visiting

As a child, I spent nearly every weekend with my best friend shooting hoops and jumping fences throughout Hollywood.

It was always amusing seeing tourists — especially foreigners — line up around buildings and outside nightclubs and lounges that held no meaning to me, at the time.

These monuments I ignored as a youngster became the must-see places of my teenage years and early 20s.

It was at the Viper Room where a 20-year-old me was tossed out of line trying to crash the same venue where Pearl Jam had played.

I was first scandalized by the price of a drink for a date’s $10 cocktail at the Troubadour in West Hollywood (I think I was making $6.50 an hour at the time). But I had to visit one of Jim Morrison’s favorite haunts.

So I was delighted when The Times entertainment team compiled its list of 26 legendary music sites in L.A.

It was fun to see favorites, but more importantly, to read about new places and legends.

Hopefully, there’s a spot that intrigues you. Let’s take a look at a few selections.

Capitol Records (Hollywood)

The most famous tower in all of music was never overtly intended to look like a stack of LPs and a stylus needle.

“The building was not designed as a cartoon or a giggle. To have it trivialized with the stack-of-records myth is annoying and dismaying,” architect Louis Naidorf has said of his Capitol Records Building. “There’s not a thing on the building that doesn’t have a solid purpose to it.”

That was no obstacle for it becoming emblematic of both Los Angeles and the record business. It’s still home to one of the most renowned recording studios on Earth, and its silhouette remains a Hollywood icon and a symbol of Los Angeles on par with the Hollywood sign nearby.

(Ken Hively/Los Angeles Times)

Elliott Smith Wall (Silver Lake)

The beloved singer-songwriter Elliott Smith posed at the swooping mural outside Solutions speaker repair in Silver Lake for the cover of his LP “Figure 8” in 2000.

After he died by suicide in 2003, the wall became an unofficial memorial for Smith, where fans left touching notes, song lyrics and nips of liquors mentioned in his songs.

While the wall has been cut out in spots to make room for various restaurants — and it’s often covered in more flagrant tagging — it’s still a living connection to one of the city’s most cherished voices.

(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

Chaplin Studio (Hollywood)

John Mayer calls it “adult day care”: the historic recording studio behind the arched gates on La Brea Avenue where famous musicians have been keeping themselves — and one another — creatively occupied since the mid-1960s.

Known for decades as Henson Studios — and as A&M Studios before that — the 3-acre complex in the heart of Hollywood has played host to the creation of some of music’s most celebrated records, among them Carole King’s “Tapestry,” Joni Mitchell’s “Blue,” Guns N’ Roses’ “Use Your Illusion” and D’Angelo’s “Black Messiah.”

Charlie Chaplin, who was born in London, began building the lot in 1917 in a white-and-brown English Tudor style; he went on to direct some of his best-known films, including “Modern Times” and “The Great Dictator,” on the property.

The Lighthouse Cafe (Hermosa Beach)

The Lighthouse Cafe might seem familiar from its cameo in the Oscar-winning movie “La La Land,” but this jazz cafe was once instrumental in shaping the West Coast jazz scene.

The beachside spot first opened as a restaurant in 1934 and was changed into a bar by the 1940s. It first started to play jazz in 1949 when the owner let bassist Howard Rumsey host a recurring jam session. The jams quickly began to draw both a vivacious crowd of listeners and a core group of budding jazz musicians.

Over the years, musicians like Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, Miles Davis and Max Roach all made regular appearances at the Lighthouse. Today, the venue still hosts jazz brunches every Sunday and other musical gigs throughout the week.

For more, here is the entire list.

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I just read Bill Shaikin’s excellent column contrasting the Dodgers’ option to visit the White House with Jackie Robinson’s legendary civil rights stands throughout his life.

As a lifetime Dodger fan who has tried to stay as apolitical as possible, I would be absolutely ashamed of my Dodgers if they were to attend this photo op. I was ashamed last year, too. But nowhere near as much as this year.

Please don’t go.

Eric Monson
Temecula

Just to let Dave Roberts know, there is something bigger than baseball. On the wall in my den are my father’s medals: a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star from when the United States sent my father, Marcelo Villanueva, and others like him, to fight Adolf Hitler.

When our freedoms are being taken away, it’s not OK if you go to the White House and visit the man who is taking them away. Which means my father fought for nothing. You should be ashamed of yourself. You don’t deserve to wear the same uniform Jackie Robinson did.

Ed Villanueva
Chino Hills

I agree with Bill Shaikin that for the world champion Dodgers to visit the fascist friendly White House would be an implicit contradiction of Jackie Robinson’s legacy. Most of the players probably don’t care, but you wish a manager like Dave Roberts (in L.A.!) were as smart and sensible as Steve Kerr. Apparently he is not.

