous bestselling books about pop music, and he's personal friends with many of pop music's biggest names. ACCESS TO THE STARS: In researching and writing Hollywood Eden, Joel has interviewed many of the surviving legends of the 1960s California scene, and he hopes to include never-before-seen photographs from the personal archive of Jill Gibson, a member of the University High School class and brief member of the Mamas & the Papas. INDUSTRY PUBLICIST: Joel plans to hire Bob Merlis to be his publicist for Hollywood Eden. Merlis is a long-time veteran of the music industry (with 30+ years at Warner Bros. Records) and a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominating Committee. As a private consultant, he has represented numerous rock stars in a public relations capacity, including John Mellencamp, Etta James, ZZ Top, John Fogerty, Gladys Knight, Alice Cooper, and Neil Young. REVIEW COVERAGE: Based on Joel's past books, we can expect great review coverage in all the major music magazines (Rolling Stone, Mojo, Uncut, Paste, DownBeat, etc.) and other more mainstream publishing trades. NOSTALGIA FOR CALIFORNIA IN THE SIXTIES IS ALIVE AND WELL: See, for instance, Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Description for Sales People

INDUSTRY-RESPECTED AUTHOR: Joel is an award-winning journalist and music critic who covered pop music for the San Francisco Chronicle for more than thirty-five years. His writing has appeared in every major music publication, he's written numerous bestselling books about pop music, and he's personal friends with many of pop music's biggest names. ACCESS TO THE STARS: In researching and writing Hollywood Eden, Joel has interviewed many of the surviving legends of the 1960s California scene, and he hopes to include never-before-seen photographs from the personal archive of Jill Gibson, a member of the University High School class and brief member of the Mamas & the Papas. INDUSTRY PUBLICIST: Joel plans to hire Bob Merlis to be his publicist for Hollywood Eden. Merlis is a long-time veteran of the music industry (with 30+ years at Warner Bros. Records) and a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominating Committee. As a private consultant, he has represented numerous rock stars in a public relations capacity, including John Mellencamp, Etta James, ZZ Top, John Fogerty, Gladys Knight, Alice Cooper, and Neil Young. REVIEW COVERAGE: Based on Joel's past books, we can expect great review coverage in all the major music magazines (Rolling Stone, Mojo, Uncut, Paste, DownBeat, etc.) and other more mainstream publishing trades. NOSTALGIA FOR CALIFORNIA IN THE SIXTIES IS ALIVE AND WELL: See, for instance, Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

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