Comments on: Friday Five: California Towns

By: nm

nm — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:11:53 +0000

Yeah, you really do need “Lodi.”

By: Joe Roberts

Joe Roberts — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 19:21:37 +0000

What? No “Lodi”? C’mon guys…

“If I only had a dollar for every song I’ve sung and every time I had to play while people sat there drunk, you know I’d catch the next train back to where I live. Oh Lord, stuck in Lodi again…”

By: Barry Mazor

Barry Mazor — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 18:30:33 +0000

The Avett Brothers are currently one of the most successful and lauded acts in the alt.country end of Americana, and since this is a roots music site and not solely, strictly chart country, that’s a perfectly good call.

If you haven’t heard them, you may be unlucky, son.

By: timeo

timeo — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 15:19:50 +0000

The Avett Brothers song sounds like Rock to you? How many banjos and acoustic guitars do you need?

By: luckyoldsun

luckyoldsun — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 04:46:12 +0000

Never heard of the Avett Brothers–but if that rock song belongs on this list, then surely the entire Beach Boys catalog does, as well.

By: Paul W Dennis

Paul W Dennis — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 03:33:16 +0000

“San Diego” by Charlie Walker should have been much bigger than was actually the case (#31). Strangely enough it was a top five record on all the stations in the vicinity of Norfolk, VA – probably because so many US Navy had served in San Diego

Buddy Alan (Owens) – “Lodi”

By: Rick

Rick — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 01:56:57 +0000

Wow, LA really got short changed in this list! Hater! (lol)

I’d go all the way back to the Spanish / Mexican era of California history (pre 1849 gold rush) with Ramblin Jack Elliott’s “The South Coast”, based upon a short story. Cowboy singer Dave Stamey also recorded an excellent version of this song.

Wylie Gustafson and the Wild West recorded a song “To The Sidewalks of LA” which contains the line “from the dirt roads of Kern County to the sidewalks of LA”. A nice description of the journey taken by both Buck and Merle (and many other) from Bakersfield to the Capitol label studios in Hollywood.

As for pretty girls from San Diego, as far as Americana acts go that would include Sarah Watkins, Sara Petite, and Elana James of the Hot Club of Cowtown (as the band originally formed there). I wouldn’t mind seeing those gals share a stage some day…

By: timeo

timeo — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:04:23 +0000

“L.A. International Airport” (Susan Raye”)
“L.A. Freeway” (Guy Clark, etc.)
“Tulare Dust” (Merle Haggard)
“Marina Del Rey” (George Strait)
“Talk to Me of Mendocino” (Ronstadt, etc.)
“Ventura” (Lucinda Williams)
“If Hollywood Don’t Need You (Honey I Still Do)” (Don Williams)
“Santa Barbara” (Ronnie Milsap)
“Coming into Los Angeles” (Arlo Guthrie)