Sean Mitchell
Dallas

I couldn’t disagree more with Bill Shaikin and his stance that the Dodgers should decline the opportunity to visit the White House. In a world of increasing stresses and dangers, sports is, or should be, a reprieve from the news reported on the front pages. After 9/11, for example, we celebrated the return of baseball as a valued respite from the tragedies we were dealing with. Allow baseball to continue to be this respite, Bill, and stop trying to drag sports into the fray.

Steve Kaye
Oro Valley, Ariz.

Bad look, Dave. It doesn’t help to invoke Jackie Robinson, then in the next breath, “I am (just) a baseball manager.”

Can’t have it both ways. Shaikin is right. Decline.

Joel Soffer
Long Beach

If Roberts feels he needs to go, he should. But the rest of the team should not. Dodger management should support them. Roberts conveniently thinks that going is not a political statement. It is. Roberts’ going supports Trump. The man who raised him and served this country did not do so to see it under the thumb of a corrupt man who attacks all that it has stood for. Today we are all politically identified by the choices we make. There’s no avoiding it.

Eric Nelson
Encinitas

Bill Shaikin nailed it when he talked about and quoted Jackie Robinson and compared him to Dave Roberts’ spineless decision to take the Dodgers to the White House. It’s “only” sports? A team of this renown, in a city terrorized by ICE, in a state directly harmed by Trump? Thank you, Mr. Shaikin, for calling Roberts out.

Ellen Butler
Long Beach

Thank you, Dave Roberts, for making the decision to go to the White House and celebrate our Dodgers’ victory in the World Series. It’s a thing called respect for the office of the president no matter what political party is involved. I don’t care about the L.A. Times sports writers’ politics, so keep your political opinions out of the Sports pages.

Lance Oedekerk
Upland

The picturesque village boasts 1,000 years of rich history, stunning churches and marvellous buildings, as well as a legendary haunted pub.

A picturesque Lancashire village renowned for its medieval heritage, stunning landscapes, and a celebrated pub with a spooky history is being praised as essential viewing by visitors.

Nestled between Ribble Valley and the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), this charming hamlet offers the perfect peaceful retreat, particularly for those passionate about history.

With origins stretching back at least 1,000 years, the serene village of Chipping features in the Domesday Book as Chippenden; the name stems from ‘Chepyn’ meaning ‘market place’.

The settlement experienced significant wealth in bygone eras, flourishing throughout the Industrial Revolution, when seven mills operated along Chipping Brook’s banks.

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Chipping possesses a fascinating and layered past, with its period buildings ranking among the village’s premier attractions.

Wandering through this delightful village feels remarkably like travelling back in time, with the scenic hamlet radiating an unmistakably medieval yet captivating atmosphere, reports Lancs Live.

Indeed, numerous stone cottages throughout the village date back to the 1600s and 1700s, enhancing its historical appeal.

St Bartholomew’s Church

The village of Chipping houses the 13th-century St Bartholomew’s Church, an active Anglican church with Grade II Listed status, positioned at the village centre and partially restored in 1505, 1706, and throughout the 19th Century.

St Bartholomew’s Church boasts an ancient yew tree within its grounds – a magnificent landmark renowned throughout the county – thought to be more than a century old.

A sundial from 1708 can also be discovered in the churchyard on the southern side of the main structure.

Open for private prayer daily between 10am and 3.30pm, this beautiful church has occupied its present site for more than 500 years and forms an integral part of Chipping’s medieval heritage.

St Mary’s Church

After the 16th-century Protestant Reformation, publicly practising Catholicism became unlawful, yet several local landowners who stayed Catholic proceeded to create a handful of worship centres on their properties.

One was in Chipping, founded by the Welds of Leagram Hall.

In 1827, George Weld donated funds and land to build the openly Catholic St Mary’s Church in Chipping village, just before Catholic Emancipation in 1829.

He also constructed an adjoining priest’s house and a school (now serving as a parish hall) around the same period, which remain standing as the buildings we observe in the village today.

Other medieval attractions

Another medieval site in Lancashire’s Chipping is Hesketh End on Judd Holmes Lane – a Grade I Listed Building originating from 1591 and the early 17th century, which underwent restoration in 1907.

The Grade II Listed Woolfen Hall, potentially dating back to the 16th century and nestled at the base of nearby Parlick Hill, is a must-see when visiting Chipping.

The village boasts two incredibly popular pubs: The Sun Inn, a welcoming yet infamously legendary 17th-century pub, sits unassumingly on the corner of Chipping’s main street, proudly displaying its rich history of spectral tales.

Chipping’s other well-loved watering hole is The Tillotson’s Arms on Talbot Street. Constructed around 1836 and historically known as the Buck Inn, it has since been renamed to The Tilly’s.