"My whole approach is to have a conversation with the listeners. The words have to mean something to me." 

I first heard Larry sing c2010 at The Other Side, the long-closed piano bar in Silverlake. His voice is a little rough-edged, which grabs your attention, and he almost speaks many of the lyrics of his songs - whether it's "It Isn't Easy Being Green," "Lush Life," or one of the highly suggestive songs the crowd always loved to hear.

Larry's past includes stints in the Air Force and at ABC-TV as a graphic designer, and his story proves F. Scott Fitzgerald was probably drunk when he said, "There are no second acts in American lives." Larry is on his third act ... at least.

This piece originally aired in 2012; sit back and enjoy. And then go buy "Close Your Eyes," "Larry Davis Too," or any of his other albums on iTunes.

Happy New Year!

Support for this podcast comes from Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live; and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

Off-Ramp's Chistmas present to you is our annual holiday special, A Christmas Carol Redux, which combines the old time radio version - starring Lionel Barrymore - with new versions of the perennial holiday production. Enjoy!

Support for this podcast comes from Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live; and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

We meet one of the hundreds of party princesses who work in Southern California; Patt Morrison remembers her friendship with Marlon Brando; Brains On!, the science podcast for kids; LA's secret tunnels.

"Kogi" chef Roy Choi and Patt Morrison on the LAPL's menu exhibit -- I grew up on Bunker Hill -- a new strategy to restart Angel's Flight -- the coyote catcher -- the gang war rumors

Jeffrey Vallance's new show, "The Medium is the Message" ... Brains On! explores kids and language ... are robot underpants the next fitness trend? ... Factchecking "True Detective's" bullet train plotline ... Tired of lists separated by elipses?

Amy Heckerling helps us celebrate the 20th birthday of "Clueless," Molly Knight gets the bakcstory on the Dodgers sale, and we dig Glendale's historic Rockhaven Sanitarium.

Slide on over to San Pedro's Sunken City neighborhood; cleaning up after the Lake Fire; Brains On, the science podcast for kids and curious adults.

As Neil Diamond once said, "Summer love/They call it summer love/But oh, how it feels/And I don't believe make believe." Our bills aren't make believe, and neither, we're sure, is your love for KPCC.

We tour the district with outgoing City Councilman Tom LaBonge; we get a preview of an exciting new podcast; we get a distaff view of "Inside Out;" and hear what it was like to be a kid on the set of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory"

To celebrate the new Eames Anthology, we talk with the editor and an Eames grandson; Ray Bradbury's Red File; rescuing the brown recluse from its bad reputation.