The Mamas & The Papas
"California Dreamin'"
Single / B-side: "Somebody Groovy"
Released: 8 December 1965
Album: If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears (Released: March 1966)
Writers: John Phillips, Michelle Phillips
Label: Dunhill Records
"California Dreamin'"
Single / B-side: "Somebody Groovy"
Released: 8 December 1965
Album: If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears (Released: March 1966)
Writers: John Phillips, Michelle Phillips
Label: Dunhill Records
"California Dreamin'" is a song written by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips and was first recorded by Barry McGuire. However, the best known version is by The Mamas & the Papas, who sang backup on the original version and released as a single in 1965. The song is #89 in Rolling Stone 's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The lyrics of the song express the narrator's longing for the warmth of Los Angeles during a cold winter. The song became a signpost of the arrival of the nascent counterculture era. "California Dreamin' " was certified as a Gold Record (single) by the RIAA in June 1966 and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001.
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| The Mamas & The Papas' single: "California Dreamin'" |
The Mamas & The Papas- - "California Deaming"
The song was written in 1963 while John Phillips and Michelle Phillips were living in New York. He dreamed about the song and woke her up to help him write it. Michelle Phillips enjoyed visiting churches, and she and John Phillips visited St. Patrick's Cathedral, which inspired the second verse of California Dreamin’ ("Stopped into a church..."). John hated the verse, as he was turned off to churches by unpleasant memories of parochial school, but he couldn't think of anything better so he left it in. At the time, John and Michelle Phillips were members of the folk group "The New Journeymen", which evolved into The Mamas & the Papas. They earned their first record contract after being introduced to Lou Adler, the head of Dunhill Records, by Barry McGuire. In thanks to Adler, they sang the backing vocals to "California Dreamin'" with members of the session band The Wrecking Crew on McGuire's album This Precious Time. The Mamas and the Papas then recorded their own version using the same instrumental and backing vocal tracks to which they added new vocals and an alto flute solo by Bud Shank. P. F. Sloan did the guitar introduction. McGuire's original vocal can be briefly heard on the left channel at the beginning of the record, having not been completely wiped.
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| The Mamas & The Papas, RCA Victor single's "Caifornia Dreamin'" |
The Mamas & Papas - "California Dreamin'" (Monterey 1967)
The single was released in late 1965 but was not an immediate breakthrough. After gaining little attention in Los Angeles upon its release, Michelle Phillips remembers that it took a radio station in Boston to break the song nationwide. After making its chart debut in January 1966, the song peaked at #4 in March on both the Hot 100, lasting 17 weeks, and Cashbox, lasting 20 weeks. Sharply dividing the popular music market that month, rivals "California Dreamin'" and "Ballad of the Green Berets" eventually tied for the #1 record of 1966, according to Cashbox. "California Dreamin'" also reached #23 on the UK charts.
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| The Mama's and The Papa's single: "California Dreamin;: |
The Mamas & The Papas - "California Dreamin'" (official live video)
Some high profile artists who have recorded this song include R.E.M., The Beach Boys, America, Wes Montgomery, Gary Hoey, Dead Artist Syndrome, José Feliciano (B-side on his 1968 hit single "Light My Fire"), The Carpenters, Baby Huey & the Babysitters, the Four Tops, Melanie, Bobby Womack, Queen Latifah, The Seekers, George Benson, Hugh Masekela, Eddie Hazel, Raquel Welch, Benn Jordan, Wilson Phillips, Dik Dik and John Phillips without The Mamas & the Papas.
Line-up / Musicians:
Denny Doherty – vocals
Cass Elliot – vocals
John Phillips – vocals, guitar
Michelle Phillips – vocals
P.F. Sloan - guitars, vocals
Larry Knechtel - keyboards, bass guitar
Hal Blaine - drums
Joe Osborn - bass guitar
Bud Shank - flute solo
Peter Pilafian - electric violin
Link / Review:
wikipedia: California Dreamin'
