Who’s Your Favorite L.A. Songwriter?

Southern California Has Produced a Wealth of Musical Talents—From Randy Newman to Tupac Shakur

The Mamas & the Papas longed to be “safe and warm” in L.A. Tom Petty sang about a “freeway runnin’ through the yard.” And in “L.A. is My Lady,” Frank Sinatra crooned: “I brought her my wildest of dreams and she came up with the answer.”

The long list of songs about Los Angeles includes odes to cruising on Sunset, experiencing the rare rainy day, and how nobody walks in L.A. Musicians have not only written about the City of Angels—they’ve settled here and created distinct sounds, from the scene in …