Hawthorne, California, a suburb of Los Angeles, was the birthplace of The Beach Boys. The Wilson family lived at 3701 W 119th St.
When I visited, in June 2004, the house was demolished for a highway (the landmark had not yet been built there). But Brian Wilson's reputed favorite pizza parlor was still there. The owner told me that the young Beach Boys would sing there on Friday nights. So I got a pizza.
Also still standing was Fosters Freeze drive-in ice cream joint that served as the inspiration for "Fun, Fun, Fun." But even by 2004, Hawthorne had hit hard economic times, its 1950s middle class aspirations falling into disrepair.
Interestingly enough, Hawthorne is next to Compton, home of N.W.A. The City of Angels has been nothing if not a bedrock for the creation of mythologies.
The Beach Boys song "
