Laurel Canyon is a mountainous neighborhood within the Hollywood Hills West district of Los Angeles, California. From the mid-‘60s to the mid-‘70s, it became “a nexus of counterculture activity and attitudes,” WK serving as a mecca for musicians including Jackson Browne, the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Canned Heat, Crosby Stills & Nash, Ned Doheny, members of the Eagles, Carole King, Love, members of the Mamas & the Papas, John Mayall, Joni Mitchell, the Monkees’ Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork, Jim Morrison (of the Doors), Harry Nilsson, Gram Parsons, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, Judee Sill, J.D. Souther, James Taylor, Brian Wilson (of the Beach Boys), Neil Young, and Frank Zappa.
18 lists focused on songs from Laurel Canyon were aggregated together. Those songs were narrowed down to those which were released between 1965 and 1975 and appeared on three or more lists. That left 149 songs. The top 50 songs were automatically in. For the next 50, I took the remaining songs and sorted them by overall status in Dave’s Music Database. Those top 50 were then added to the list, sorted by their points on the Laurel Canyon lists.
Check out the Spotify playlist of these songs here.. 
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1. Buffalo Springfield “For What It’s Worth” (1966)
2. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young “Our House” (1970)
3. The Mamas & the Papas “California Dreamin’” (1965)
4. The Mamas & the Papas “Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon)” (1967)
5. The Doors “Love Street” (1968)
6. The Turtles “Happy Together” (1967)
7. The Byrds “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)” (1965)
8. Eagles “Take It Easy” (1972)
9. America “Ventura Highway” (1972)
10. Jackson Browne “Doctor My Eyes” (1972)
11. Joni Mitchell “Big Yellow Taxi” (1970)
12. Stephen Stills “Love the One You’re With” (1970)
13. The Byrds “Mr. Tambourine Man” (1965)
14. Crosby, Stills and Nash “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” (1969)
15. The Mamas & the Papas “Monday Monday” (1966)
16. Linda Ronstadt “You’re No Good” (1974)
17. The Byrds “So You Wanna Be a Rock and Roll Star” (1967)
18. Joni Mitchell “The Circle Game” (1970)
19. Eagles “Witchy Woman” (1972)
20. Poco “Pickin’ Up the Pieces” (1969)
21. Linda Ronstadt “When Will I Be Loved” (1974)
22. Buffalo Springfield “Mr. Soul” (1967)
23. The Byrds “Eight Miles High” (1966)
24. Carly Simon “You’re So Vain” (1972)
25. Love “Alone Again Or” (1967)
26. James Taylor “Fire and Rain” (1970)
27. Joni Mitchell “A Case of You” (1971)
28. Carole King “You’ve Got a Friend” (1971)
29. Flying Burrito Brothers “Christine’s Tune (Devil in Disguise)” (1969)
30. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young “Teach Your Children” (1970)
31. Carole King “I Feel the Earth Move” (1971)
32. Linda Ronstadt with the Stone Poneys “Different Drum” (1967)
33. Carole King “So Far Away” (1971)
34. Judee Sill “Crayon Angels” (1971)
35. The Byrds “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” (1968)
36. James Taylor “Sweet Baby James” (1970)
37. The Byrds “My Back Pages” (1967)
38. Carole King “It’s Too Late” (1971)
39. The Monkees “She” (1967)
40. Neil Young “Heart of Gold” (1972)
41. Eagles “Desperado” (1973)
42. Eagles “Tequila Sunrise” (1973)
43. The Mamas & the Papas “Go Where You Wanna Go” (1965)
44. Jackson Brown “Jamaica Say You Will” (1972)
45. Eagles “Peaceful, Easy Feeling” (1972)
46. Eagles “Already Gone” (1974)
47. Poco “A Good Feelin’ to Know” (1972)
48. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young “Helplessly Hoping” (1969)
49. Little Feat “Dixie Chicken” (1973)
50. Mama Cass Elliot (of the Mamas & the Papas) “Dream a Little Dream of Me” (1968)
51. Buffalo Springfield “Expecting to Fly” (1967)
52. Leon Russell “Tight Rope” (1972)
53. The Monkees “I’m a Believer” (1966)
54. The Beach Boys “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” (1966)
55. The Doors “L.A. Woman” (1971)
56. Neil Young “Cinnamon Girl” (1969)
57. The Monkees “Last Train to Clarksville” (1966)
58. Eagles “Lyin’ Eyes” (1975)
59. Crosby, Stills & Nash with Neil Young “Ohio” (1970)
60. The Mamas & the Papas “Creeque Alley” (1967)
61. Eagles “Best of My Love” (1974)
62. Joni Mitchell “River” (1971)
63. The Doors “Touch Me” (1968)
64. Linda Ronstadt “Long Long Time” (1970)
65. Three Dog Night “Mama Told Me Not to Come” (1970)
66. Eagles “Take It to the Limit” (1975)
67. Joni Mitchell “Help Me” (1974)
68. Joni Mitchell “Both Sides Now” (1969)
69. America “Lonely People” (1974)
70. Crosby, Stills & Nash “Marrakesh Express” (1969)
71. The Byrds “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better” (1965)
72. Crosby, Stills & Nash “Wooden Ships” (1969)
73. The Turtles “It Ain’t Me, Babe” (1965)
74. The Byrds “All I Really Want to Do” (1965)
75. The Association “Never My Love” (1967)
76. The Doors “Light My Fire” (1967)
77. The Monkees “Daydream Believer” (1967)
78. James Taylor “You’ve Got a Friend” (1971)
79. The Doors “Hello, I Love You” (1968)
80. Neil Young “Old Man” (1972)
81. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young “Woodstock” (1970)
82. The Doors “Riders on the Storm” (1971)
83. Eagles “One of These Nights” (1975)
84. The Doors “Break on Through” (1967)
85. James Taylor “How Sweet It Is to Be Loved by You” (1975)
86. Love “My Little Red Book” (1966)
87. Sonny & Cher “I Got You Babe” (1965)
88. Canned Heat “On the Road Again” (1968)
89. The Doors “People Are Strange” (1967)
90. The Doors “Roadhouse Blues” (1970)
91. Joni Mitchell “Free Man in Paris” (1974)
92. Joni Mitchell “Carey” (1971)
93. The Doors “Love Her Madly” (1971)
94. Canned Heat “Going Up the Country” (1968)
95. The Doors “Love Me Two Times” (1967)
96. The Monkees “Pleasant Valley Sunday” (1967)
97. Neil Young “Southern Man” (1970)
98. Neil Young “The Needle and the Damage Done” (1972)
99. Linda Ronstadt “Heat Wave” (1975)
100. Linda Ronstadt “The Tracks of My Tears” (1975)
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First posted 4/21/2024; last updated 4/28/2024.
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