Some local color: the pioneer chicken stand in echo park is definitely a place you could score, right on the edge between low rent but almost respectable echo park hills and tough and dirty alvarado, you can imagine how this adds to the authenticity of the song. Ensenada is about 100k south of the border, maybe 4 hrs south of LA. Once a fishing town and now geared towards budget tourists, it's more cheap beer and tequila than heroin, but there are plenty of burned out alcoholics and a few girls like carmelita in places like Hussong's cantina to write a book about. Even if he wasn't the guy in the song, Zevon had to be close enough to make this so convincing.
Some local color: the pioneer chicken stand in echo park is definitely a place you could score, right on the edge between low rent but almost respectable echo park hills and tough and dirty alvarado, you can imagine how this adds to the authenticity of the song. Ensenada is about 100k south of the border, maybe 4 hrs south of LA. Once a fishing town and now geared towards budget tourists, it's more cheap beer and tequila than heroin, but there are plenty of burned out alcoholics and a few girls like carmelita in places like Hussong's cantina to write a book about. Even if he wasn't the guy in the song, Zevon had to be close enough to make this so convincing.