Lynn Castle: LA's first lady barber on Elvis, the LSD-soaked Sixties and her secret music career

Lynne Castle by Lisa Jelliffe © The Last Bohemians

In the north of Los Angeles, in a neighbourhood called Glendale, an unassuming bungalow is home to one of the first women in Hollywood to cut men’s hair. Today she goes by the glitziest of names, Madelynn von Ritz, but back in the 60s she was called Lynn Castle and hung out with key people of the era, lopping off Jim Morrison, the Byrds, Sonny Bono and Neil Young's locks.

She was also a secret musician. But despite her childhood friends being musical svengalis like Phil Spector – who she once dated – as well as Jack Nietzcshe and Lee Hazlewood, it took her a while to reveal her talent. Eventually, however, she cut a number of intimate, melancholy demos in the hazy 60s with Hazlewood, who later famously teamed up with Nancy Sinatra and helped define the decade’s psychedelic sound.

Lynn is now 83 (going on 53!) and still writes music to this day, with a home studio tucked in the corner of her living room. Those old demos, meanwhile, were found by the label Light in the Attic and reissued as Rose Coloured Corner in 2017 – an album 50 years in the making – including her signature song, pop gem The Lady Barber. 

In this episode of The Last Bohemians: LA, supported by Audio-Technica, Lynn discusses her 'friendship' with Elvis, her series of almost-famous moments with Bob Dylan and the Stones, her positive outlook and life, and unexpectedly digs out letters from an old flame...

CREDITS
Presenter/Exec-Producer: Kate Hutchinson
Producer: Holly Fisher
Photography: Lisa Jelliffe
Theme music: Pete Cunningham, Ned Pegler and Caradog Jones
With thanks to Light in the Attic Records.

MUSIC
Lynn Castle - Caroline
Gary War - Bounce Four
Gary War - Clouds That Went Away
Philippa Dowding and Allister Thompson - Sequinned Mountain Ladies
Ketsa - Another Day
Dez Moran - August Events
Psuche - Dance Dance
Don Syke - Desert Blues
Peter Crosby - Had To Move On
Mara Carlyle - Nuzzle

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