From Barney Hoskyns'
Waiting for the Sun, which I really enjoyed (and which is, regrettably, OOP), here's Appendix A: Los Angeles in Songs. Boomer-heavy, but what do you expect? It's quite a cultural history even in list form; and, of course, it would make for several good mixtapes, and several very bad ones. Side note: the book was published in 1996, which may explain the absense from this list of, for example, 'California Love.'
Joe Turner: Blues on Central Avenue (1941)
Crown Prince Waterford: LA Blues (1947)
Ricky Nelson: Lonesome Town (1958)
Eddie Cochran: Summertime Blues (1958)
The Beach Boys: Surfin' (1961)
The Penguins: Memories of El Monte (1963)
Jan and Dean: Surf City (1963)
The Beach Boys: I Get Around (1964) (Tupac's 'I Get Around' isn't really LA-centric. His 'California Love' sure is, though.)
The Beach Boys: California Girls (1965) (Is that cover version Van Halen or solo Dave? Who cares?)
The Rolling Stones: The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man (1965)
The Mamas and the Papas: California Dreamin' (1966) (I would add Osymyso's 'California Nightmare,' which heavily samples 'California Dreamin'.')
The Mothers of Invention: Trouble Every Day (The Watts Riot Song) (1966)
Love: Maybe the People Would Be the Times, or Between Clark and Hilldale (1967)
The Doors: Moonlight Drive (1967)
The Leather-Coated Minds: Trip Down Sunset Strip (1967)
The Monkees: Pleasant Valley Sunday (1967)
The Byrds: So You Wanna Be a Rock'n'Roll Star (1967)
The Fifth Dimension: California Soul (1967) (As heard on the 'Brainfreeze' mixes)
The Mamas and the Papas: Safe in My Garden (1968) (What a difference a few short years can make.)
HMS Bounty: Drivin' Sideways on a One-Way Street (1968)
Richard Harris: MacArthur Park (1968)
Dionne Warwick: Do You Know the Way to San Jose? (1968)
Van Dyke Parks: Vine Street (1968)
Cass Elliott: California Earthquake (1968)
John Mayall: Laurel Canyon Home (1968)
Van Dyke Parks: Lauren Canyon Boulevard (1968)
Jackie DeShannon: Laurel Canyon (1969)
The Byrds: Bad Night at the Whisky (1969)
The Flying Burrito Brothers: Sin City (1969)
Firesign Theatre: How Can You Be in Two Places at Once When You're Not Anywhere At All? (1970)
Joni Mitchell: Ladies of the Canyon (1970)
John Phillips: Malibu People (1970)
John Phillips: Topanga Canyon (1970) (Topanga is a name perhaps best known to the young folks as the girlfriend on 'Boy Meets World,' who, for the first few seasons, was actually a sort of bobo plastic hippie type.)
The Doors: L.A. Woman (1971) (I prefer Jane's Addiction's 'L.A. Medley,' which also includes The Germs' 'Lexicon Devil' and X's 'Nausea.' Why not X's 'Los Angeles'? Who knows?)
The Byrds: Precious Kate (1971)
Joni Mitchell: California (1971)
America: Ventura Highway (1972)
David Ackles: Oh! California (1972) (Not to be confused with the similarly-named sex musical.)
Albert Hammond: It Never Rains in Southern California (1972) (Was it Boyz II Men that covered this in the '90s? Weren't they from Philly?)
Thelma Houston: Black California (1972)
Todd Rundgren: Sunset Boulevard (1973)
Neil Young: LA (1973)
Steely Dan: Show Biz Kids (1973)
Joni Mitchell: People's Parties (1974)
Neil Young: On the Beach (1974)
Neil Young: Revolution Blues (1974)
War: Low Rider (1975)
Ronnie Spector: Say Goodbye to Hollywood (1975) (Is the lame Billy Joel song a cover? I have no idea.)
Terry Allen: There Ought To Be a Law Against Sunny Southern California (1975)
The Sweet: Desolation Boulevard (1975)
John Cale: Mr. Wilson (1975)
Guy Clark: LA Freeway (1975)
The Eagles: Hotel California (1976)
The Eagles: The Last Resort (1976)
Warren Zevon: Join Me in LA (1976)
Warren Zevon: Poor, Poor Pitiful Me (1976)
Warren Zevon: Desperadoes Under the Eaves (1976)
Iggy Pop and James Williamson: Kill City (1977)
Dennis Wilson: Pacific Ocean Blues (1977)
Bob Seger: Hollywood Nights (1978)
David Ackles: Surf's Down (1979)
Donna Summer: Sunset People (1979)
Ry Cooder: Down in Hollywood (1979)
The Rotters: Sit on My Face, Stevie Nicks (1979)
Steely Dan: Babylon Sisters (1980)
Jackson Browne: Boulevard (1980)
Tom Waits: Heartattack and Vine (1980)
John Stewart: Hollywood Dreams (1980)
X: Los Angeles (1980)
The Circle Jerks: Beverly Hills (1980)
Black Flag: White Minority (1981)
Neil Young: Surfer Joe and Moe the Sleaze (1981)
The Go-Gos: This Town (1981)
Randy Newman: I Love LA (1983)
T-Bone Burnett: Hefner and Disney (1983)
True West: Hollywood Holiday (1983)
Frank Sinatra: LA is My Lady (1984)
Don Henley: The Boys of Summer (1984)
Red Hot Chili Peppers: Out in LA (1984)
Red Hot Chili Peppers: Hollywood (1985)
David Lee Roth: California Girls (1985) (There's your answer.)
Sonic Youth: Death Valley '69 (1985)
David and David: Welcome to the Boomtown (1986)
Ice-T: Six in the Morning (1986) (arguably-better LA song from T: 'Colors')
Guns 'N' Roses: Paradise City (1987) (What, no 'Welcome to the Jungle'?)
Jane's Addiction: Up the Beach/Ocean Size (1988)
NWA: Fuck tha Police (1988)
Randy Newman: Red Bandana (1988)
LA Guns: Riot On Sunset (1989)
Public Enemy: Burn Hollywood Burn (1990)
Elvis Costello: The Other Side of Summer (1991)
Cypress Hill: How I Could Just Kill a Man (1991)
The Nymphs: Sad and Damned (1991)
Tom Waits: Goin' Out West (1992)
Body Count: Cop Killer (1992)
that dog: Westside Angst (1993)
Annie Ross: Evil California (1993) (Yes, that Annie Ross.)
Pavement: Unfair (1994)
L7: Freak Magnet (1994)
Wax: California (1995)
It's a good list, but I think that, much like LA itself, white people seem to be hogging the credit. Here are a few additions off the top of my head; please help me come up with more:
LL Cool J: Goin Back to Cali (Where can I find a list of videos that Rick Rubin appeared in? A couple old Beastie Boys ones, and this one, and Jay-Z's '99 Problems,' but what else?)
NWA: Straight Outta Compton
Bratmobile: Polaroid Baby (It's the best song to ever include lines about not needing no water.)
Red Hot Chili Peppers: Under the Bridge (I can't stand this song.)
Dr. Dre f. Tupac Shakur: California Love (There are about a million other rap songs about Los Angeles--I'm trying to show restraint.)
Defari: Lowlands Anthem (That said, this song, from the lost-classic 'Focused Daily' album, is vastly superior to the one I just mentioned.)
