Lou Adler walks into The Roxy on LA’s Sunset Strip like he owns the place, because he does. He rolls in through a side door in a slouchy white beanie that matches the frames of his shades, his neat, snowy beard and his baggy long-sleeved shirt, looking like he just sidled off a billboard promoting some impossibly hip streetwear brand. As he surveys the early afternoon scene, taking in the empty stage and the crouched bartender restocking drinks, I head over to introduce myself and realise I might be in the presence of the coolest 91-year-old alive. Lou is more than a legend of music and movies. He’s the living embodiment of the California dream.
By the time he threw open the doors of this iconic venue in 1973, Lou was already a Grammy-winning record producer and songwriter who’d played a not insignificant role in the birth of the modern music festival. Within another decade, he’d added “box-office-smashing film producer” and “cult comedy director” to his already staggering CV. After that, he eased back on the work commitments to concentrate on raising his sons – all seven of them.
Lou, as you can tell, is not a man who does things by half. He’s fine-tuned pop hits with Sam Cooke, Carole King and The Mamas & the Papas, sparked stoner gags with Cheech and Chong and partied with Jack Nicholson. He’s seen, heard and smoked it all. Later, I’ll make the mistake of wondering out loud if some pivotal moment of LA history happened before his time. Lou will laugh, and deadpan: “Nothing is before my time.”
Kevin EG Perry: Collected Works 