Laurel Canyon Rock 'n' Roll Landmarks

Laurel Canyon, in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles above Sunset Boulevard and below Mulholland Drive, was a nexus of rock 'n' roll-related activity in the 1960s. Everyone from David Crosby and Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young to Jim Morrison, Frank Zappa and Mama Cass of the Mamas and the Papas lived along Laurel Canyon Boulevard or the numerous dead-end side streets that branched off it. Perhaps its most famous denizen was Joni Mitchell, whose song "Ladies of the Canyon" was inspired by her time there. The neighborhood is quiet and laid-back, but sightseers can still take a peek at some rock royalty landmarks as they drive through.

Any tour of Laurel Canyon should begin at this tiny, red-brick market adorned with murals evoking the era of the canyon's famous days. The store sells wine, deli-style sandwiches and candy bars, among other goods, and it's been standing since 1929. In the 1960s, local musicians would come to jam on the front porch together -- members of the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield numbered among them. Mama Cass lived in the basement and penned the song "Twelve Thirty" there; Morrison referenced the store as "the place where the creatures meet" in his song "Love Street."

Morrison lived in the house at 8021 Rothdell Trail, right behind the Canyon County Store, with his girlfriend Pamela Coulson. It's often known as The Love Street House because it's heavily referenced in Morrison's song "Love Street," the same one that mentions the store. In 2011 the Rothdell Trail house was again in the news when an arsonist set fire to a car parked in front of the house, resulting in some structural damage to the house itself, but it has since been repaired.

Zappa lived in a house colloquially referred to as "the Log Cabin." The building was originally a roadhouse in the silent film era. In 1968 Zappa moved into the property, basement bowling alley and all. He brought with him a huge entourage of groupies, aspiring musicians and general hangers-on. The doors were never locked and the party never stopped. In 1982 the Log Cabin burned down, but you can still see its ruins at the corner of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Lookout Mountain.

Mitchell owns the unassuming little cottage at 8217 Lookout Mountain. For a brief time, she lived there with Nash; their surprisingly domesticated affair -- and a shopping trip to an antiques store, where Mitchell bought a vase -- inspired Nash's hit song "Our House" for Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. The song was in fact written at Mitchell's piano right there at the cottage.