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The Liquor Store Proprietor
Tommy Bina is owner of the legendary Canyon Country Store. Located halfway up Laurel Canyon, the store was immortalized by The Doors in the song Love Street as the “store where the creatures meet.” It was originally built in 1908 as a lodge for local hunters accessible only by trackless trolley. The lodge burnt down in 1929 and was rebuilt using brick and stones from a river that flowed near Laurel Canyon.
The Country Store became the center of the Los Angeles counter-culture hippie scene. Jim Morrison and girlfriend Pamela Courson lived in a house adjacent to the store in the early 60s. The store’s outdoor patio became an impromptu stage for jam sessions featuring canyon denizens Frank Zappa, Graham Nash, Joni Mitchell and Cass Elliott. While living in the Canyon, Joni Mitchell wrote Ladies of the Canyon and Graham Nash wrote Our House. Mama Cass lived in the store’s basement when she moved to Los Angeles. (Tommy keeps her zither among the cases of wine.)
Tommy bought the store in 1982 and quickly became a staple of Laurel Canyon life. He loves telling the story about the time a stylishly-dressed man came in asking for “Flakes,” a British candy bar. When Tommy realized the man was David Bowie he began stocking the chocolate. He added “English Kit Kats” for Mick Jagger and specialty French wines for actress Christina Applegate.
