Going to California - Mandolin / Guitar Mix

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant wrote this song, drawing inspiration from Joni Mitchell, specifically her song "California." Mitchell lived in the musically fertile but earthquake-prone Laurel Canyon area of Los Angeles; "California" finds her recalling her adventures on a trip to Europe but looking forward to a return home. In "Going To California," Plant plays the part of a guy who's looking to leave his no-good woman behind and make a fresh start in California. Page and Plant were both enthralled by Joni Mitchell's songwriting; in "Going To California," the guy in the song is looking for a girl just like her, one with "love in her eyes and flowers in her hair" who "plays guitar and cries and sings."

This gentle, reflective song reflects the place where it was written. To compose songs for the Led Zeppelin 4 album, Led Zeppelin retreated to a mansion in the English countryside called Headley Grange. The pastoral setting encouraged intimate acoustic songs like this one and "The Battle Of Evermore" - they also worked on "Stairway To Heaven" at Headley. Jimmy Page recalled writing it in a "late-night guitar twiddle" and recording it the next day outside on the grass using a mobile recording unit owned by The Rolling Stones.

This is an acoustic song with no drums, so John Bonham sat this one out. Jimmy Page played two different guitars on the track - a 12-string and a 6-string - and John Paul Jones played mandolin. Jones was the bass player in Led Zeppelin but could play a variety of instruments, expanding the band's musical range.