The Best Country Songs About California

Ah, California. The golden west, the land of milk and honey, the cereal bowl of the nation. That sunshine state where the bomb ass hemp be, the state where you never find a dance floor empty and where pimps be on a mission for them greens.

California might not be smack bang at the heart of country music in the same way that it is for hip hop and hair metal, but its contribution to the genre should never be undervalued.

Buck Owens and Merle Haggard brought their Bakersfield twang to the country audiences at a time when the Nashville Sound was filling the country mainstream with 60’s pop strings, and Gram Parsons and Dwight Yoakam made it their spiritual home as they reinvented the genre in the 70s and 80s. Nowadays homegrown artists like Jon Pardi and Molly Tuttle are putting it firmly back on the map.

The Golden State has more than its fair share of country songs sung in its honour too and we’ve collected together 50 of the finest together in our playlist of The Best Country Songs About California.

See the full tracklist for the Playlist below:

1. 1.

   California Sunrise

   Jon Pardi

2. 2.

   Hotel California

   Eagles

3. 3.

   Streets Of Bakersfield

   Buck Owens

4. 4.

   L.A. County

   Lyle Lovett

5. 5.

   Sin City

   The Flying Burrito Brothers

6. 6.

   L.A. Freeway

   Guy Clark

7. 7.

   Willin'

   Linda Ronstadt

8. 8.

   California Stars

   Wilco and Billy Bragg

9. 9.

   California Sober

   Billy Strings and Willie Nelson

10. 10.

    Tehachapi

    Margo Cilker

11. 11.

    All The Wine In California

    Logan Ledger

12. 12.

    Heads Carolina, Tails California

    Jo Dee Messina

13. 13.

    Two More Bottles Of Wine

    Emmylou Harris

14. 14.

    California Cotton Fields

    Dallas Frazier

15. 15.

    She's So California

    Gary Allan

16. 16.

    Gonna California

    Terry Allen

17. 17.

    California

    Glen Campbell

18. 18.

    King of California

    Dave Alvin

19. 19.

    Angaleno

    Sam Outlaw

20. 20.

    California

    Kenny Chesney

21. 21.

    L.A. International Airport

    Susan Raye

22. 22.

    San Francisco Blues

    Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway featuring Dan Tyminski

23. 23.

    California Song

    Jerry Jeff Walker

24. 24.

    Ventura

    Lucinda Williams

25. 25.

    All The Gold In California

    Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers

26. 26.

    A Friend In California

    Merle Haggard

27. 27.

    Blue Tacoma

    Russell Dickerson

28. 28.

    The Late Great Golden State

    Dwight Yoakam

29. 29.

    West Coast Town

    Chris Shiflett

30. 30.

    The Rose of San Joaquin

    Tom Russell

31. 31.

    San Diego Serenade

    Nanci Griffith

32. 32.

    Mendocino County Line

    Willie Nelson and Lee Ann Womack

33. 33.

    Grey in L.A.

    Loudon Wainwright III

34. 34.

    Cold in California

    Cam

35. 35.

    San Francisco Mabel Joy

    Kenny Rogers

36. 36.

    Blue California

    The Bellamy Brothers

37. 37.

    She'd Be California

    Rascal Flatts

38. 38.

    California Girls

    Gretchen Wilson

39. 39.

    Santa Ana Winds

    Waylon Payne

40. 40.

    The Heart Of California (For Lowell George)

    Terry Allen and the Panhandle Mystery Band

41. 41.

    Kern River

    Merle Haggard

42. 42.

    San Francisco is a Lonely Town

    Linda Martell

43. 43.

    San Jose

    The Mavericks

44. 44.

    Going To California

    The Arlenes

45. 45.

    Pretty Girl From San Diego

    The Avett Brothers

46. 46.

    San Francisco

    The Teskey Brothers

47. 47.

    Malibu

    Trixie Mattel

48. 48.

    Ticket to L.A.

    Brett Young

49. 49.

    L.A.

    Tim McGraw

50. 50.

    California Sunshine

    Jonathan Tyler

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