Smells Like Nirvana: Hollywood Poptopia

IN THE LATE '50s, I decided I would go into rock and roll. By then it was really exploding. At this point, L.A. hadn’t had white rock and roll. I think Eddie Cochran was really the first white greasy kid to have a hit in L.A., so when Ricky Nelson scored with 'I’m Walkin’', I told my dad I wanted to borrow the Buick to drive down to Verve on Cañon Drive. Verve threw me right out the door, so I went on the next small label I’d heard about, which was Specialty.