“If you’ve ever seen American Graffiti, the Strip used to be like that ...”—Stephen Stills,
Buffalo Springfield

On the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, an electrifying scene appeared out of nowhere, exploded into creativity, and then, just as suddenly, vanished. Riot on Sunset Strip captures the excitement of this great artistic awakening and serves as a startling evocation of the social and artistic revolution that was the 60s.

From the moment The Byrds debuted at Ciro’s on March 26th 1965—with Bob Dylan joining them on stage—right up to the demonstrations of November 1966, Sunset Strip nightclubs nurtured and broke The Doors, Love, Buffalo Springfield (featuring Neil Young and Stephen Stills), Frank Zappa’s Mothers Of Invention, Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, The Turtles, The Mamas & The Papas, The Standells, The Electric Prunes, and so many more.

With a foreword by Arthur Lee, period maps by Shag, and a brand new epilogue, this book tells the story of the astonishing time when rock’n’roll displaced movies at the center of the action in Hollywood.

Praise for this book:
“The definitive book on 60s Los Angeles club culture.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“An exhaustive, electrifying portrait of Hollywood’s 60s rock scene.”—Mojo

“A compelling exploration of the historical, political, racial, and cultural contexts affecting the Strip, and LA itself, as far back as the 1920s.”—Los Angeles City Beat

“A fantastically detailed study.”—Record Collector

Domenic Priore is a writer and television producer specialising in pop culture and music. He is the author of Beatsville (with Martin McIntosh) and Smile: The Story Of Brian Wilson’s Lost Masterpiece (with forewords by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks), and was the main writer on the AMC documentaries Hollywood Rocks The Movies: The
Early Years 1955–1970 (hosted by Ringo Starr) and Hollywood Rocks The Movies: The 1970s (hosted by David Bowie). Most recently, he co-wrote Pacific Ocean Park: The Rise And Fall Of Los Angeles’ Space Age Nautical Pleasure Pier (with Christopher Merritt). A native of Los Angeles, Priore has now returned there after living in New York City and San Francisco.