There’s also Midnight Train to Georgia, which is about a guy who couldn’t hack the LA music scene… admittedly, this is only tangentally related to the OP. Same thing with Elton John’s Tiny Dancer, which has a LA-feel about the lyrics.
It Was A Good Day by Ice Cube.
Be glad you were left with that. I thought about listing it, but I’m not quite familiar enough with the places he mentioned to be sure they were specifically in LA.
Not really set in L.A. but Steve Miller mentions it in “Rock 'N Me:”
Lots of list songs mention LA.
There’s at least four songs about:
1.Sunset Boulevard.
2.Sunset Boulevard
3.Sunset Boulevard
4.Sunset Boulevard
Celluloid Heroes - Kinks
Twelve Thirty - Mamas & Papas
Deadman’s Curve - Jan & Dean
Little Old Lady From Pasadena - Jan & Dean
Tom Waits’ “Emotional Weather Report” mentions “Sunset & Alverado.”
Lazlo Bane’s “I’m No Superman” mentions the 405.
Not to mention “Colder than the ticket-taker’s smile at the Ivar Theater”!
L.A. is my Lady, by Frank Sinatra.
I didn’t see an answer to post #9, so:
Straight outta Compton
This version is the acoustic by Nina Gordon
Yes, because they’re part of the landscape. So, thanks, Attack. Duke, I’m not bothered if the song has a negative tone (although I haven’t heard that song, so I might simply not like it). Great suggestions, all, thanks!
Los Lobos just included a cover of the Grateful Dead’s “West LA Fadeaway” on their new album.
West LA Fadeaway is believed to have been written about John Belushi, who became close friends with (and shared many of the same hard-lifestyle habits as) Jerry Garcia…
“Lookin’ for a chateau, 21 rooms but 1 will do”
LA starts at PCH and peters out somewhere east of Banning.
The Afghan Whigs – “Fountain and Fairfax”
Elliott Smith – “Angeles” (although the only reference is in the title, repeated 3x in the song)
– “Alameda”
– “Condor Ave”
And how could I forget: “Only in California” by Ice Cube and Snoop Dogg.
Jimmy Buffet’s four lonely haze-filled days in “Come Monday”?
Neil Young’s, well, L.A.
Joni Mitchell - “Ladies of the Canyon” Not stated directly in the song, but the canyon in question is Laurel Canyon, LA.
Exquisitly Bored – Pete Townshend reminiscing about SoCal in the mid-80s…