The Legendary Lou Adler

It’s been a joy assembling all the various pieces of the multipartite career of producer Lou Adler (b. 1933) who managed to remain on the leading edge of pop culture for a quarter of a century. His list of projects, strung together, amazes not just because of their success, but because of WHAT he chose to do. It’s all stuff I love!

Raised in L.A., Adler started out partners with Herb Alpert (yes, that Herb Alpert) as managers of Jan and Dean. The pair helped Jan write their first big hit “Baby Talk” in 1959. They also co-wrote Sam Cooke’s 1960 hit “Wonderful World”.

In 1964 Adler founded Dunhill Records, whose first release was “My Prayer/Pretty Please” by his wife Shelley Fabares, whose big hit at the time was “Johnny Angel”. (Fabares and Adler separated in 1966 but weren’t officially divorced until 1980). Dunhill was a smash success. Adler sold it to ABC in 1967 and then founded Ode Records, which lasted until 1989. Dunhill’s major act was the Mamas and the Papas; Ode’s was Carole King. In each case, Adler produced all of their famous hit records. Other artists he recorded included Johnny Rivers, Cheech and Chong (!) and lots of one-hit wonders like Barry McGuire (“Eve of Destruction”), The Grass Roots (“Live for Today”), Scott McKenzie (“San Francisco”), Spirit (“I Got a Line On You”), The Mod Squad‘sPeggy Lipton (“Stoney End”), and actor Richard Harris (“MacArthur Park”).

In 1967 Adler and John Phillips co-produced Monterey Pop, both the festival and the film, and this marked Adler’s expansion into other media. He and Phillips co-produced Robert Altman’s Brewster McCloud in 1970. In 1973 Adler opened the Roxy Theatre on the Sunset Strip. One of it’s first bookings was the hit London musical The Rocky Horror Show. Adler produced the screen version The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) as well as the soundtrack album. Lots of classic live albums were recorded at the Roxy, including ones by Richard Pryor, Frank Zappa,Bruce Springsteen, and Warren Zevon.Pee-wee Herman’s live show had a successful run there, leading to his film and TV success.

In 1976, Adler and his assistant made headlines of a different sort when they were kidnapped and held for ransom! The money was paid, the men were freed, and the suspects were caught, which is a rare trifecta to hit on a kidnapping case.

Perhaps seeking a new lease on life, Adler then branched into movie directing. His first was Cheech and Chong’s Up in Smoke (1978), a moderate hit. Then in 1981 he directed Ladies and Gentleman, The Fabulous Stains, about the rise of an all-girl punk band. Penned by Nancy Dowd (Slap Shot, Coming Home) it featured great early performances by Diane Lane, Laura Dern, and Christine Lahti, as well as members of The Sex Pistols and The Clash! Unfortunately the movie suffered from another clash — between Adler and the screenwriter, who differed on how the film should end, among other things. Dowd had her name taken off the film, and the eventually completed film did not get a general release at the time. This is a crying shame — if it been properly packaged and released it might have done much to popularize punk in the U.S. Like Rocky Horror it went on to slowly become a cult hit. Riot Grrrls in particular took up the cause. It’s a favorite of my wife’s, so I’ve gotten to see it many times.

Ladies and Gentleman, The Fabulous Stains is why I say Adler managed to stay on the cutting edge for a quarter of a century, although that’s only partially true. He was smart enough to smell something in punk. The Roxy was the first West Coast club to present The Ramones; scenes from Rock and Roll High School were shot there. Later, in 1983, he would produce Carole King’s Speeding Time, the sound of which was inspired by Thomas Dolby’s “She Blinded Me With Science”, but it didn’t sell well. Plenty of major punk and grunge bands played the Roxy over the decades. But I really do think that the reason Adler was so successful as a producer in the ’60s and early ’70s was that he was so much in tune with the hippie spirit, which is world’s away from the nihilism, anger, and cacophony of punk.

From 1972 to 1974 (while still legally married to Fabares) Adler was involved with movie star Britt Ekland, who bore him a son, Nic, who went on to help Adler run the Roxy. Another son, Cisco, is also a music producer, and by a third mother, Lou also sired children named Honey and and Sonny. Since 1992, Lou has been married to Page Hannah, Darryl Hannah’s younger sister, who has given him four additional children. In 1999 the family founded The Painted Turtle Camp, a summer camp for dying and chronically ill children that is part of Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang program.

Peter Fonda said that he based his portrayal of the character Terry Valentine in Stephen Soderbergh’s The Limey (1999) on Adler. To my mind, the name of that character would seem to be a mash-up of Terry Melcher (oh, I’ll be posting about him soon), and Elmer Valentine, who was part owner of the Roxy, as well as the Whisky a Go Go and the Rainbow Bar and Grill.

More recent credits for Lou Adler are nostalgic ones. They include Cheech and Chong’s Animated Movie (2013), the live TV production of Rocky Horror (2016), and a 2023 movie commemorating Carole King’s 1973 concert in Central Park.

For more about show business historyconsult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, And please stay tuned for my upcomingElectric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety.