FEATURE:
Groovelines
The Mamas & the Papas - California Dreamin'
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THIS it current Groovelines…
PHOTO CREDIT: RB/Redferns
concerns a song that is considered to be a classic. I am talking about the timeless brilliance of California Dreamin’. The song written by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips (who were part of the band with Denny Doherty and Cass Elliot). It was first recorded by Barry McGuire. The version we all know and identify with was The Mamas & the Papas’ single of 1965. The lyrics of the song express the narrator's longing for the warmth of Los Angeles during a cold winter in New York City. I think that California Dreamin’ is a quintessential 1960s songs; one that sounds as compelling and bright as the day it was released. I can listen to the song at any time, and I am transported to this warm and welcoming place. I want to bring in a couple of features that discuss California Dreamin’ and its legacy. I would urge people to check out the If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears album. It also contains the other classic in their cannon, Monday, Monday. The entire album is exceptional and gorgeous. I think that California Dreamin’ is the best-known and popular song from the Los Angeles band. This feature from udiscovermusic discusses how the song took a while to make an impression in the United Kingdom:
“By the spring of 1966, the Mamas and the Papas were big news in the United States. They’d gone Top 5 with “California Dreamin’’’, released the previous December 8, and were climbing fast with the follow-up, ‘Monday, Monday.’ That was on its way to a three-week stint at No.1 in the US when, on the chart for April 28, the vocal quartet appeared on a British chart for the first time.
“California Dreamin’’’ made a tentative first showing in the Top 50 that week at No.49, as Dusty Springfield climbed to the top of the bestsellers with “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me.” But it was appropriate for the John and Michelle Phillips composition to be making an impression in the chillier transatlantic climes. The pair wrote it when they were literally feeling the cold of a New York winter and missing the warmth of Los Angeles.
The song never made quite the same impression in the UK as it did in the States, at least not first time around. It climbed the chart over the next month, 34-29-26, before spending two weeks at its peak position of No.23. “Monday, Monday” would be the real British breakthrough, resting for two weeks at No.3 in June. That month, back home, “Dreamin’’’ was certified gold, and then the Mamas and The Papas album spent nine consecutive weeks in the UK top ten, peaking at No.3.
One of the song’s many charms was its alto flute solo, played by jazz man Bud Shank, also a saxophonist. Earlier in 1966, he’d claimed a piece of Beatles-related notoriety with a minor US hit version of “Michelle.” It reached No.65 for the Dayton, Ohio-born musician.
A ‘magical’ session
Fellow Californian scenester P.F. Sloan played guitar on “California Dreamin’”, and later remembered the session in an interview with Songfacts. It was “magical,” he said. “John [Phillips] was very nervous. Nobody particularly liked the song, and to be honest with you, ‘California Dreamin’’ was maybe three or four chords. I added the “Walk Don’t Run” Ventures guitar riffs for that ‘da da da da da da.’ That was all creative work inside the studio when I heard them singing on mic. I had recorded them with Barry McGuire on his second album, so I knew how good they were.”
It was another generation before “Dreamin’” finally landed a Top 10 UK placing. In 1997, the song was used in a TV commercial campaign in Britain for Carling Lager. That started a whole new wave of interest in the classic Californian pop sound and propelled the song to No.9”.
Whilst I love California Dreamin’, one of the moist interesting things about the group is the cover for If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears. Shot by Guy Webster, five different versions exist. The one we see is a classic example of a cover that does not hint at the music within. It is an odd choice for a cover, though it does raise a smile! I want to finish by quoting from an article that points to the endurance of California Dreamin’ and the If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears album:
“How about our ears? What did they have to struggle to believe? The group sang HARMONIES! I don't believe it! What's next, well-crafted songs? Well, that's why we're here today... "California Dreamin'", to stick to the most famous of their tunes, was a well-constructed universal piece of song writing. And by universal, I mean anyone could sing it. Start with Sinatra and make the list. One can hear nearly any vocalist covering it.
Let me make the point by offering an opposite kind of song: could anyone sing "Oh, Yoko?" I'm not asking if anyone would want to; I'm asking if anyone possibly could. Tiny Tim? Perhaps. He was, at his best, capable of singing the strangest of tunes, but still...give "California Dreamin'" it's due: The song is melodic, even haunting, and well sung.
The lyrics hang visibly in the memory: "on such a winter's day. Stopped into a church along the way, fell down upon my knees - I began to pray!" (One thinks of Jake Barnes in The Sun Also Rises; god listens but goes back to reading his paper.) Dreamin' soars, but its heart is dark. The singer would be safe and warm IF he were in L.A., but he isn't. And the preacher knows he's going to stay. Sin hovers at the edges of the song. "If I didn't tell her, I could leave today." Tell her what exactly? What has happened?
Only now, decades later, does one notice the presence of a mystery. It may be why the song has lasted. That, and the fact that it sounds good. As for the album itself, it has more than a few moments that have held up. Cass sings a ragtime remake of "I Call Your Name", daring then, today as easy to listen to as "Something Happened To Me Yesterday", made during that period in which everyone had to make some version of Winchester Cathedral. The covers are all well-picked: "Do You Wanna Dance"; "Spanish Harlem"; "You Baby"; but take away "California Dreamin'" and we wouldn't be talking about it today”.
Although The Mamas & the Papas released many great songs, it is hard to ignore the importance of California Dreamin’. It is a song that is widely played to this day and has touched generations. Whilst the lyrics were very meaningful to the Los Angeles band, I feel we can all identify with and appreciate what is being sung. One spin of California Dreamin’ is enough to…
MAKE you feel warmer inside.