Echo in the Canyon

There is ... some desperately bland film-making on display here

A celebration of the folk-rock-pop explosion in the West Coast in the mid-Sixties, this documentary-cum-concert movie is tailor-made for music geeks.

The movie is a glorious tribute.

Slater didn't need to get every last Canyon musician on camera, but to avoid mentioning many of them altogether is a total dereliction of duty.

Several of the talking heads and reminiscences were part of Jon Brewer's nostalgic documentary Legends of the Canyon: The Origins of West Coast Rock (2010), but Slater's film is slicker, better photographed, and more revealing.

"Echo in the Canyon" tells a story about a very specific time and place in music, and Young lets the music do the talking for him.

Aside from Jakob hogging the spotlight, it’s absurd how little insight Echo in the Canyon has.

Ultimately this isn't a history of a generation but an enjoyable look at a brief period that still echoes in the imaginations and ears of many fans.

Makes excellent use of its star-studded roster of musicians and their music that shaped generations.

A laid back and breezy re-capturing of a key period in music.