The Mamas & The Papas - California Dreaming (REMASTERED)

Показать описание

"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 it as a single in 1965. The song is No. 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 in New York City.

The song became a signpost of the California Sound, heralding the arrival of the nascent counterculture era. "California Dreamin'" was certified as a Gold Record (single) by the Recording Industry Association of America in June 1966 and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001.

The song was written in 1963 while John Phillips and Michelle Phillips were living in New York City. He dreamed about the song and woke her up to help him write it. 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 & 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. The guitar introduction was performed by P. F. Sloan.

The single was released in late 1965 but was not an immediate breakthrough. After gaining little attention in Los Angeles upon its release, a radio station in Boston was the catalyst to break the song nationwide. After making its chart debut in January 1966, the song peaked at No. 4 in March on both the Billboard Hot 100, lasting 17 weeks. For all of 1966, "California Dreamin'" was the number one single in Billboard and tied for number one with "Ballad of the Green Berets" in Cashbox. "California Dreamin'" also reached number 23 on the UK charts upon its original release, and re-charted after its use in a Carling Premier commercial in 1997, peaking at number nine there.

By Wikipedia.