Many an album cover was photographed in L.A., it goes
without saying. Where, though? Here's a tour.
You can't go inside, sorry, but Carole King and her Kitty
were photographed in Carole's home at 8815 Appian Way, high above Sunset Plaza.
Carole had great success in the 60s writing for others, from the Monkees to the
Byrds, but it was Tapestry, among the bestselling albums of all time, that was
her coming out party. An excerpt from the photographer's obituary says it
better than I can: "Photographer Jim McCrary was on the verge of shooting
one of his most famous images when he stopped to ask singer Carole King if the
cat sleeping across the room could be part of the tableau.
"When King assured him that her pet was docile, he
carried the tabby and its pillow to the window ledge and into the frame. By the
third click of his camera, the cat had slipped away but McCrary had what he
needed: a picture of both the barefoot songstress and her whiskered feline that
became the cover of King's landmark 1971 Tapestry album."
An abandoned house in Topanga Canyon was used for the
front cover of The Notorious Byrd Brothers (1968) and the back of
Linda Ronstadt's Hand Sown Home Grown (1969). The Byrds were
photographed by rock/celeb photographer Guy Webster at what he referred to as
an old stable in Malibu Canyon, but the house has recently been spotted and
verified one canyon over in Topanga, not far from the old Topanga Corral (647
Old Topanga Road).
The Byrds as pictured on the cover are: (left to right)
Chris Hillman, Roger McGuinn, and Michael Clarke. Although David Crosby
appeared on several tracks on the album, he had unofficially been fired from
the band. There is speculation that the inclusion of the horse (rather
than Crosby) was an inside joke, but Guy Webster denies the accusation.
Linda Ronstadt appears on the right as photographed by Eddie J. Caraeff.
The covers for two Love LPs, Love and Da Capo, were shot
at what was once Bela Lugosi's $30,000 mansion at 2227 Outpost Drive. Today a
private residence, the home was purchased in 2018 for nearly $4 million.
Many of the photo locations are obvious: Bonnie Raitt's
cover for Takin' My Time is a waiting room in the glorious Union Station
downtown and, while there isn't a “Hotel California,” the LP's iconic location
is the Beverly Hills Hotel. The interior shot of the band, though, is not. That
instead is the Lido Apartments at 6500 Yucca Street, just a stroll from
Hollywood Blvd. Head down Highland passed the Hollywood Bowl and turn right on
Barham Blvd. Once over the ridge, you’ll see Warner Bros. Studios, the location
for Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here. It was also the site for Petula Clark's
These Are My Songs, which had the hit "Don’t Sleep in the Subway." The Doobie
Brothers used a collapsed freeway overpass from the 1971 Sylmar quake to
photograph their The Captain and Me LP. Last one for the obvious: Going For the
One from Yes features the twin triangular buildings, the Century City Towers.
For me, a sentimental one is the Norman Seeff photo for
Art Garfunkel's Breakaway, which was taken at a booth where I’ve sat on
numerous occasions in Dan Tana’s (9071 Santa Monica Blvd.), that splendid survivor
of an ever-expanding Lost L.A. (We will miss you, Mike).
#milesfromnowhere
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