Jazz, blues, country and rock 'n' roll were born in the South. New York City nurtured pioneering folkies, punk rockers and rappers. San Francisco had its flower-powered Summer of Love. So what has Los Angeles contributed to your iPod?
Explore L.A.'s historic music sites and current hot spots, and find out.
The Sunset Strip and West Hollywood
L.A.'s epicenter of pop music history, the infamous Sunset Strip comprises a roughly 1½-mile stretch of Sunset Boulevard from Doheny Drive to Crescent Heights Boulevard. Beneath a forest of massive billboards sit some of L.A.'s most-celebrated live-music clubs.
The Strip's West End is anchored by Key Club. The sleek two-level venue rose from the rubble of Gazzarri's, a Strip legend that helped launch local boys Van Halen into superstardom. Next door, rock 'n' roll memorabilia fills the1980s hair-metal time capsule, Rainbow Bar & Grill. Back in the '70s, the likes of Led Zeppelin, John Lennon and Keith Moon cavorted in the Rainbow's dark, brick-walled dining room. Just across the driveway at The Roxy Theatre, everyone from a youthful Neil Young to an irie Bob Marley has graced the stage.
The most famous Strip venue, the Whisky A Go-Go, opened in 1964 and has hosted a who's who of rock royalty over the decades. In the club's early days, homegrown L.A. bands like The Byrds and Buffalo Springfield played regularly. The Doors once worked as the Whisky's house band, honing epic jams like "Light My Fire" as mini-skirted go-go girls shook and shimmied in cages suspended from the ceiling. New wave acts took over in the late '70s. Long-haired headbangers ruled the '80s. Today's headliners aren't exactly the cream of the up-and-coming crop, but the indestructible Whisky still books quality bands on occasion.
The black-walled Viper Room, at one time owned by Johnny Depp, draws indie and hard-rock fans and is forever linked to actor River Phoenix, who died of a drug overdose on the sidewalk out front.
The Mississippi Delta-themed House of Blues chain set up shop on the Strip in the mid-'90s and books mid-level touring acts.
After last call (2 a.m. in L.A.), lay your ringing head at one of two infamous Strip hotels. TVs once sailed off the balconies and Led Zeppelin raced motorcycles down the hallways at the now mellow Hyatt West Hollywood (once known as "The Riot House").
Flip through a back issue of "Rolling Stone" and, chances are, the featured interview was conducted at the French castle-like Chateau Marmont hotel. You'll need a rock star's bank account to stay here, but celeb sightings are almost guaranteed.
Head east on Sunset Blvd., a few miles beyond the Strip proper, to the Guitar Center's Hollywood RockWalk, the rock 'n' roll version of the cement hand and footprints at Hollywood's famed Grauman's Chinese Theatre. See how your hands measure up to those of nimble-fingered guitar gods like Chet Atkins, Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton. An adjacent mini-museum displays memorabilia and vintage guitars, including axes once owned by Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and B.B. King ("Lucille" #15).
The next major street south of Sunset is Santa Monica Boulevard. Order an ice-cold beer and a chili dog at Barney's Beanery, a raucous roadhouse-like bar located near the corner of La Cienega Boulevard. Jim Morrison practically lived at Barney's. Janis Joplin downed her last drink here before suffering a fatal overdose at Hollywood's Landmark Hotel. Farther west, the intimate Troubadour offers "music served fresh since 1957." Everyone from Carole King to Mötley Crüe got their start at the legendary club and it's still a great place to see innovative bands.
Sidetrip: Laurel Canyon
From Sunset Boulevard, drive north on Crescent Heights Boulevard into woodsy Laurel Canyon. In the '60s and '70s, the list of Canyon residents read like a record company A&R man's dream roster. The Eagles, Mama Cass Elliott, Joni Mitchell, Keith Richards, Frank Zappa and Crosby, Stills & Nash all lived here. Rich hippie rockers shopped at the funky Laurel Canyon Store, immortalized as "the store where the creatures meet" in The Doors' song "Love Street." Drop in for a deli sandwich and dig the store's still-groovy vibe.
Central Hollywood
Cradled in a huge natural amphitheater, the open-air Hollywood Bowl is perhaps L.A.'s best-known concert venue. Opened in 1922, the 18,000-seat Bowl has welcomed the biggest names in music, from Stravinsky to The Beatles. The latter's U.S. record company, Capitol, conducts business in a circular steel-and-glass office tower on Vine Street. Resembling a stack of records topped with a stylus, the Capitol Records building counts Nat King Cole and Sinatra among the artists who've recorded there.
A block southwest of Vine, on Cahuenga Boulevard, budding singer-songwriters clamor to play Hotel Café, an intimate space favored by ironic hipsters and record label scouts. Down the street, stock your CD and vinyl collection at the massive L.A. outpost of Northern California-founded Amoeba Music. Check the store's web site or the L.A. Weekly for a schedule of free in-store concerts.
Jazz, Blues and the Beach Boys
Pop and rock not your cup of tea? Swing to live bebop, big band and straight-ahead jazz at Culver City's often overlooked Jazz Bakery. Despite being hidden away in an old bread bakery plant, the club's bookers have recently landed legends like McCoy Tyner and Mose Allison.
Staying in Santa Monica? The 1931-vintage Harvelle's blues club is one of the West Side's best-kept secrets. The long, narrow room sports red-leather booths on one side and an old-timey mirror-backed bar on the other. It's as close as L.A. gets to a jumpin' Chicago blues joint. Order a signature martini (careful, they're strong) and cut loose on the tiny black-and-white checkerboard dance floor in front of the bandstand.
Finally, head south down the I-405 Freeway, then east on the I-105 to working-class Hawthorne and pay your respects to Southern California originals The Beach Boys. A 15-foot-long brick monument stands near the site of the Wilson family's childhood home. Here, Brian Wilson wrote "Surfin' U.S.A." while his brothers practiced sun-and-surf-inspired harmonies that could only come from L.A.
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