California Dreamin is a song written by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips and first recorded by The Mamas & the Papas, 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 narrators longing for the warmth of California during a cold winter. The song became a signpost of the arrival of the nascent counterculture era. 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. 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 on McGuires 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. McGuires original vocal can be briefly heard on the left channel at the beginning of the record, having not been completely wiped.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 02:36:08 +0000
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