From the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean to the Byrds and the Mamas & the Papas, a group of young artists and musicians came together at the dawn of the 1960s to create the lasting myth of the California dream. But private struggles belied the paradise portrayed in their music. What began as a light-hearted frolic under sunny skies ended up crashing down to earth just a few short but action-packed years later as, one by one, each met their destinies head-on.